 | |
 Manifesto of the League | |
| Formation | 1891; 134 years ago (1891) |
|---|---|
| Founders | |
| Dissolved | December 1919; 105 years ago (1919-12) |
| Purpose | Promotion ofhumanitarianism andanimal rights |
| Headquarters | London, England |
TheHumanitarian League was a British radical advocacy organisation based in London that operated from 1891 to 1919. Founded byHenry S. Salt withEdward Maitland,Ernest Bell,Howard Williams,Kenneth Romanes andAlice Lewis, it promoted a general principle of humaneness, opposing avoidable suffering to anysentient being, and pursued reforms across both human and animal concerns.
The League campaigned againstcapital andcorporal punishment,hunting for sport andvivisection,compulsory vaccination, and for changes in criminal law and prison practices. It disseminated its views through its journalsHumanity (1895–1902),The Humanitarian (1902–1919) andThe Humane Review (1900–1910), as well as books, pamphlets and public meetings. Membership and activity declined during theFirst World War, and the organisation dissolved in 1919. Former members subsequently helped to found the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports (now theLeague Against Cruel Sports).
InThe Ethics of Diet (1883), a history of vegetarianism,Howard Williams proposed the creation of a humane society with a broader scope than any that existed at the time.[1] This idea was later developed byHenry S. Salt in an 1889 article on humanitarianism published in theWestminster Review, where he argued for a consistent principle of humaneness applied to allsentient beings.[2]
In 1891, Henry S. Salt founded the Humanitarian League, also serving as its general secretary and editor of its publications. Other founding members includedEdward Maitland,Ernest Bell (chairman of committee and treasurer),[3]Howard Williams,Kenneth Romanes andAlice Lewis (treasurer). Its inaugural meeting was held at Lewis's house,14 Park Square, London, and she remained treasurer throughout the League's existence.[1][4] Many of the founders were also members of theShelley Society.[5]
The provisional committee of the League in April 1891 consisted ofWilliam E. A. Axon,R. H. Jude, Alice Lewis, Edward Maitland,R. E. O'Callaghan, Rev. G. J. Ouseley, Kenneth Romanes, Howard Williams and Salt.[6]
The League's guiding principle was that it is iniquitous to inflict avoidablesuffering on anysentient being. Its manifesto declared:[7]
The Humanitarian League has been established on the basis of an intelligible and consistent principle of humaneness – that it is iniquitous to inflict suffering, directly or indirectly, on any sentient being, except when self-defence or absolute necessity can justly be pleaded.
The League opposedcorporal andcapital punishment,hunting for sport,vivisection, andcompulsory vaccination.[1][8] Many members werevegetarians, and the League aimed to reduce animal suffering.[5][6][9]
In 1895 the League opened an office inGreat Queen Street, London, and launched its journal,Humanity (laterThe Humanitarian). That year it also held the first National Humanitarian Conference, with lectures covering diverse perspectives. From 1897 its headquarters onChancery Lane actively engaged with the press and organised public debates.[10]
The League's executive committee consisted of Ernest Bell, Alfred Binns,Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner,Herbert Burrows, Joseph Collinson, Helen Densmore,Edmund Harvey, Mrs. C. Mallet, W. Douglas Morrison, Henry S. Salt, Howard Williams and Llewellyn W. Williams.[11]
The League organised campaigns againstblood sports, punishments for vagrancy, imprisonment for debt, "crimes of conscience", and other "barbarisms of the age".[10] It also campaigned forhuman rights, contributing to the 1906 ban on flogging in theRoyal Navy and seeking to reform laws onimprisonment for debt and non-criminal offences.[12]
The League drafted the Sport Regulation Bill in 1894 which was introduced in Parliament byAlpheus Morton.[13][14] The Bill would prohibit the hunting, coursing, and shooting of animals kept in confinement.[14]
In 1895 the League was divided into four specialist departments: the Criminal Law and Prison Reform Department, the Sports Department, the Humane Diet Department and the Lectures for Children. Each department had a separate committee.[1]
Joseph Stratton was honorary secretary of the Sports Department.[15] The department condemned blood sports and any sport which caused suffering to animals.[15] In 1897 the Humane Diet Department was renamed the Humane Diet and Dress Department, and in 1898 an Indian Humanitarian Committee was established.[1]
The Animals Defence Committee replaced the former Humane Diet and Dress Department and the Sports Department.[1] In 1909 the committee campaigned against the cruelties of the slaughterhouse, stag hunting, school-beagling, plumes, seal-skin trades and snake-feeding at zoological gardens. Members included R. Stephen Ayling, Ernest Bell,Joseph Collinson,Charles W. Forward and George Penn-Gaskell.[16][17]
In 1908 the Criminal Law and Prison Reform Department merged into the Criminal Law and Prison Reform Committee, which covered both British and Indian affairs.Joseph Collinson served as honorary secretary of the committee for thirteen years.[1]
Local branches of the League were established atCroydon andLetchworth after a meeting in 1909.[1] AManchester branch was formed with support from William E. A. Axon,William Byles and Rev. A. L. Broadley in 1912.[18] By 1914 the Croydon branch had 56 members.[1]
The League disseminated its ideas through journals, edited by Henry S. Salt:Humanity (1895–1902), later renamedThe Humanitarian (1902–1919), and the quarterlyThe Humane Review (1900–1910).[19]
During theFirst World War, the League's membership and publication output declined.[1] The organisation closed in 1919,[20] shortly after the death of Salt's wife.[21]
In 1924, former members of the League,Henry Brown Amos and Ernest Bell, established theLeague for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports, which later became theLeague Against Cruel Sports.[10]
The name "Humanitarian League" was later adopted by an organisation registered in Hong Kong in 2013.[22] This group operates alongside theErnest Bell Library, republishing historical humanitarian pamphlets and books.[23]
A wide range of individuals were associated with the Humanitarian League during its existence. Some held formal offices in the organisation, while others supported its campaigns, contributed writings, or participated in lectures and pamphlets. The following tables list founders, officers, and notable members and supporters identified in contemporary and later sources.
| Name | Occupation | Role in League | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry S. Salt | Writer, social reformer, animal rights activist and vegetarian activist | General secretary and editor of the League's journals | [1][4] |
| Edward Maitland | Writer and theosophist | Member of provisional and executive committees | [1] |
| Ernest Bell | Publisher, writer and animal activist | Chairman of committee and treasurer | [3][1] |
| Howard Williams | Writer, historian and vegetarian activist | Member of provisional committee | [1] |
| Kenneth Romanes | Translator, writer and humanitarian activist | Member of provisional committee | [1] |
| Alice Lewis | Philanthropist and activist | Treasurer and member of provisional committee | [1][6] |
| Name | Occupation | Role in League | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| William E. A. Axon | Librarian, antiquarian and journalist | Member of provisional committee | [6] |
| R. H. Jude | Mathematician, physicist and animal rights activist | Member of provisional committee | [6] |
| R. E. O'Callaghan | Activist, lecturer and writer | Member of provisional committee | [6] |
| Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner | Activist and writer | Member of executive committee | [11] |
| Herbert Burrows | Socialist activist | Member of executive committee | [11] |
| Edmund Harvey | Social reformer and politician | Member of executive committee | [11] |
| Joseph Stratton | Clergyman, writer and activist | Honorary secretary, Sports Department | [15] |
| Joseph Collinson | Journalist and writer | Member of Animals Defence Committee; Honorary secretary, Criminal Law and Prison Reform Department | [1][17] |
| Charles W. Forward | Activist, writer and historian | Member of Animals Defence Committee | [17] |
| Carl Heath | Quaker activist | Member of Criminal Law and Prison Reform Department | [1] |
| James Charles Mathew | Judge | Member of Criminal Law and Prison Reform Department | [24] |
| Jessey Wade | Animal welfare activist and editor | Honorary secretary, Children's Department | [25] |
| Henry John Williams | Clergyman and activist | Member of Humane Diet Department | [26] |
| Name | Occupation | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Brown Amos | Campaigner, animal rights activist and vegetarian activist | [27] |
| Annie Besant | Writer, women's rights activist, home rule activist and theosophist | [1] |
| Thomas Baty | Lawyer, feminist and international law reformer | [1] |
| Stella Browne | Feminist and birth control activist | [1] |
| Edith Carrington | Writer and animal welfare activist | [28] |
| Edward Carpenter | Writer, poet, socialist and vegetarian activist | [4] |
| Anne Cobden-Sanderson | Suffragist and socialist activist | [1] |
| ColonelWilliam Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson | Army officer, prison reform activist and anti-hunting activist | [29] |
| Ernest Howard Crosby | Writer and reformer | [1] |
| Clarence Darrow | Lawyer, civil liberties activist and anti-death-penalty activist | [5] |
| Michael Davitt | Politician, Irish nationalist and land reformer | [30] |
| Charlotte Despard | Suffragist and socialist activist | [30] |
| John Dillon | Politician and Irish nationalist | [1] |
| G. W. Foote | Journalist, editor and secularist activist | [1] |
| Isabella Ford | Labour activist and suffragist | [30] |
| Sigmund Freud | Psychoanalyst | [31] |
| John Galsworthy | Novelist and playwright | [32] |
| Keir Hardie | Politician and trade unionist | [1] |
| Thomas Hardy | Novelist and poet | [33] |
| Arthur Harvie | Clergyman | [34] |
| John Page Hopps | Unitarian minister and writer | [1] |
| W. H. Hudson | Author, naturalist and ornithologist | [1] |
| George Cecil Ives | Writer, poet, penal reform activist and homosexual law reform activist | [1] |
| Lizzy Lind af Hageby | Writer, anti-vivisection activist and suffragist | [1] |
| Bertram Lloyd | Writer, poet, naturalist and anti-blood-sports activist | [35] |
| Tom Mann | Trade unionist and socialist activist | [30] |
| J. Howard Moore | Zoologist, philosopher, animal rights activist and vegetarian activist | [5] |
| Conrad Noel | Anglican priest and Christian socialist | [1] |
| Josiah Oldfield | Lawyer, physician and vegetarian activist | [1] |
| Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier | Civil servant, politician and Fabian socialist | [1] |
| Alice Park | Suffragist and reformer | [5] |
| Christabel Pankhurst | Suffragette and political organiser | [30] |
| George Bernard Shaw | Playwright, critic and vegetarian activist | [1] |
| Arthur St. John | Writer | [1] |
| Enid Stacy | Socialist activist and suffragist | [30] |
| Leo Tolstoy | Writer, philosopher, Christian anarchist and vegetarian activist | [5] |
| Ralph Waldo Trine | Writer, philosopher, animal welfare activist and vegetarian activist | [5] |
| Alfred Russel Wallace | Naturalist, explorer and social reformer | [1] |
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