黑料吃瓜网

I have had an interest in things historical for most of my life. I studied history as an undergraduate and during my working life I maintained my interest by acting as a trustee of a local museum and writing/delivering papers on my research topic. The opportunity to return to university presented itself following the end of my career as a partner of a firm in the accountancy profession.  Encouraged by a former Professor of the History department I finally took the plunge and have found the whole experience rewarding and stimulating – and all within a very supportive environment.

I am a student in the Centre for West Midlands History and my topic of research is the socio-economic development of Freemasonry within the county of Worcestershire 1733 – 1850. The research examines the changing business and employment patterns of freemasons in the period with the aim of identifying the extent to which freemasonry assisted in bringing together like-minded men in pursuit of similar socio-economic interests and how those interests and networks impacted on the communities of which they were a part. The period covered was a time when several groups were excluded from society on the grounds of religion, class, race etc and another facet of the research is to measure the extent to which – paradoxically- these groups were able to participate in what is often considered a “closed organisation”.

It has been said that masonic history is ‘a department of history which is not only obscure and highly controversial, but by ill luck the happiest of all hunting grounds for the light headed, the fanciful, the altogether unscholarly and the lunatic fringe of the British Museum Reading Room.’ Hopefully the end result of my efforts will partially dispel these views!