Name William Backhouse Role Philosopher | Died 1662 | |
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William Backhouse (1593 – 1662) was a renowned English Rosicrucian philosopher, alchemist, and astrologer. He was born on 17 January 1593 at Swallowfield Park, some 5 miles south of Reading in the county of Berkshire, a younger son of Samuel Backhouse. He entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1610, but left the university without taking a degree. He learned some mathematics from John Blagrave.
Backhouse married Anne the daughter of Brian Richards of Hartley Wespall in Hampshire, by whom he had two sons (who predeceased him) and a daughter, Flower. Backhouse also adopted Elias Ashmole, founder of the Ashmolean Museum, as his son, encouraging him in his studies. Backhouse died at Swallowfield on 30 May 1662.
References
William Backhouse Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA