John Davie | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by John MacLaren Barclay | |
| Born | (1800-03-13)13 March 1800 Stirling, Scotland |
| Died | 4 March 1891(1891-03-04) (aged 90) Dunfermline, Scotland |
| Resting place | Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Churchyard, Scotland |
| Occupation(s) | Draper, activist |
| Spouses | |
John Davie (13 March 1800 – 4 March 1891) was a Scottishdraper and activist. He was a leading figure in the Scottishtemperance andvegetarianism movements. He also advocated for various other causes, includinganti-tobacco,anti-vaccination,anti-death penalty,anti-vivisection,Chartism,peace,women's suffrage, andhydrotherapy.
John Davie was born at Butterflat, a small farm nearStirling, on 13 March 1800.[1] His father was a well-respected farmer. Davie was educated at the parish school ofSt. Ninians. From a young age, he was an avid reader and a gifted scholar.[2]
He showed no interest in an agricultural career and was instead apprenticed to adraper in Stirling. The fifth year of his apprenticeship was spent inDunfermline, after briefly working as ajourneyman inKircaldy andEdinburgh. There he formed a business partnership with Mr David Reid, which was prosperous enough that Davie was able to retire from business life 14 years later.[1]
Davie served as vice-president of theLondon Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination[3] and was a member of theAnti–Corn Law League.[4] In 1830, Davie and other members of the Dunfermline Temperance Society formed the first Total Abstinence Society in Scotland.[5] He opposed alcohol, tobacco, vaccination,vivisection,[6]: 62 and capital punishment.[7]: 141 He advocated forChartism,peace,women's suffrage,[8] andhydrotherapy.[9]
At the age of 46,[6]: 35 Davie became avegetarian after readingFruits and Farinacea and on the advice of a pro-vegetarian doctor that it would help hisdyspepsia.[4] For some time he was secretary of theVegetarian Society.[6]: 35 He also served as treasurer and later as a vice-president.[10][11] Davie distributed vegetarian literature and arranged for the Society's brochures to be inserted into periodicals by booksellers.[7]: 141 He was also one of the originators of the Waverly Hydrotherapy Institution atMelrose and served as managing director.[9] He steered the clinic to support vegetarianism.[7]: 24
In 1874, Davie,W. Gibson Ward,Isaac Pitman, andFrancis William Newman were described as "four leading vegetarians" in England.[9] The Vegetarian Society presented an address to Davie in March 1890, to celebrate him reaching his 90th year. In September of the same year, he attended the 2nd International Vegetarian Congress in London.[12]
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Davie married three times.[1] His wife, Margaret Smith, was born in Kirkcaldy in 1799 and died on 22 February 1884. She was buried in Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Churchyard.[13] His third wife was Mary Livingston,[14] the daughter of Archibald Livingston, a Glasgow writer, whom Davie married in September 1890.[1] She died in 1892[14] and was buried in Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Churchyard.[15]
Davie served as aUnited Presbyterian elder.[16]
Davie died at his home, Newlands Hill House, Dunfermline, on 4 March 1891.[1] He was buried in Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Churchyard, along with his third wife.[15] Davie's books were left to a public library.[4]
Media related toJohn Davie at Wikimedia Commons
