Friday, August 21, 2009
Help With A Research Project - George V. Tudhope
I am looking for background information on an author named George V. Tudhope. He penned a formidable stack of thin books, mostly centering around his belief that Francis Bacon was the founder of Freemasonry and the "secret society" that built America. Much of it parallels Manly P. Hall's "Secret Destiny" stuff. Tudhope gets trotted out a lot about this topic, and those who followed in his path seem to be one big circular citing society. That said, I have no idea who Tudhope was, where he got his information, what his background was, etc. I have two of his works ("Bacon Masonry" [no snickering please], and "Freemasonry Came to America With Captain John Smith in 1607"), but neither has anything about him.
Mike Poll passed along some clues. Apparently, Tudhope and Hall were both influenced by Henry R. Evans, editor of the New Age Magazine from around 1915 to 1920. (Evans wrote under the pen name "Mysticus".) Mike says Evans was part of a group that styled themselves "The Dwellers on the Threshold" and included Leroy M Taylor and Harry Houdini. Tudhope was late to the party and started writing in the 1950's, basing some of his works on the ideas of the "Dwellers".
If you have any more details or suggested places to look, please contact me at hodapp@aol.com
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The phrase "Dwellers on the Threshold" actually sounds an awful lot like a reference to one of two things:
ReplyDelete(1) the works of H.P. Lovecraft and his circle, involving cosmic horror fiction; Lovecraft collaborated with Houdini on fiction, so not entirely implausible.
(2) guardians to the inner realms of reality in kabbalistically inclined magick.
Have you thought of contacting the librarian at the House of the Temple in DC? The New Age Magazine, of course, was the name of the house organ of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Freemasonry (an organ now renamed The Scottish Rite Journal, edited by S. Brent Morris). The library at HoT is immense, and very good on even obscure Masonic authors.
The man who knows all, of course, is AdH -- very, very busy man. Also at HoT, of course. Good luck to you, my friend.
I saw your query about George V. Tudhope. It is an unsual name. Therefore, I pass along what little I know of a man by that name who built the house in which I live. I, too, am searching for information on him. He was the Assistant Superintendent of the Electrical Dept. for the City of Oakland (Calif.) from Dec. 1909 to June 1951, when he retired. Whether he turned to writing then, I do not know. However, I know man who worked for him (and is now 106 years old). His memory is not what it used to be, but I when I next see him I will inquire.
ReplyDeleteI have read many of the books of George V. Tudhope and I have since I first heard the name been interested in finding out who is behind the pen name - because it is clearly a pen name. George V – hope of the Tudors? His knowledge of Knights of the Helmet, Bacon and the early Rosicrucians is intriguing. I have studied this subject already for 20 years and I can confirm that this writer is correct in every aspect. There are those who believe that the Templars created freemasonry, but this is merely an allegory. The real and veiled history must be traced back to the second half of the fifteen hundreds, when also the first speculative lodges started to pop up in Scotland and the Knights of the Helmet had their heyday. For those masons able to read the Anderson`s Constitutions in the right way, there should be no more doubt from where masonry has it`s origin. Like all masonry, the real meaning is not presented in clear writing and is meant only for those few that through hard study eventually sees the real truth.
ReplyDeleteI was most amused by the comment on this page made by “tdebley” regarding a “man of that name” which “built the house”. Another reference to someone being “106” years old… I wonder where I heard the age 106 before… some 400 year old small booklet perhaps?
I am not sure whether we will expose this George V. Tudhope or not, but it would surely be interesting if we could.
Bro.: O. K. Thomassen FRC, Norway
http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/California/George-V-Tudhope-Junior_2glcw4
ReplyDeletehttps://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP4W-Q35
ReplyDeleteI have G.V. Tudhope's personal copy of Bacon Masonry and affixed to the inside cover is a printed label that gives his address as Oakland, California. The book is a first edition copy bound in blue cloth and has several pages of tipped in inserts of corrections. I believe Tudhope to have been a pen name for Manley P Hall
ReplyDelete