 But the few contemporary sources that remain give a picture of Backhouse that shows him to be a "respected figure in a network of people involved in occult and philosophical studies" according to Jennifer Speake; a "most renown'd chymist, Rosicrucian, and a great encourager of those that studied chymistry and astrology" according to Anthony à Wood; and a "quiet, secretive man of an inventive mind [...] combining a gift for languages with a graceful poetic vein" according to C. H. Josten.William Backhouse was born into the Lancashire Backhouse family.The earliest recorded member of this family is a Thomas Backhouse of Cumberland.