William Alexander Ayton

Who was William Alexander Ayton?

William Alexander Ayton was a British Anglican clergyman with an interest in alchemy. He was Vicar of Chacombe from 1873-1894. In 1894 he retired on a small pension, and he died at Saffron Walden in 1909. He translated from Latin the life of John Dee written by Thomas Smith.

He is generally thought to have been a member of the shadowy Society of Eight founded in 1883. He became a member of the successor Order of the Golden Dawn. He was a supporter of the reforms of Arthur Edward Waite, which split the Order as the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn and the Stella Matutina.