 Information page about the society in the OGA's journal Herald of the Golden Age, April 1910 | |
| Abbreviation | OGA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1895 |
| Founders | Henry John Williams |
| Dissolved | 1959 |
| Purpose | Promotion of animal rights |
Region | Worldwide |
The Order of the Golden Age (OGA) was an international animal rights society with a Christian, theosophical and vegetarian emphasis, which existed between 1895 and 1959.
The Order of the Golden Age (OGA) was conceptualised in 1881 by Rev. Henry John Williams (younger brother of Howard Williams) and formally established a year later. [1] [2] The OGA was first known as the Order of the Companions of the Golden Age and was dedicated to the memory of James the Less. [3] The first general meeting was held on 8 September 1881 at Brympton in Somerset. [4] Henry John Williams was president, R. Bailey Walker was vice-president and Frederick L. Catcheside was treasurer. [3] [4] A shortage of funds prevented its growth [1] until Sidney Hartnoll Beard re-established the OGA in 1895. [2] [5] [6]
The renewed OGA's headquarters were located at Beard's residence in Ilfracombe. [6] The Order promoted psychical research, spiritualism and vegetarianism. [2] A conference for the Order took place at St. Martin's Town Hall, London in 1897. Speakers included Rev. J. H. N. Nevill, J. I. Pengelly, Frances L. Boult, Charles W. Forward and May Yates. Members read messages from America, India and other countries. [7]
In 1904, the OGA's new headquarters were located at Barcombe Hall in Paignton. [2] [6] Beard was the editor of the Herald of the Golden Age (1896–1918), the official journal for the OGA. [5] [8] The aim of the journal was to promote the "fruitarian [a] system of living, and to teach its advantages." [8] The journal promoted vegetarianism from a Christian perspective. [9] According to an advertisement of the journal, it "challenges the morality of Carnivorous Customs and advocates Practical Christianity, Hygienic Common Sense, Social Reform, Philanthropy and Universal Benevolence. It is opposed to War, Slaughter, Cruelty and Oppression, and is designed to promote Goodness, but not goody goodyism, and Orthodoxy of Heart, rather than Orthodoxy of Creed." [10] Josiah Oldfield, the noted British lawyer, physician and promoter of fruitarianism, was a member of the OGA. [11]
In 1896, Rev. Gideon Jasper Richard Ouseley founder of the Order of the Golden Age and United Templary was involved in a dispute with Beard and complained that the organization was being confused with his own. [4] In 1904, the OGA was reconstituted and declared to be "founded in 1895 by Sidney H. Beard" with the consent of Henry John Williams. [4]
By 1909, the OGA was active in 47 countries, and its headquarters transferred to London. [1] The OGA organised successful concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. [12] The OGA even claimed to have converted Pope Pius X to the vegetarian diet during 1907. [13] In 1938, the Order decamped to South Africa upon the death of their official Founder and President, Sidney Hartnoll Beard, to become forgotten about by the vegetarian movement until the 21st century.
The OGA did not oppose consumption of fish. [14] In 1902, the OGA stated that "the eating of fish caught in a net has never been forbidden to members of The Order, and the original rule still remains in force... The Order stands on the basis of its original foundation, and this foundation declared that the eating of net-caught fish should not exclude from membership". [14]
The OGA had two classes in its membership, companions and associates. The companions were vegetarians who abstained from fish, poultry and red meat, whilst the associates abstained from only poultry and red meat. Both were considered members of The Order. [15]
OGA's position on fish eating was criticized in an article in The British Medical Journal which questioned "is not a fish as much deserving of consideration on 'humanitarian grounds' as a sheep?". [16]
A commemorative website was created in 2006 and the OGA was mentioned in a modern published history of the vegetarian movement a year later. [2] [1] A large collection of volumes of The Herald of the Golden Age were digitised by the Internet Archive in 2008.
Notable council members include: [17]
| 1897–1913 | Sidney H. Beard (also president) |
| 1897–1897 | Edmund J. Baillie |
| 1897–1905 | Frances L. Boult |
| 1897–1899 | Albert Broadbent |
| 1897–1897 | Charles W. Forward |
| 1897–1898 | J. Isaac Pengelly |
| 1897–1903 | Harold W. Whiston |
| 1897–1913 | Henry John Williams |
| 1898–1898 | James Christopher Street |
| 1898–1913 | Alfred Mansfield Mitchell |
| 1899–1904 | Arthur Harvie |
| 1899–1904 | Walter Walsh |
| 1900–1902, 1905–1913 | Josiah Oldfield |
| 1901–1904 | Robert H. Perks |
| 1902–1904 | Charles A. Hall |
| 1902–1904 | John Todd Ferrier |
| 1902–1907 | Eustace H. Miles |
| 1907–1908 | James Edge Partington |
| 1907–1909 | Ernest Newlandsmith |
| 1907–1913 | Robert Bell |
| 1910–1911 | Otto Abramowski |
Fruitarianism is a diet that consists primarily of consuming fruits and possibly nuts and seeds, but without any animal products. Fruitarian diets are subject to criticism and health concerns.
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Howard Williams was an English activist, historian, and writer. He advocated for humanitarianism and vegetarianism. Williams was noted for authoring The Ethics of Diet, a history of vegetarianism, which was influential on the Victorian vegetarian movement. He was also the inspiration and co-founder of the Humanitarian League and served as Vice-President of the London Vegetarian Society.
Vegetarianism in the Romantic Era refers to the rise of vegetarianism associated with the Romanticism movement in Western Europe from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century. Many of the late Romantics argued in favor of a more natural diet which excluded animal flesh for a plethora of reasons including the state of human and animal health, religious beliefs, economy and class division, animal rights, literary influence, as well as from new ideas about anthropology, consumerism, and evolution. The modern vegetarian and vegan movements borrow some of the same principles from the late Romantics to promote the adoption of diets free from animal products.
A Vindication of Natural Diet is an 1813 book by Percy Bysshe Shelley on vegetarianism and animal rights. It was first written as part of the notes to Queen Mab, which was privately printed in 1813. Later in the same year the essay was separately published as a pamphlet.
Alice Marie Drakoules was a British philanthropist and activist. She was a notable organiser and supporter of humanitarian, animal welfare, and vegetarianism organisations, including the Vegetarian Society, Humanitarian League, Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society, and the League Against Cruel Sports.
Sidney Hartnoll Beard was an English fruitarian, vegetarian activist and writer. He was President of the international animal rights society, the Order of the Golden Age.
John Howard Moore was an American zoologist, philosopher, educator, and social reformer. He was best known for his advocacy of ethical vegetarianism and his pioneering role in the animal rights movement, both deeply influenced by his ethical interpretation of Darwin's theory of evolution. Moore's most influential work, The Universal Kinship (1906), introduced a sentiocentric philosophy he called the doctrine of Universal Kinship, arguing that the ethical treatment of animals, rooted in the Golden Rule, is essential for human ethical evolution, urging humans to extend their moral considerations to all sentient beings, based on their shared physical and mental evolutionary kinship.
Charles Walter Forward was an English activist, writer, and editor, notable for his advocacy of animal rights and vegetarianism. Forward made significant contributions to the vegetarian movement and is best known for his 1898 work, Fifty Years of Food Reform, which was the first book to document its history.
Josiah Oldfield was an English lawyer, physician, activist, and writer. He promoted his own variant of fruitarianism, which was virtually indistinguishable from lacto-ovo vegetarianism. Oldfield was a prolific writer of popular books on dietary and health topics. He also served in the Royal Army Medical Corps and received the Territorial Decoration for his service in World War I.
Henry John Williams was an English Anglican priest and activist for humanitarianism, animal rights and vegetarianism. He was the founder of the Order of the Golden Age, an international animal rights society.
Henry Brown Amos was a Scottish activist for animal rights, vegetarianism, humanitarianism and against vivisection and hunting. He also worked for some time as a draper. Amos held a number of positions within organisations dedicated to animals and vegetarianism, and co-founded the League Against Cruel Sports in 1925.
Cornelius Prout Newcombe was an English businessperson, educator, and prominent advocate of vegetarianism and veganism, and temperance.
George Dornbusch was an Austrian-British merchant, publisher and activist. He was an early advocate for vegetarianism and veganism, and various other causes including abolitionism, anti-vaccination, temperance, women's suffrage and the peace movement.
Joseph Stenson Hooker (1853–1946) was an English physician, naturopath, vegetarianism activist, and writer.
Robert Howell Perks was an English naturalist, physician and anti-vivisection activist.
Frances L. Boult was an English vegetarianism activist and cookery instructor. She was the founder of the Ivy Leaf Society and was the editor of its magazine The Children's Garden.
Alfred Mansfield Mitchell was an Irish clergyman and activist. He advocated for anti-vivisection, vegetarianism, pacifism, and against poverty. He was the longest serving vicar of St Michael's Anglican Church in Burtonwood.
Arthur Harvie was an English Unitarian minister and activist for anti-vivisection and vegetarianism.
