William Dodd, An Oration Delivered at the Dedication of Free-Masons’ Hall, Great Queen-Street, Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, on Thursday, May 23, 1776 (1776)

William Dodd probably enjoyed overspending, especially on fashionable garments for himself – which earned him the nickname of ‘the Macaroni Parson’ – and was indeed heavily indebted.3 However, the clergyman committed himself to several humanitarian causes, such as the Society for the Relief and Discharge of Persons Imprisoned for Small Debts (later the Discharged Prisoners’ Society) and the Society for the Ressuscitation of Persons Apparently Drowned (later the Royal Humane Society). He also tried to help repentant prostitutes at London’s Magdalene Hospital and advocated ways to bring pain relief to women delivering babies.4