Fellows <strong>of</strong> the Royal Society who are or were Freemasons, listed alphabetically companies in 1870, Preece became engineer for the southern district and eventually engineer-in-chief. Pres, Institute <strong>of</strong> Civil Engineers 1898 Initiated 9 Jun 1859 Royal Gloster Lodge (now No 130), Southampton, passed 11 Aug, raised 13 Oct. Founder and first Senior Warden <strong>of</strong> Electric Lodge No 2087 in 1885 which was formed by men working in the telegraphy industry Price, William, FRS [22 Mar 1753] (fl.1752–1771). Member, L. at the Ship, behind the Exchange, London. 94
Fellows <strong>of</strong> the Royal Society who are or were Freemasons, listed alphabetically R Raffles, Thomas Stamford Bingley, FRS [20 Mar 1817], later [29 May 1817] Sir Stamford Raffles (6 Jul 1781–5 Jul 1826), English colonial govr. Born at sea on board a West–Indiaman <strong>of</strong>f Port Morant, Jamaica, commanded by his father, Benjamin Raffles, a capt in the East West Indies trade. Spent much <strong>of</strong> his life in the East Indies, but had limited formal training, but after studying by himself, at the age <strong>of</strong> 14 he became a clerk in the HEICS at Penang (now in Malaysia) as Asst Sec to the Govr <strong>of</strong> the island, 1805. He quickly rose to become Lt Govr, Java, and its Dependencies, at Bencoolen, Sumatra, where he remained for 5 years, after a successful campaign against Dutch and French forces. He completely reformed the administration, liberalizing the harsh Dutch colonial system. When the island was returned to the Dutch in 1816, ill health brought him home to England, where he was knighted by George I, and he published his work The History <strong>of</strong> Java in 1817. During his 5 years, 1818–23, as Lt- Govr <strong>of</strong> Bencoolen, Sumatra, now Bengkulu, Indonesia, he founded the city <strong>of</strong> Singapore as a ‘free port and the trade there<strong>of</strong> open to ships <strong>of</strong> every nation’ in 1819, thus becoming largely responsible for the development <strong>of</strong> the Br Empire in the Far East. He is remembered for his suppression <strong>of</strong> the slave trade and his humane treatment <strong>of</strong> peoples subject to the severe and austere rules <strong>of</strong> the colonial system. His longest tenure in Singapore was only 8 months, but he was nevertheless considered the founder <strong>of</strong> Singapore. He finally returned to England on 22 Aug 1824, over a year after he left Singapore. He founded the Zoological Socy <strong>of</strong> London in Apr 1826, along with various other members <strong>of</strong> the nobility, 412 clergy, eminent naturalists and gentlemen. Raffles was also the first Chmn and Pres but died shortly afterwards in Jul 1826. He was succeeded by the Marquess <strong>of</strong> Lansdowne who supervised the building <strong>of</strong> the first animal houses, a parcel <strong>of</strong> land in Regent’s Park having already been obtained from the Crown at the inaugural meeting. It received a Royal Charter from George IV on 27 Mar 1829. Died <strong>of</strong> apoplexy in London, a day before his 45 th birthday. His estate amounted around £10,000, which was paid to the Coy to cover his outstanding debt. Because <strong>of</strong> his anti-slavery stance, he was refused burial inside his local parish church, St Mary’s, Hendon, by the vicar, whose family had made its money in the slave trade. Initiated and passed, Jul 1812, in Loge Virtutis et Artis Amici, Pondek Gedah, Buitenzorg, Java, under the GO, Netherlands; raised, 5 Jul 1813, in Loge de Vriendschap [L. <strong>of</strong> Friendship], Surabaya, Java, WM, 1813. Member, La Vertueuse Chapter Rose Croix, Batavia, Djarkata. Rainsford, Col Charles, FRS [13 May 1779], FSA [?], later [May 1796] Gen (3 Feb 1728–24 May 1809), army <strong>of</strong>ficer, born 1728 at West Ham, Essex, 2 nd son <strong>of</strong> Francis Rainsford (†1770), alderman, <strong>of</strong> Maldon, Essex, influential in its parliamentary elections. Educ at Great Clacton, Essex, by a clerical friend <strong>of</strong> his father; by the recommendation <strong>of</strong> his uncle, Charles Rainsford (1778), Dep Lt, Tower <strong>of</strong> London, appointed, Mar 1744, 2 nd Cornet in Gen Bland’s 3 rd Dragoons, then serving in the War <strong>of</strong> the Austrian Succession. Carried the Standard at the Battle <strong>of</strong> Fontenoy, 30 Apr 1745 and on 1 May 1745, appointed Ensign, Coldstream Gds, ordered home on the news <strong>of</strong> the Jacobite Rising. In 1751, gazetted Lt with rank <strong>of</strong> Capt; when James O’Hara, 2 nd Baron Tyrawley (1690–1773), became Col, Coldstream Gds, Rainsford was, successively, Bn Adjutant, Maj <strong>of</strong> Brigade and ADC. He was Tyrawley’s private Sec when Govr, Gibraltar, 1756–57; retuned home 1760, promoted Capt and Lt-Col, given a Coy and sent to Germany to serve under Duke Ferdinand <strong>of</strong> Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, KG. 413 In 1762, he went as ADC with Tyrawley to the Iberian Peninsula when Spain threatened to attack Portugal; Brig-Gen and Ch Engineer, Portugal, fortifying many strongholds there. Ordered home 1763, promoted 2 nd Maj, Grenadier Gds; Equerry to William Frederick, 1 st Duke <strong>of</strong> Gloucester, KG, and became his confidant. Commanded the Army detachment at the King’s Bench Prison, Southwark, following the May 1768 riot, writing ‘<strong>of</strong> the difficulties the military are subject to in cases <strong>of</strong> riot, when not supported by the civil authority.’ 414 With the Duke <strong>of</strong> Gloucester’s permission he became MP: Maldon, Essex, Dec 1772–74; Bere Alston, Devon, Feb 1787–Dec 1788; 415 Newport, Cornwall 1790–96, but took little part in parliamentary proceedings, never apparently speaking in the HC, ranking his army career before his parliamentary one, regarding it as a means to 412 They included Henry FitzMaurice, later Petty, 3 rd Marquess <strong>of</strong> Lansdowne, KG, PC, FRS [4 Apr 1811] (1780–1863), Wiliam Eden, 1 st Lord Auckland, FRS [23 Mar 1788] (1744–1814), Sir Humphry Davy, FRS [17 Nov 1803; PRS 1820–27] (1778–1829), Robert Peel, PC, FRS [5 Dec 1822], later [3 May 1830] Sir Robert Peel, 2 nd Bt (1788–1850), Joseph Sabine, FRS [7 Nov 1799] (1770–1837), Nicholas Aylward Vigors, FRS [23 Feb 1826] (1785–1840), who became the Zoo’s 1st Sec, 1826–33. 413 (12 Jan 1721–3 Jul 1792, unm), 3 rd son (<strong>of</strong> 5) <strong>of</strong> Duke Frederick Albrecht II <strong>of</strong> Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, formerly Duke <strong>of</strong> Brunswick-Bevern (†1735), the 2 nd son <strong>of</strong> Duke Ferdinand Albrecht I, <strong>of</strong> Bevern (†1687), the 3rd son <strong>of</strong> Augustus, 1 st Duke <strong>of</strong> Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (†1666). He was a brother-in-law <strong>of</strong> Frederick the Great, King <strong>of</strong> Prussia (1712–1786), who was initiated, 15 Aug 1738, in a L. at Brunswick, Germany [Robert Freke Gould, The History <strong>of</strong> Freemasonry (6 vols.) (London: Thomas C. Jack, 1886) [Gould], Vol. VI, 241–2, and Giles MacDonogh, Frederick the Great: A Life in Deeds and Letters (New York: St Martin’s Press, 2000), 113–4]. Duke Ferdinand was initiated, 21 Dec 1740, in the L. <strong>of</strong> the Three Globes [Gould, Vol V, 105]. ProvGM, Brunswick, PGL, 1770 [MYBHS, 45] (the date <strong>of</strong> the Patent being 5 Jul 1768, according to Gould [Vol. 6, 280]); but he forsook English Freemasonry, probably by the end <strong>of</strong> that year, and certainly not later than 1771, when he was admitted into the Order <strong>of</strong> the Strict Observance. Royal Arch Mason [Grand L. 1717–1967 (UGLE, 1967), 283] and, 9 Jan 1786, with HSH Charles, Duke <strong>of</strong> Mecklenberg-Strelitz, appointed Grand Patron <strong>of</strong> the Order <strong>of</strong> the Royal Arch in Germany by GCE [MYBHS, 351, and Supplement 1969–76 (1977), 69].. 414 Hayter, 33, quoted in his entry in ODNB. 415 Through the influence <strong>of</strong> Algernon Percy, Lord Lovaine, brother <strong>of</strong> Hugh Percy, 2 nd Duke <strong>of</strong> Northumberland, KG, FRS [6 Mar 1788] (1742–1817), son <strong>of</strong> Hugh Percy, 1 st Duke <strong>of</strong> Northumberland, KG, FRS [qv, below]. 95
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