George Holyoake
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George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 - 22 January 1906), English secularist and co-operator, was born in Birmingham, England. He coined the term "secularism" in 1846 and the term "jingoism" in 1878.[1]
Holyoake was for a brief time a lecturer at the Birmingham Mechanics' Institute. At a later stage he became an Owenite lecturer, and in 1842 was the last person convicted for blasphemy in a public lecture, held in April 1842 at the Cheltenham Mechanics' Institute, though this had no theological character and the incriminating words were merely a reply to a question addressed to him from the body of the meeting.
It took an intervention by his supporters to stop him being walked in chains from Cheltenham to Gloucester gaol and there was a formal memorial of complaint to the then Home Secretary, which was upheld. He was well supported by the Cheltenham Free Press at the time in his actions, but attacked in the Cheltenham Chronicle and Examiner. Those attending the lecture, which was the second in a series, moved and carried a motion 'that free discussion was equally beneficial in the departments of politics, morals and religion'.[2]
He nevertheless underwent six months imprisonment, and upon his release invented the inoffensive term secularism as descriptive of his opinions, and established the Reasoner in their support. He was also the last person indicted for publishing an unstamped newspaper, but the prosecution was dropped upon the repeal of the tax.
Holyoake coined the term "jingoism" in a letter to the Daily News on 13 March 1878, referring to the use of the phrase "by Jingo" in a recent belligerently patriotic song.[3]
His later years were chiefly devoted to the promotion of the cooperative movement among lower-class workers. He served as President of the first day of the 1887 Co-operative Congress.[4] He wrote the history of the Rochdale Pioneers (1857), The History of Co-operation in England (1875; revised ed., 1906), and The Co-operative Movement of To-day (1891). He also published (1892) his autobiography, under the title of Sixty Years of an Agitator's Life, and in 1905 two volumes of reminiscences, Bygones worth Remembering.
He died at Brighton on 22 January 1906, and in response the Co-operative Movement decided that a lasting monument should be built to him: a permanent home for the Co-operative Union in Manchester.[5] Holyoake House was opened in 1911, and also houses a collection of Holyoake's papers and publications: a second collection is also held at Bishopsgate Library.[6]
He was the uncle of the independent MP and convicted fraudster Horatio Bottomley and contributed towards the cost of Bottomley's upkeep after he was orphaned in 1865.
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Feldman, Noah (2005). Divided by God. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pg. 113
- ^ Turner, C M, Thesis (PhD), 'Politics in Mechanics' Institutes 1820-1850', University of Leicester, 1980, and references therein
- ^ Martin Ceadel, Semi-detached Idealists: The British Peace Movement and International Relations, 1854-1945 (Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 105.
- ^ Congress Presidents 1869-2002, February 2002, http://archive.co-op.ac.uk/downloadFiles/congressPresidentstable.pdf, retrieved on 2008-05-10
- ^ Collection Description of the Holyoake archive, held at the National Co-operative Archive, Manchester, UK
- ^ Collection Description of the Holyoake archive, held at the Bishopsgate Institute, London
- J. McCabe, Life and Letters of G. J. Holyoake (2 vols, 1908); C. W. F. Goss, Descriptive Bibliography of the Writings of G. J. Holyoake (1908).
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] Writings by G. J. Holyoake
- Rationalism A Treatise for the Times (London: J. Watson, 1845)
- The History of the Last Trial by Jury for Atheism in England A Fragment of Autobiography (London: J. Watson, 1850)
- Christianity and Secularism Report of a Public Discussion Between Rev. Brewin and G. J. Holyoake (London: Ward & co., 1853)
- Rudiments of Public Speaking and Debate or, Hints on the Application of Logic (New York: McElrath & Barker, 1853)
[edit] External links
- Secularism 101: Defining Secularism: Origins with George Jacob Holyoake
- Archival material relating to George Holyoake listed at the UK National Register of Archives
- Oxford Reference Online Premium – Edward Royle "Holyoake, George Jacob" The Oxford Companion to British History. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 1997.
- George Jacob Holyoake biography & selected writings at gerald-massey.org.uk
- Works by or about George Holyoake in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
