[Tommies] Fw: permission request & Templar/Masonic research

Sun Mar 8 23:31:39 EDT 2009

BlankFYI

"Malcolm" is the Earl of Caithness.

Researching the story of David Thomson can be a lot of fun!
Genevieve

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Malcolm Caithness 
To: gcfraser at peoplepc.com 
Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 1:13 PM
Subject: RE: permission request & Templar/Masonic research

Dear Genevieve

Apologies for not replying earlier. I would be delighted for you to use the two etchings of the castle with the appropriate accreditation.

What an interesting link. between the Thompsons, Forresters and Sinclairs which I did not know.

As to the Zeno saga there are those who swear by it and those that don't. Have a look at 
www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ahamilton/sinclair.htm and see what you think. I would like to think his fleet did reach the New World but as far as I am concerned the jury is still out.

Best wishes

Malcolm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: gcfraser at peoplepc.com [mailto:gcfraser at peoplepc.com] 
Sent: 09 February 2009 23:59
To: chief at clansinclair.org
Subject: permission request & Templar/Masonic research

211 Dana Road
Orange, Massachusetts USA 
01364

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe
Wick
Caithness
KW1 4QT

Dear Rt Hon The Earl of Caithness,

I was deeply impressed by the Sinclair-Girnigoe website and request permission to use the two etchings of the castles for a book I am writing, "In Search of David Thomson (died 1628) and the Alchemy of American Democracy." (see attached Thomson seal)  

To date, I have had four articles published by the Scottish Genealogical Society entitled, "DAVID THOMSON, THE SCOTTISH FOUNDER OF NEW HAMPSHIRE... A GENTLEMAN, AND A SCHOLAR."  The book will be an expansion of the theories documented in the articles plus additional research conducted over the past several years.  David Thomson was named Governor of the Massachusetts grant (1623) under the Council for New England.  He was also granted 6,000 acres in Piscataqua (now New Hampshire).

After extensive research (including many primary source documents) in the USA, Scotland, and England, I have come to the conclusion that David Thomson was of Corstorphine, Midlothian and of a family that had married into the Forresters of Corstorphine.  David was born about 1588, and his grandmother from the previous century would have been Jean Sinclair married to Sir John Forrester.  According to Sinclair genealogies I have had access to, Jean Sinclair Forrester's brother, William, was the builder of Rosslyn Castle.

There is a three page letter written by David Thomson to Thomas Howard, the Earl of Arundel - http://www.wellswooster.com/tommies/arundel_letter.html - that the Duke of Norfolk granted me permission to have photographed and use.  The Earl of Arundel was a member of the Council for New England, along with King James I's cousin, Ludvick Stuart, the Duke of Lennox.  Arundel was believed to have been a grandmaster of an early Freemasonic order in London, succeeding in the title following the death of his brother-in-law, Philip Hebert, Earl of Pembroke.  

If you examine the Thomson seal, you will note the Templar Cross and the ouroboros in chief.  David's closest friend in New England was Samuel Maverick who married his widow, Amias Cole.  Maverick was later named Royal Commissioner under Charles II.  He used the Thomson seal in that capacity and also a seal with an engrailed cross with roses between the extensions.  Maverick's actual heraldic arms were three hatchet.  I wondered if the engrailed cross was also one held by David Thomson.  (Maverick was from Exeter, England.)

There is one additional element in the story with a possible Sinclair connection.  Thomson's Island in Boston Harbor was held by David, not through the Council for New England, but from an earlier claim.  According to Miles Standish of the Plymouth Pilgrims fame, David Thomson had shown him an "ancient map" with the Isle Thomson on it.

Whether or not the Zeno saga is truly about Earl Henry Sinclair, the Earl's travels to North America might have been fact or perhaps others of the Sinclair family might have embarked on such a voyage.  Alexander Thomson (reputed to be the grandson on Sir Thomas Stewart , the Earl of Mar's son according to Thomson of Corstorphine genealogy) married Margaret Forrester in the later part of the 15th century.  Are there archives of other voyages taken by the Sinclairs?  If they are hidden away in a charter chest, I would be delighted to have access to them through the National Archives, and/or would be happy to follow through with any other source/suggestion you might have.

Thank you for your kind indulgence.

Sincerely,

Genevieve Fraser

a.k.a. G. Thomson Fraser

gcfraser at peoplepc.com

978-544-1872 (Massachusetts, USA)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been scanned by Netintelligence
http://www.netintelligence.com/email

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.hostedbyisg.com/pipermail/tommies/attachments/20090308/052c099a/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 145 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.hostedbyisg.com/pipermail/tommies/attachments/20090308/052c099a/attachment.gif 