About Us
“In sum, I would advise all in general, that they would take into serious consideration the true and genuine ends of knowledge; that they seek it not either for pleasure, or contention, or contempt of others, or for profit, or fame, or for honour and promotion, or such like adulterate or inferior ends; but for the merit and emolument of life; and that they regulate and perfect the same in charity.”
Francis Bacon, The Preface, Advancement of Learning – 1640
The Francis Bacon Research Trust (FBRT)
UK Registered Charitable Trust (#280616) | VAT Reg. #487 8233 01
The Trust is administered by a Board of Trustees:
Robert Wilson (Chairman); Julia Cleave; Donna Duncombe, Helen Johnson; Robert Waygood.
The Secretary is Sarah Dawkins.
The Principal is Peter Dawkins.
Peter Dawkins
Peter Dawkins, MA (Cantab), Dip.Arch.
Peter is a philosopher, historian, author, lecturer, teacher and leader of workshops, seminars and special events in many countries of the world. His specialist interest is in the Western wisdom traditions and mysteries, mythology, sacred architecture and landscape, and the English Renaissance. He is a recognised authority on the history and wisdom of the 16th/17th century Rosicrucians, Francis Bacon and Shakespeare, and their effect on the world. He teaches mostly through talks, seminars, workshops, mystery school events and pilgrimages to sacred sites of the world.
Peter is the founder-principal of the Francis Bacon Research Trust, which specialises in research and education concerning Bacon, Shakespeare, the Rosicrucians, and other philosophers and artists of the European Renaissance. Together with his wife and partner Sarah, Peter also runs the Zoence Academy and Mystery School, which is particularly involved in the Western wisdom traditions and the wisdom of the land, and is an elder of Gatekeeper Trust, a UK educational charity which he co-founded with a group of friends shortly after the FBRT was founded in 1980.
The Baconian work, which is likewise involved with knowledge of the landscape as well as history, philosophy, culture and consciousness, concerns one of the great doorways into the otherwise esoteric Western Wisdom Tradition. Shakespeare and the Rosicrucians are part of this story.
Peter’s book, The Shakespeare Enigma, presents the treasure trail that leads to (and is) this ‘doorway’, whilst its complementary book, Building Paradise, describes what the Baconian-Rosicrucian method and work actually is. A panoramic summary of this wisdom knowledge is given in his book, Core Truths, and a more detailed description of the wisdom that underlies the Shakespeare plays can be found in his series of books on the ‘Wisdom of Shakespeare’ . The FBRT website and most of the essays are also written by Peter, which go into even greater detail concerning all of this and more.
Peter's website: www.peterdawkins.com
Zoence website: www.zoence.co.uk
Gatekeeper Trust website: www.gatekeeper.org.uk
Sarah Dawkins
Sarah Dawkins, BSc (Hons)
Sarah is secretary of the Francis Bacon Research Trust and co-director of Zoence Academy together with her husband and partner Peter. Sarah organises, teaches and leads workshops, retreats and pilgrimages internationally. One of Sarah's special interests and expertise is Paneurhythmy, a form of dance-yoga composed and developed by Peter Deunov between 1922 and 1944 in the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria, which Sarah teaches and leads people in dancing and singing.
Sarah has also been involved in the inception and organisation of Gatekeeper Trust, whose current principal concern, like that of Zoence, is with the art of pilgrimage and its potential for personal and planetary healing. Over the years she has been the secretary and a trustee, and is currently an elder of the Trust.
Working with her husband Peter and Zoence Academy, and the educational charities FBRT and Gatekeeper Trust, Sarah has gained wide experience in designing, organising, leading and co-leading pilgrimages, conferences, workshops and retreats in many countries of the world.
Zoence website: www.zoence.com
Gatekeeper Trust website: www.gatekeeper.org.uk