Famous Freemason: Erasmus Darwin

When you hear the surname “Darwin,” Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution often are the only things that come to mind. However, his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, is a fascinating man, and a Freemason!
 
Bro. Darwin was born on December 12, 1731, to Robert Darwin and Elizabeth Hill in Elston, England. His father was a prominent lawyer and physician, and he is named after his ancestor Erasmus Earle, who was Common Sergeant of Law under Oliver Cromwell. After primary school, he attended St. John’s College and the University of Edinburgh Medical School.
 
His work in the medical field was unmatched at the time, so much so that he was offered and declined to be Court Physician for King George III. While working, he would document his findings, observations, and ideas in different books and poems. One of these books, Zoonomia, dealt with all biological life and theorized the concept of evolution. Another book of his used the ideas of great thinkers like Locke and Rousseau to justify the formal education of women, believing that they should be educated in science and philosophy.
 
In 1755, Bro. Darwin began to form the Lunar Society. This society was a social group of learned men who met together and discussed different ideas on full moons. Some men in the group included Dr. William Small who taught Thomas Jefferson at William and Mary College, engineer James Watt who improved the steam engine, and chemist Joseph Priestley who discovered oxygen and the carbon cycle. Prominent American Benjamin Franklin visited the Lunar Society and developed a lifelong friendship with Bro. Darwin. 
 
Outside of the Lunar Society and his work as a physician, he was also an avid inventor. According to a biography published on him in 2005, he feared that inventions would ruin his reputation as a doctor and instead gave the ideas to friends to patent. Some of his inventions include a horizontal windmill, Ackermann linkage, an early copy machine, and a drawing of a rocket nozzle. Some of these would not come to fruition until centuries later, but his work was integral in laying the groundwork.
 
After moving to Derby, England in 1788, he became a Mason at Canongate Kilwinning Lodge, No 2. in Scotland. His activity in lodge is not known, but masonry continued in his family with his son Francis Darwin and his later descendant Reginald Darwin joining lodge. 
 
After years of illness, Bro. Darwin suddenly died on April 18, 1802. His exact cause of death is not known, but he was known to have inflammation of the chest, which was most likely exacerbated by a seizure, described as a “ violent fit of passion with which he was seized.” His memory lives on with Mary Shelly attributing credit to his experiments in the 1831 forward of Frankenstein, and his grandson Charles carrying on his theory of evolution. 
 
If you’re interested in reading more about his life, click below!
 
 


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