Was William Blake a Freemason?

Question

Was William Blake a Freemason?

Answer 1

Blake is remembered as a poet and painter, but in his time, he was not considered to be an artist. When he became apprenticed in 1772, his master engraver was James Basire, who lived on No. 31 Great Queen Street, opposite the Masonic Grand Lodge. Quite a few of Blake’s friends would enter Freemasonry, though there is no record that Blake ever joined. Blake’s biographer Peter Ackroyd states that Blake never joined any organisation, but according to the lists of grandmasters of the Druid Order, Blake was a grandmaster from 1799 till 1827. Of course, such lists are often grand claims with little substantiation. Still, when he lived at No. 28 Poland Street, between 1785 and 1790, the “The Ancient Order of the Druids” convened merely a few yards down from Blake’s house, in an ale-house apparently established by the Order itself. Too close for comfort?

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Answer 2

No