George Holyoake

George Jacob Holyoake ( born April 13, 1817 in Birmingham, † January 22, 1906 in Brighton ) was an English writer and agitator, the concerns of the labor movement, of free thought and the cooperative movement represented.

Life

Holyoake was the second of 13 children and came from a modest background. His father George was a foreman in a foundry, the mother of Catherine button maker. The first relatively good economic situation of the family deteriorated dramatically. Holyoake itself initially received only a basic education and was nine years old apprentice in a foundry. 1831, ie 14 years, but he was involved already in the Reform League his home town and thus began his lifelong involvement in political and social movements. From 1834 onwards, took Holyoake addition to his work in the foundry for several years courses on Mechanics' Institute. He listened to lectures Robert Owens, who deeply influenced his thinking and agrees to lead the 1841 initiated by Charles Southwell atheist weekly Oracle of Reason after the arrest of the editor of blasphemy on. Also Holyoake himself, however, was arrested for a separate lecture in Cheltenham on Owens ideas and condemned as an atheist to six months in prison. Holyoake was the last Englishman who had to serve a prison sentence for this offense opinion. After his release, Holyoake coined the term ' secularism ' to his views to designate and represented them in the thirty vintages of which he founded in 1846 the journal The Reasoner. A pending against him by the government -made process led to the abolition of the newspaper stamp in England; Holyoake was also instrumental in the adoption of this law, ( Evidence amendment act of 1869 ), which granted civil insurance same legal force as the Christian oath. Next he gave the impetus and the plan to the Blue books that made the Foreign Office elaborate on the conditions of the working classes in foreign lands by Lord Clarendon.

Were observed throughout Europe Holyoakes writings on the cooperative system. His work The history of co -operation in Rochdale (1872 ) called within two years against 250 workers' cooperatives to life and has been widely translated. His main work applies the History of co -operation in England (London 1875-1879, 2 vols, 3rd edition 1885).