Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/61

 .12 S. X. JAN. 21. 1922.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 43 Popish, or Protestant philosophy but a philo- ; sophy of mankind. It is a notable fact that many of the ! characters prominent in the early annals of Freemasonry in England were also j conspicuous in the discussions and organiza- tion of the Royal Society. In addition to Sir Robert Moray, already mentioned, j another well-known Freemason, Elias Ash- 1 mole, the founder of the Ashmolean Museum ' at Oxford, initiated into Freemasonry at ! Warrington in October, 1646, was one of the first members of the Royal Society. The Grand Lodge of England was consti- tuted in 1717, and many of its prominent officers in the early days of its history figure also as assiduous workers in the Royal Society. Eight of the Grand Masters in! the first thirty years of its history were j entitled to write " F.R.S." after their j names, to wit : John Theophilus Desagu- 1 liers, D.C.L. (Grand Master, 1719), John, I Duke of Montague (1721), Francis Scott, Earl of Dalkeith (1723), James Hamilton, Lord Paisley (1725), Henry Hare, Lord Coleraine (1727), James Lyon, Earl of Strathmore (1733), John Lindsay, Earl of Crawfurd (1734), and James Douglas, Earl of Morton (1741, Grand Master of Scotland 1739), in addition to Francis Drake, who was Grand Master of the rival Grand Lodge of All England at York. Among the Deputy Grand Masters are to be found the names of Martin Folkes (1724), William Graeme, M.D. (1739-40), Martin Clare (1741), E. Hody, M.D. (1745-6), and the Hon. Charles Dillon, twelfth Vis- count Dillon (1768-74). Mention must also be made of Sir J. Thornhill, Senior Grand Warden in 1728 ; Richard Rawlinson, D.C.L., who bequeathed the famous Raw- 1 linson Collection to the Bodleian Library, I Grand Steward in 1734 ; the following Grand Stewards : John Faber (1740), Mark Adston (1753), Samuel Spencer <1754), the Rev. J. Entick (1755), and Jonathan Scott (1758-9) ; while among the rank and file were Sir Christopher Wren (sometimes claimed as a Grand Master before the formation of Grand Lodge), Dr. William Stukeley, the Duke of Lor- raine, and the Chevalier Ramsay. Owing to the fact that there are very few records extant relating to Freemasonry in England in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries it is difficult to trace membership of the craft except in instances where office was held. It is known that Thomas Strong took with him to London from Oxford a " Lodge of Masons " to assist in the erection of St. Paul's Cathedral, under the superintendence of Sir Christopher Wren, and that the father of Thomas Strong, Valentine Strong, buried in Fairford Church- yard in November, 1662, is described as a " Free Mason," and it may well be assumed that among the members of the Masonic craft in the latter half of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth cen- turies were members of the Royal Society other than those whose names are mentioned above. DUDLEY WEIGHT. Oxford. OLIVER STARKEY. SPEAKING of the first year of Queen Mary, T. Warton, in his ' History of English Poetry ' (1870 ed.), at p. 833 says : Nearly the same period, a translation of Eccle- siastes into rhyme by Oliver Starkey occurs in bishop Tanner's library, if I recollect right, together with his Translation of Sallust's two histories. Was this translator Oliver Starkey, Knight of St. John, natural son of Hugh Starkey of Oulton Lowe, Cheshire ? This Oliver Starkey, when the Venerable Tongue of England was restored in the Kingdom of England by Philip and Mary by letters patent April 2, 1557, and the Priorate of England, at St. John's, Clerk enwell, with nine of the old commanderies, May 5, 1557, obtained the Commandery of Quenington, near Fairfax, Gloucestershire. On Queen Elizabeth's accession he withdrew to Malta. On Nov. 2, 1558, the Tongue appointed Sir James Shelley knight commander of Temple combe and Sir Olyver Starkey knight com- mandre of Quenyngton for to make drawe and devyse the rowle belonging to the same reverend tonge. On the last day of February, 1560, the Tongue elected, and the Grand Master con- firmed, Sir Oliver as Lieutenant Turcopolier. On July 11, 1561, Sir Oliver appealed to the Council against Sir Pedro Felizes de la Nu$a, whom Philip and Mary had appointed Bailiff of Eagle, for the residue of a bequest of 62 pounds sterling and five pence by Cardinal Pole to the Tongue, of which bequest the Bailiff had only paid 50 crowns " at xii terynes to the crowne." On Dec. 22, 1561, he took a house at Birgu on lease to serve as an alberge for the Tongue. In 1563 Sir John James Sandilands had a violent dispute with the Lieutenant Turcopolier in the Magisterial Palace. Felizes de la Nuca was killed in action in 1565 during the defence