James King, 4th Baron Kingston (1693 – 26 December 1761) was a British member of the peerage. King was a prominent

freemason 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 ...

, being the Grand Master of the

Premier Grand Lodge of England The organisation now known as the Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster. Originally concerned with the practice of Freemasonry in London and Westminster, it soon became known as ...

for 1728–1730 and also Grand Master of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as ...

for 1731–1732 and 1735–1736. He was also a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. Despite being born in France to Jacobite parents, he was naturalised at the age of 13 years old on 8 January 1707 as a British subject and was a Protestant.

Background

Born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to John King, 3rd Baron Kingston and his wife Margaret O'Cahan, James' father had been a close supporter of king

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

and following his overthrow fled in exile to France with him. His father was given a pardon on 3 September 1694 by the British government and the new regime in London, switching sides and eventually returning to the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...

, where he would serve in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...

. The young James King petitioned for naturalisation on 8 January 1707, where he and his siblings were described as "born out of her Majesty's allegiance, but are good Protestants."

Freemasonry

King was a prominent

; he was Grand Master of the

for 1728—1730 and also Grand Master of the

for 1731–1732 and 1735–1736. As well as his involvement in freemasonry in England and Ireland, he also was involved in

freemasonry in France Freemasonry in France (french: Franc-maçonnerie) has been influential on the worldwide Masonic movement due to its founding of Continental Freemasonry. There are many and varied Masonic rites and obediences in France. The main male-only mason ...

. King was an officer of Masonry in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and was also active in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He was a member of a Masonic lodge in Paris, which had

Louis-Marie-Augustin d'Aumont, 4th Duke of Aumont The family of d'Aumont is a French noble house which takes its name from Aumont, a small commune in the department of the Somme. The dukedom of Aumont in the peerage of France was created in 1665 for Antoine d'Aumont de Rochebaron (1601–16 ...

(1709–1782), as its Grand Master and included notables such as

James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, (168411 April 1741) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Austria and France. Life Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave and Henrietta FitzJames, the illegitimate daughter of ...

(the Ambassador of Great Britain to France),

Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Saint-Florentin Louis Phélypeaux (18 August 1705 – 27 February 1777) Count of Saint-Florentin, Marquis (1725) and Duke of La Vrillière (1770), was a French politician. Biography Son of Louis Phélypeaux, Marquis de La Vrillière, and Françoise de Mail ...

(the Foreign Minister of France) and the Enlightenment philosopher

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...

. Freemasonry during the early 18th century had somewhat of a Jacobite tinge to it, particularly in France and Ireland. In England, the supporters of the Hanoverians, particularly under Prime Minister

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

, had decided to move into freemasonry and make it their own, rather than attack it outright or suppress it, as well as this, abroad (especially in Paris) the Hanoverians and Jacobites spied on each other in the masonic lodges. Some persons within freemasonry, such as

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 O ...

and James Anderson (author of ''The Constitutions of the Free-Masons'' in 1723) were happy to oblige with this Whiggish reorientation. In relation to France, around 1737, Cardinal

André-Hercule de Fleury André-Hercule de Fleury, Bishop of Fréjus, Archbishop of Aix (22 June or 26 June 165329 January 1743) was a French cardinal who served as the chief minister of Louis XV. Life and government He was born in Lodève, Hérault, the son of a tax f ...

, the Chief Minister to

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

was looking to make peace with Walpole and Britain. The masonic lodges in France, founded mostly by Jacobite military exiles, were a threat to this deal and so de Fleury directed

René Hérault René Hérault, Seigneur de Fontaine-l'Abbé et de Vaucresson (23 April 1691 – 2 August 1740), simply known as René Hérault, and sometimes as René Hérault de Vaucresson, was a French magistrate and administrator who served as Lieuten ...

to shut them down. He also pressed

Pope Clement XII Pope Clement XII ( la, Clemens XII; it, Clemente XII; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the ...

to issue a bull the following year condemning freemasonry. It was into this complex interweaving drama that King became caught up in a significant controversy, which led to the revelation of Masonic rituals to the public in France with the publication of ''La réception d'un frey-maçon'' (1737) in '' La Gazette de Hollande''. The police chief Hérault did not just use physical force against freemasonic lodges, but also sought to elicit intelligence by using the sexual services of certain women. Marie Armabade Carton, a dancer with the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

who had been a mistress to banker Samuel Demard and Marshal

Maurice de Saxe Maurice, Count of Saxony (german: Hermann Moritz von Sachsen, french: Maurice de Saxe; 28 October 1696 – 20 November 1750) was a notable soldier, officer and a famed military commander of the 18th century. The illegitimate son of Augustus I ...

, was used. King had previously seduced her daughter, causing the break-up of the marriage. Upon meeting King in Paris, Carton gave the impression that she was familiar with masonic secrets from past lovers and enticed King to demonstrate his knowledge for sexual favours. Any so-called "great secret" which Hérault and de Fleury sought, was not revealed but the rituals of the Craft were exposed to the public and published not only in French, but also the following year in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

''.

Marriages

King married twice during his life. Firstly to Elizabeth Meade, daughter of Sir John Meade, 1st Baronet and his second wife Eleanor Redman of Ballylinch, and former wife of

Ralph Freke Sir Ralph Freke, 1st Baronet ( – 1717) of West Bilney, Norfolk, and Rathbarry (afterwards Castle Freke), County Cork, was a baronet in the Baronetage of Great Britain and a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. He was the son and ...

, with whom he had three children; Margaret, William and Elizabeth King. Later, in July 1751, King married for a second time; this time to Isabella Ogle, daughter of Nathaniel Ogle. No children were born to this marriage. As King's son William died before him, the lands he controlled in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

and

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

passed through his daughter Margaret, who was married to

Richard FitzGerald Richard Fitzgerald VC (December 1831, St. Finbar's, Cork, Ireland – 1884 in India) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross. Details He was approximately 25 years old, and a Gunner in the Bengal Horse Artillery, Bengal Army during the ...

. Eventually, the lands came back into the King family through the

Earls of Kingston Earl of Kingston is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1768 for Edward King, 1st Viscount Kingston. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles Baron Kingston, of Rockingham in the County of Roscommon (created in 1764), Viscount ...

Bibliography

* O'Sullivan, Eilís, ''Ascendancy Women and Elementary Education in Ireland: Educational Provision for Poor Children, 1788 - 1848'' (2017) * Peter, Robert, ''British Freemasonry, 1717–1813, Volume 5'' (2016)

External links

4th Baron Kingston
at The Peerage

at Rodama

by William E. Parker {{PGLE 1693 births 1761 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish Freemasons Irish Anglicans French Freemasons Grand Masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England King family (Anglo-Irish aristocracy) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland