Robert Felkin

Dr Robert William Felkin, M.D.
Born	1853 Nottingham, England
Died	1926 Havelock North, New Zealand
Occupation	Medical Missionary and Explorer; Ceremonial Magician
Spouse(s)	Mary Mander; Harriet
Children	Ethelwyn Mary Felkin, Samuel Denys Felkin, Laurence Felkin
Parent(s)	Robert Felkin Sr.

Dr Robert William Felkin FRSE LRCSE LRCP (13 March 1853 – 28 December 1926) was a medical missionary and explorer, a ceremonial magician and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a prolific author on Uganda and Central Africa, and early anthropologist, with an interest in ethno-medicine and tropical diseases.

He was founder in 1903 of the Stella Matutina, a new Order based on the original Order of the Golden Dawn, with its Hermes Temple in Bristol, UK and, later, Whare Ra (or more correctly, the Smaragdum Thallasses Temple) in Havelock North, New Zealand in 1912.

The fullest account of his life is found in A Wayfaring Man, a fictionalised biography written by his second wife Harriet and published in serial form between 1936 and 1949.

Robert William Felkin was born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, on 13 March 1853, the son of Robert Felkin (1828-1899), a Nonconformist lace manufacturer. His grandfather, William Felkin (1795-1874), son of a Baptist minister, remains one of the best known names in the Victorian lace industry and was mayor of Nottingham in 1851, when he exhibited at the Great Exhibition. But he overreached, and the business failed disastrously in 1864, when Felkin retired to write standard works on the lace and hosiery trades. His son and partner Robert Felkin Sr settled in Wolverhampton to take up a position as manager of the home department of Mander Brothers, varnish manufacturers. Robert Jr was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School, where he met the explorer David Livingstone, who inspired him to become a medical missionary.

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