Dr. William Dodd (1729-1777)

Dr. William Dodd (1729-1777)

Quick Facts:

Born:

29 May 1729

Born In:

Bourne, Licolnshire, England

Died:

27 June 1777

(Execution by hanging)

Died In:

Tyburn, Middlesex, England

Became a Freemason:

1775

I’ve been reading “The Freemasons” by Jasper Ridley and in Chapter 8 “Troubles and Scandals” we find the interesting Dr. William Dodd. Previous to reading this book I had only seen a couple of references to Dodd, the first being this quote:

"Freemasonry is an institution founded on eternal reason and truth; whose deep basis is the civilization of mankind, and whose everlasting glory it is to have the immovable support of those two mighty pillars, science and morality."

The second being a small piece written by Bro Nelson King entitled, Infamous or Strange Masons: Reverend William Dodd.

This is the story of William Dodd…

William Dodd was born on 29-May-1729 and his father was the vicar of Bourne in Lincolnshire. Not much is known about his early years, but he attended the Claire Hall at the University of Cambridge from 1745 to 1750. During his years at Cambridge he attained a BA and honours in Mathematics.

After graduating he moved to London and became known to be extremely spend-thrift and was soon laden with debts. On April 1751 he was married to Mary Perkins, the daughter of a domestic servant, which left his finances in an even worse position.

At the urging of his father he took to the Priesthood and in 1751 was ordained a deacon and a priest in 1753. He served as a curate in a church in West Ham, then as a preacher at St. James Garlickhythe, followed by St Olave Hart Street. He also founded “Magdalene Home” in Streatham which was a home in which former prostitutes were reformed and rehabilitated.

During this time, he became a very popular preacher and was appointed in 1763 as one of George III’s chaplains and was appointed a Canon of Priory Church of St. John in Brecon.

In the 1750-1760s he authored several publications, Commentary on the Bible, Sermon to a Young Man and a rather sexually explicit novel called “The Sisters” which gained him no favours from the other members of the clergy.

During this time Dodd was a tutor to Philip Stanhope, later the fourth Earl of Chesterfield. Around 1765-1766 he won 1000 Pounds in a lottery and became known as “Macaroni Parson” (roughly: Fashion Priest) for his extravagant lifestyle and clothing.

Up until 1774 he seemed to be doing pretty well, until the debts started accumulate and his greed got the better of him. In February 1774 he heard that the vicar of St George’s, Hanover Square, had been appointed to Bishop of Bath and Wells. This very well paid position in Hanover Square was now available and he formulated a scheme to attain it.

The position was to be appointed by Lord Chancellor Lord Apsley, so Dodd wrote an anonymous letter to Lady Apsley offering to pay to 3,000 Pounds if she could persuade her husband to give the position to a person who would be named later.

This attempt to bribe Lady Apsley offended her and an investigation was launched to find out who would make such a ridiculous attempt to gain the Hanover Square position. Dodd, not having taken precautions to hide the origins of his attempted bribery was found out and the Lord Chancellor told the King, who insisted that Dodd be dismissed as a royal chaplain.

Despite the disgrace, his former student Philip Stanhope, the now Earl of Chesterfield helped Dodd by offering him vicarage of Wing in Bedfordshire. Though there was a lot of negative attention facing Dodd at the time, a stroke of luck would help to subdue some of those criticisms.

While returning in a carriage from Barnet to London, he and his wife were attacked near St. Pancras by a highwayman who shot at the carriage. The shots broke the glass, but no one was injured. The thief was caught and Dodd gave evidence for the prosecution which ended in the criminal’s death by hanging.

With the scandal of bribing Lady Apsley behind him, he decided to join Freemasonry, petitioning at a lodge in St Albans. The Freemasons did not hesitate to accept him and in fact the Grand Lodge gave him a special distinction as Grand Chaplain on 1 May 1775. On 3 June 1776 at the dedication of a hall on the site of the inn on Queen street, Dodd was reappointed Grand Chaplain for a second term.

Shortly after he started his second term he went on vacation to Paris. Rumours of his spending in Paris made their way back to England and when he returned in January 1777 he held a party which was reported in the Press. On February 4 1777 he contacted a money lender for a loan of 4200 pounds, offering a bond endorsed by Lord Chesterfield, his former student.

The money lender paid out the money, but was suspicious about the bond and took it to Lord Chesterfield who told him that the bond was fraudulent and the signature was not his own. Dodd quickly admitted to the fraud, offering to pay back the money, hoping to hush the situation. Lord Chesterfield however was understandably angry at Dodd for attempting to cheat him out of 4,200 pounds, after he so generously helped him after the Hanover Square scandal.

Dodd was tried for forgery in the Court of King’s Bench before three judges and a jury and was found guilty. He was sentenced to be hanged for forgery, a felony punishable by death.

Dr Johnson, a friend of Dodd’s organized a petition, signed by over 32,000 people in an attempt to seek a reprieve for Dodd. This petition however failed, as the judges recommended to the King, that if pardoned it may look as if favoritism had helped a prominent member of society escape the rule of law.

During the trial Dodd was imprisoned in Wood Street Compter and upon conviction was publicly hanged at Tyburn on 27 June 1777.

A large crowd came to Tyburn that day and several stories have since arisen. One being that after his body was cut down from the gallows, the Freemasons seized it and took it to a house where Dodd, who was not quite dead, was restored to life and that the Masons smuggled him to France to live out his days. The others said that thousands of spectators prevented the Masons from reaching the house in time to save the life of Dodd.

Bro. Ken Dennis

October 3, 2009

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