Ashmole, Elias ___ 1617-1692 ___ British ___ scientist, lawyer

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Ashmole was born in Litchfield, Staffordshire, studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, and trained in law. During the Civil War he returned to Oxford, where he became interested in alchemy and astrology. His first wife, Eleanor, died in 1641 during childbirth. As a royalist, Charles I gave him various duties, including that of collecting the excise in Staffordshire during 1644. On his return to London, Ashmole's interests appear to have widened out to include botany and anatomy. He married Lady Mainwaring, who was 20 years older than him, but whose wealth helped him accumulate a collection of astrological, medical and historical manuscripts. In 1659, his collection was enlarged when the famous botanist, John Tradescant, gifted him natural history specimens. After the Restoration, Charles II rewarded Ashmole for his loyalty with the position of Windsor Herald. Together with various other responsibilities, Ashmole also looked after the King's medals. In 1661, Ashmole was one of the founding members of the Royal Society. In 1665, Lady Mainwaring died, and he married Elizabeth Dugdale. His most famous work, 'The Institutions, Laws and Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter' was published in 1672. Ashmole is perhaps most well remembered for the Ashmolean Museum. In 1677 he gave his collections to Oxford University on condition that it provided a building to house them. The building was completed in the early 1680s and became the country's first museum. In the same year, Ashmole was offered the post of Garter King at Arms; but he asked for it be granted to William Dugdale, his wife's father.
A biography link
Wikipedia bio

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1633-1688 ___ social science nature love/sex society health

WEB TEXT LINKS
googlebooks
an extract
etext

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
Oxford University: Bodleian Library

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
The Diary and Will of Elias Ashmole
Elias Ashmole (1617 - 1692), His Autobiographical and Historical Notes, his Correspondence, and other Contemporary Sources Relating to his Life and Work
The Lives of Those Eminent Antiquaries Elias Ashmole, Esquire, and Mr. William Lilly, Written by Themselves . . .
 

May 2005, September 2008, March 2013
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IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.