Famous Freemasons – An Introduction
Across time and continents are many famous Freemasons,1 including in their ranks kings, statesmen, soldiers, sailors and airmen, scientists, composers, authors, musicians, entertainers of stage and screen, not to mention sportsmen and here are just a few. Monarchs & Statesmen: Three Kings, King Edward VII (1841–1910); King George VI (1895–1952); and King Edward VIII (1894–1972). Many other members of the Royal Family have made a significant contribution to Freemasonry, including our current Grand Master HRH The Duke of Kent. Let us also not forget, the man who is perhaps the most famous British Mason, Sir Winston Churchill.
Fourteen Presidents of the USA, including a number of the ‘Founding Fathers’, most famously George Washington. Military Men: Some high ranking such as The Duke of Wellington; Kitchener, Haig, French, and Jellicoe; Earl Alexander of Tunis, Gen. Sir Reginald Wingate, Generals Douglas McArthur and George C. Marshall; together with ‘Dinghy’ Young, shot down during the Dam buster raid, ‘Paddy’ Mayne, founder member of the SAS, and Audie Murphy soldier, actor, songwriter – one of the most decorated American soldiers of WWII. Other military characters include Davey Crockett, Jim Bowie, and Sam Houston, forever associated with the Alamo; and from the Wild West; ‘Buffalo’ Bill Cody, Christopher ‘Kit’ Carson and Sam Colt. Scientists, Inventors and Innovators: Edward Jenner, for the smallpox vaccine, Joseph Lister, pioneer of antiseptic surgery; and Alexander Fleming for his discovery of penicillin. James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. Modern innovators and captains of industry such as Andre Citroen, Henry Ford, Walter P. Chrysler, and Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple