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 1851^[1] and the term "jingoism" in 1878.^[2]

Contents 1 Owenism 2 Prosecution 3 Secularism 4 Co-operative movement 5 Miscellaneous 6 Works 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Owenism

Holyoake was for a brief time a lecturer at the Birmingham Mechanics' Institute, later becoming a Owenite lecturer.

Holyoake joined Charles Southwell in dissenting from the official policy of Owenism that lecturers should take a religious oath, to enable them to take collections on Sundays. Southwell had founded the atheist Oracle of Reason, and was soon imprisoned because of its contents. Holyoake took over as editor, having moved to an atheist position as a result of his experiences. Holyoake was influenced a great deal by the French sociologist, August Comte, the founder of positivism. Comte, like John Stuart Mill, had himself attempted to establish a secular 'religion of humanity' to fulfil the cohesive function of traditional religion.

[edit] Prosecution

In 1842, Holyoake became 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'.^[3]

[edit] Secularism

Holyoake nevertheless underwent six months imprisonment, and the editorship of the Oracle changed hands. After the Oracle closed at the end of 1843, Holyoake founded a more moderate paper, The Movement, which survived until 1845. Holyoake then established the Reasoner, where he developed the concept of secularism. He was also the last person indicted for publishing an unstamped newspaper, but the prosecution was dropped upon the repeal of the tax.

Holyoake retained his disbelief in God, but after the Oracle soon came to regard "atheism" as a negative word - hence his preference for "secularism". Holyoake adopted the word "agnostic" when that became available.^[4]

[edit] Co-operative movement

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.^[5] 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 was buried in Highgate Cemetery in London.^[6] The Co-operative Movement decided that a lasting monument should be built to him: a permanent home for the Co-operative Union in Manchester.^[7] 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.^[8]

[edit] Miscellaneous

Holyoake coined the term "jingoism" in a letter to the Daily News on 13 March 1878, referring to the patriotic song "By Jingo" by G. W. Hunt, popularised by the music hall singer G. H. MacDermott.^[9]

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.^[10]

[edit] Works

• 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] See also

• Mechanics' Institutes
• The Oracle of Reason

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Berman, David (1990). A history of atheism in Britain: from Hobbes to Russell, London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-04727-7.
• McCabe, Joseph (1908). Life and Letters of George Jacob Holyoake (2 vols). London: Watts & Co. [Incorporates A contribution towards a bibliography of the writings of George Jacob Holyoake, by C.W.F. Goss, pp.329-344.]
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about: George Jacob Holyoake

• 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)