Historian - October 2006

In 1599, Oliver Cromwell was born in England. His family was modestly wealthy and as a young man he was active in local politics, particularly in the fight to ensure that the local government in his native town was not controlled by appointees of the British Crown. He was a revolutionary minded man who believed that if society was to develop, the old order had to be overthrown. He was also a Puritan, the somewhat radical wing of the Protestants that emphasized liberty of worship based on individual conscience.

In 1640, there was great political struggle in England. King Charles I wanted to raise money through taxes and Oliver Cromwell and other members of Parliament did not. This strife eventually led to Civil War in 1642. Parliament was divided into two – the Presbyterians and the Independents. The forward thinking Oliver Cromwell was the leader of the Independents. He amassed an army of like-minded citizens requiring that those enlisted under him be “men of spirit.” The Battle of Naseby in June 1645 saw the decisive defeat of the King's forces and the completion of the first phase of fighting. It also thrust Cromwell up as the undisputed leader of Parliament. Cromwell instituted governmental reforms and in 1647, he led his army in occupying London, taking full control of Parliament. Cromwell oversaw the trial of treacherous King Charles I and ultimately saw him executed.

Cromwell and his army established a new government. England was now a republic, the Commonwealth, and the monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished. Loyalists and members of the radical religious wings were controlled by the brute strength of Cromwell’s army. Governmental reforms continued into the 1650’s with Cromwell and his army hand selecting government officials. While reform was slow in coming, he kept the pressure on by dissolving Parliament whenever they couldn’t reach an acceptable solution.

As a general, Cromwell was very successful, but as a politician he experienced more frustration than achievement. His government did not have the wide spread support that it needed to survive without him. After 15 years of civil war, on September 3, 1658, Cromwell died and his reform government crumbled. In revenge for the execution of Charles I, the newly seated King Charles II swung Cromwell's body up on the gallows.

History records that Oliver Cromwell paved the way for British parliamentarianism and democracy – a government that has stood the test of time for more than two subsequent centuries.

So, how do we tie this little history lesson into Freemasonry? Well, there is some thought that Oliver Cromwell facilitated the founding of modern Freemasonry in England. The timing is about right but Masonic Historians have pretty much dismissed it as folklore. The story goes that Cromwell encouraged the creation of a secret society (Freemasonry) that helped further his political ambitions and ultimately assist in the overthrow of the British Crown.

But how do we tie this into St. John’s Lodge? Well, Cromwell’s revolutionary spirit was very similar to the revolutionary spirit of the American colonists who rejected the British Crown some one hundred years later. Indeed, members from our Lodge shared the distaste of being controlled by an oppressive government. There’s one particularly interesting story that you may enjoy.

It seems that Rev. John Blunt, a well known and well liked preacher in New Castle married Sarah Frost (daughter of the Hon. John Frost). They had three daughters and three sons including the third boy that they named John. Little John was a shipmaster and farmer and owned a sizable peninsula that jutted out into Little Harbor. This John got married and had six sons – John, George, Robert, Charles, Mark, and Oliver (born in 1774).

Charles W. Brewster, in his Rambles about Portsmouth, recounts that the Blunt family attended church regularly in New Castle. Brewster wrote, “it was in revolutionary times when these boys were born, and the resolution and spirit which characterized their after life was rightly inherited from their father, who is described as a short man, with a bald head, covered with a wig, of full body, and carrying a cane which came down with firmness as he stepped. On the birth of the sixth boy, after a counsel between the parents, William was the name decided upon, and as usual the child was taken to the church at New Castle for christening. The Rev. Joseph Stevens of Kittery, who that day officiated, leaned on the side of royalty, and gave a sermon expressive of his sentiments, in which Cromwell, as a revolutionist, was denounced in no measured terms. This was grating to the feelings of the patriotic Blunt, and he was determined to resent it. The child is handed up and with it the name, Oliver Cromwell. ‘What did you say?’ said the wonder-struck preacher, hoping that he had misunderstood. In the tones of a boatswain, the reply filled the church ‘OLIVER CROMWELL!’ There was no misunderstanding now, the babe was christened, and hence the name of Oliver Cromwell Blunt.”

Twenty-six years later, on May 7, 1800, the man named for the “Lion of the 17th Century” - Oliver Cromwell Blunt, was raised a Master Mason in St. John’s Lodge No. 1.

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