David Harrison is a UK-based Masonic historian who has so far written seven books on the history of English

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, one book related to Freemasonry, and has contributed articles on the subject to various magazines which deal with the topic of Freemasonry around the world, such as the UK based Freemasonry Today, MQ Magazine, the US based Knight Templar Magazine, Philalethes and the Australian-based New Dawn Magazine. Harrison has also appeared on TV and radio discussing his work. Having gained his PhD from the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in 2008 which focused on the development of English Freemasonry, the thesis was subsequently published in March 2009 entitled The Genesis of Freemasonry by Lewis Masonic, a UK-based publisher who specialise in Masonic works. The work put forward the origins of Freemasonry and discussed its development throughout the eighteenth century, Harrison championing what has been termed the 'river theory'; Freemasonry originating from the Stonemason's Guilds in England, becoming influenced by an influx of different popular ideas throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries such as

Alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

, the search for the true dimensions of

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...

and

Natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient wo ...

. Harrison put forward that the French Huguenot and natural philosopher

John Theophilus Desaguliers John Theophilus Desaguliers FRS (12 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had studied at ...

created the Masonic three degree system in the 1720s, being in part, influenced by the research of Sir

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

on the dimensions of Solomon's Temple. Harrison's work and style, though academic based, has become controversial and his first book has been criticised for not having the traditional layout of a PhD thesis, for his writing technique and for publication choice. On the whole however, the work received positive reviews. His second book The Transformation of Freemasonry continues the historical analysis of English Freemasonry through the nineteenth century, looking at how the society fell out of fashion after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and how it adapted to become a popular networking society as the Victorian era progressed. Harrison has admitted to being a Freemason in a TV interview.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, David Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British historians