HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [185 



In March 1638, he married Eleanor, daughter of Mr. Main.wa- 

 ring, of Smallwood, in Cheshire. In Michaelmas term the same 

 year, he became a Solicitor in Chancery, and subsequently an At- 

 torney in the Court of Common Pleas. On the 5th of December 

 1641, his wife died, of whom he left an affectionate memorial; and 

 London at this period being in a very disturbed state, he retired 

 into Cheshire, where he remained till 1645, and on the 9th of May 

 that year, he joined the Royal standard in opposition to the Par- 

 liament, and was appointed one of the engineers or gentlemen of 

 the ordnance in the garrison of Oxford. 



Mr. Ashmole had now an opportunity for the full exertion of his 

 active corporeal and mental powers, and as he was a zealous loy- 

 alist, he was advanced to places of considerable trust. From Ox- 

 ford he was removed to Worcester, where he was appointed com- 

 missioner, receiver, and register of the excise, a very difficult and 

 troublesome office, at a time when a civil war raged in the land, 

 and the royal revenue was so uncertain. Ardent in the cause of his 

 Sovereign, he was desirous to devote his life to his service, and 

 was appointed captain in Lord Ashley's regiment of infantry, and 

 comptroller of the ordnance. Yet amid the perils of civil warfare, 

 he found moments of leisure, in which he applied himself vigo- 

 rously to the study of natural philosophy, mathematics, and astro- 

 nomy. His intimacy with Mr. Wharton, who was an astrologer, 

 diverted his attention from more useful pursuit;; to the whimsical 

 theories of that science as it was then called, and highly prized 

 by many learned men in Britain, and on the Continent. 



In July 1646, his mother died. She had always been a kind pa- 

 rent, and the object of his filial affection. On the 16th of Octo- 

 ber, the same year, he was elected a free mason, and wrote an ac- 

 count of the lodge established at Warrington. 



After the surrender of the garrison of Worcester, and the fatal 

 termination of the war, Mr. Ashmole again retired into Cheshire, 

 where he continued a few months, and then went to London, where 

 he became acquainted with Sir Jonas Moore, Mr. Lilly, and Mr. 

 Booker, at that time considered as the most eminent astrologers 

 in the world. From these his philosophical friends Mr. Ash- 

 mole imbibed all the ridiculous absurdities of judicial astrology. 

 An anniversary feast was then held in honour of the science, and 

 persons of high distinction thought it an honour to associate with 

 these English magi. 



lu 1647, Mr, Ashmole retired to a pleasant seat in Berkshire, 



