Joseph Knight (1854 – January 1928) was an English activist, writer, and lecturer. He played a prominent role in the late 19th and early 20th-centuryvegetarian andtemperance movements in the United Kingdom. He served as secretary of theVegetarian Society from 1885 to 1895 and founded theScottish Vegetarian Society in 1883. A prolific pamphleteer and public speaker, Knight advocated a plant-based diet on ethical, health, and economic grounds. He also editedThe Daisy Basket, the first British vegetarian magazine for children, and contributed widely to vegetarian and reformist periodicals.
Knight was born around 1854 inSpitalfields, Middlesex, the son of William and Eliza Knight.[1] He was a member of theBand of Hope from the age of six.[2]
As an adult, Knight became a passionate and well-known promoter oftemperance andvegetarianism.[2] He defined vegetarianism as the practice of living on products of the vegetable kingdom with or without the addition of dairy products and eggs to the exclusion offish,fowl andred meat. He said that the consumption of anything belonging to the animal kingdom which was not possessed of life was consistent with vegetarianism. He argued against the cruelty of the slaughter of animals for food and stated that a vegetarian diet was more economical and healthy than a diet that contained meat.[3]
Knight joined theVegetarian Society in 1881 and held various roles within the organisation.[4] In 1885, he became its secretary,[4] a position he held until 1895.[5] Knight's efforts led to the establishment of theScottish Vegetarian Society inGlasgow in 1883,[6] where he served as vice-president.[7]
Founded in 1883, the Daisy Society was Britain's first children’s vegetarian group. In 1893, Beatrice Lindsay, editor ofThe Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger launchedThe Daisy Basket, the first vegetarian magazine for children.[2] Under the pseudonym "Uncle John", Knight edited the magazine from 1893 to 1894.[8] It featured a diverse range of content, including book reviews, letters, short fiction, and poetry.[9]: 227
Knight authored numerous pamphlets and articles on vegetarianism.[10][11][12] Additionally, he delivered lectures promoting the cause.[13][14][15] In 1889, the Leicester Vegetarian Society was re-established following a lecture by Knight.[9]: 183 The same year, he was a speaker at a popular Vegetarian Society conference in Sheffield. Attendees includedWilliam E. A. Axon,James Clark,Peter Foxcroft,R. S. Wilson and many others. His speech was on "The Biblical Aspect of Vegetarianism" which argued the Bible was generally favourable to the abstinence of animal flesh.[16]
Knight preferred to eat raw vegetables and thistles.[17] He lived inManchester and later worked as a journalist inHereford.[7][18]
Knight married Mary Ann Cooper (d. 1915) in 1874. She lectured on vegetarianism and wrote on the subject under the name Minnie Knight.[4]
Knight died in January 1928 at the age of 74 atHereford General Hospital due to complications from a fractured thigh, which he sustained in a fall on the snow in the previous December.[18][19]
Cheap and Nutritious Food (Manchester: Vegetarian Society, 1885;OCLC841494663)
Vegetarianism in Practice (first published in 1889 inManchester Vegetarian Lectures; later published as a pamphlet)[10]
(ed.)Vegetarianism with Special Reference to its connection with Temperance in Drinking (Melbourne; Manchester: George Robertson; Vegetarian Society, 1889)[20]
Vegetarianism in Relation to Health (Manchester: Heywood, 1889)[21]
Vegetarianism: What it is, etc. (London: Richard J. James, 1903;OCLC1063856574)
A Few Thought Rays Captured While LookingTowards Truth (1903;OCLC314887148)
