| Robert Moray |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT ROBERT MORAY | |
| 1608 births | |
| 1673 deaths | |
| alumni of the university of st andrews | |
| covenanters | |
| fellows of the royal society | |
| freemasonry | |
| presidents of the royal society | |
| scottish soldiers | |
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The son of Sir Mungo Murray, he attended the University Of St Andrews and continued his education in France, where he joined the army of Louis XIII , reaching the rank of colonel. He made friends with Cardinal Richelieu . He returned to Scotland and became General of Ordnance in the Covenanter Army which invaded England in 1641 and was in charge of the Scottish Army at Newcastle Upon Tyne , where on May 20 he became the first person initiated into speculative Freemasonry on English soil. He regularly used the Five Pointed Star , his masonic mark, on his correspondence. He was knighted by Charles I on January 10 1643 . He fought in Mazarin 's Army in Germany and was imprisoned in Bavaria . Appointed Colonel of the Scotch Regiment at this time, he was also nominated by the Scots to negotiate with France . His release from Bavaria was secured and returned to England . By 1646 he was with Charles I and the Scottish army in Newcastle where he arranged for the King to escape in disguise, but Charles backed out at the last minute fearing to be discovered in a ridiculous situation. Duriong the Commonwealth period Moray lived abroad; he was in Bruges in 1656, then in Maastricht until 1659. Following the restoration of Charles II , Moray became the first President of the Royal Society at its first formal meeting on November 28 , 1660 and was influential in gaining its Royal Charter and formulating its statutes and regulations. He married Sophia Lindsay, daughter of Sir David Lindsay, first Earl Of Balcarres . Following her death, he became a recluse, except for attending philosophical meetings, and devoted most of his time to chemical experiments. Moray had a range of notable friends: Samuel Pepys , Thomas Vaughan , Andrew Marvell , John Evelyn and Gilbert Burnet . EXTERNAL LINKS |
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