For the agriculturalist, see William Ormston Backhouse.
Coat of arms of William Backhouse, 1658. From William Dugdale's The History of St. Pauls Cathedral in London. Backhouse is celebrated as a benefactor of the cathedral in this book. Both the depicted motto, "scache cache" (in modern French: "sache cacher" or, in English: "know to hide"), and the crest of an eagle clutching a serpent, have a distinctly alchemical flavor.[1][2][3][a]
William Backhouse (17 January 1593 – 30 May 1662) was an English philosopher, alchemist, astrologer, translator, and the esoteric mentor of Elias Ashmole.
Born into the wealthy Backhouse family, Backhouse enjoyed an education at Oxford, and was likely exposed to alchemical teachings and the Rosicrucian manifestos of the 1610s. He married Anne Richards in 1637/8, and had three children. By 1651, he had become the mentor of Elias Ashmole, taking him as his "spiritual son and heir", the role for which his is best remembered. The following exchange of alchemical knowledge and manuscripts has been described as having an effect on Ashmole that "cannot be overstated". This relationship flourished in an intense exchange of alchemical documents and information, unaffected by Backhouse's poor health and fear of identification in Ashmole's publications. Backhouse, predeceased by all his siblings and children, but one, died in 1662, leaving all his possessions to his daughter, Flower Backhouse, the last of the Backhouse family.
Only so much can be understood about Backhouse, for his devotion to esoteric knowledge, and his distaste for the public eye (in accordance with his motto). But the few contemporary sources that remain give a picture of Backhouse that shows him to be a "respected figure in a network of people involved in occult and philosophical studies" according to Jennifer Speake;[2] a "most renown'd chymist, Rosicrucian, and a great encourager of those that studied chymistry and astrology" according to Anthony à Wood;[4] and a "quiet, secretive man of an inventive mind [...] combining a gift for languages with a graceful poetic vein" according to C. H. Josten.[5]
^ abJosten 1949, p. 25.
^ abSpeake 2004.
^Dugdale, Sir William (1658). The history of St. Pauls cathedral in London, from its foundation until these times. London, England: Tho. Warren. p. 114.
^Wood 1817.
^Josten 1949, p. 33.
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WilliamBackhouse (17 January 1593 – 30 May 1662) was an English philosopher, alchemist, astrologer, translator, and the esoteric mentor of Elias Ashmole...
matron of honor to Virginia and William's wedding. Virginia and Vincent were appointed the godparents of WilliamBackhouse Astor III. On September 18, 1944...
including John Jacob Astor Jr. (1791–1869) and real estate businessman WilliamBackhouse Astor Sr. (1792–1875). John Jacob's fur trading company established...
Mrs. Astor" or simply "Mrs. Astor", she was the wife of yachtsman WilliamBackhouse Astor Jr. They had five children, including Colonel John Jacob Astor...
was known as "Carrie". She was the fourth of five children born to WilliamBackhouse Astor Jr. and Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, leader of the "Four Hundred"...
(or Ferncliff) was an estate established in the mid 19th century by WilliamBackhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) in Rhinebeck, New York. Not far from his mother's...
affairs. He was the father of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, who married WilliamBackhouse Astor Jr. Schermerhorn was born on April 9, 1783, in Hyde Park, New...
Rhinebeck, New York. He was the youngest of five children and only son of WilliamBackhouse Astor Jr., a businessman, collector, and racehorse breeder/owner,...
met Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV, the only son of businessman WilliamBackhouse Astor, Jr. and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn. During...
John Jacob Astor Jr. (1791–1869), sickly and mentally unstable. WilliamBackhouse Astor Sr. (1792–1875), who married Margaret Alida Rebecca Armstrong...
creation is extant. The Backhouse Baronetcy, of London, was created in the Baronetage of England on 9 November 1660 for WilliamBackhouse, Sheriff of Berkshire...
grandparents were real estate businessman and race horse breeder/owner WilliamBackhouse Astor, Jr. (1829–1892) and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn...
Russell reports that Blagrave influenced the prominent hermeticist WilliamBackhouse (who he taught mathematics) towards the study of astrology in a manuscript...
Jacob Astor had purchased in 1844 for $10,000. Astor's grandson, WilliamBackhouse Astor, Jr., was the driving force behind the development. The design...
the Chemical Bank and Mason connection. It was their relation Mrs WilliamBackhouse Astor, Jr who began the "patriarchs balls" around the end of the 19th...
she married Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912), son of WilliamBackhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) and Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn (1830–1908)...
Chaucer, John Gower, John Lydgate, John Dastin, Abraham Andrews and WilliamBackhouse. In his preface Ashmole says of himself, "I must profess I know enough...
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