R. E. O'Callaghan

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R. E. O'Callaghan
R. E. O'Callaghan.png
Portrait from Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Born
Robert Elliott O'Callaghan

1855
St Pancras, Middlesex, England
Died1936 (aged 81)
Manchester, England
Resting place Southern Cemetery, Manchester
Occupations
  • Activist
  • lecturer
  • writer
Years active1880–c. 1911
Known for Vegetarianism activism
Spouse
Mary Ann Barry
​
(m. 1888)​
Children1
Signature
R. E. O'Callaghan signature.svg

RobertElliott O'Callaghan (1855–1936) was an English vegetarianism activist, lecturer, and writer. He became a prominent vegetarian advocate after being inspired by Francis William Newman. O'Callaghan joined the London Food Reform Society in 1880 and quickly rose to a position on its Executive Committee. He held key roles such as official lecturer for the Vegetarian Association, secretary of the London Vegetarian Society, and First Secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union. O'Callaghan managed the Wheat Sheaf vegetarian restaurant and authored several works on vegetarianism. In 1900, he founded the Catholic Humane League.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Robert Elliott O'Callaghan was born in St Pancras, Middlesex, in the final quarter of 1855, [1] of Irish Catholic descent. [2] : 88 

Career

O'Callaghan's attention was first directed to vegetarianism by one of Francis William Newman's lectures, a report of which he noticed in a shop window. In 1880, he joined the London Food Reform Society and became a member of its Executive Committee the following year. O’Callaghan became well-known for his impactful lectures on vegetarianism, which he often enriched with magic lantern illustrations. [3]

O'Callaghan held several significant positions within the vegetarian movement. He served as the official lecturer for the Vegetarian Association, [4] the secretary of the London Vegetarian Society, [5] and, from 1890, as the First Secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union. [3] He later acted as an agent for the Federal Union for the Southern Counties. [3]

In 1893, O'Callaghan was a speaker at a vegetarian meeting chaired by C. H. Worsnop in Halifax. He argued that a vegetarian diet was more nourishing than eating meat and such a diet involved no additional work as vegetarian cookery was simple and more economical for the household. [6]

O'Callaghan later became the proprietor of the London vegetarian restaurant, the Wheat Sheaf, located at 13 Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, taking over from Mrs. Britton. [2] : 88 

O'Callaghan authored several works on vegetarianism. In 1889, he published The Best Diet for a Working Man. [7] The following year, he co-authored, with Charles W. Forward, The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform [2] : 351  This was followed by How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book. [8] He also published the pamphlet, The Testimony of Science Against Flesh Eating [9] and contributed the short story, "The Ghost", about an ex-soldier who refuses to harm animals, to Forward's Dulce Sodalitium: A Selection of Stories and Sketches by Vegetarian Writers. [10]

In 1900, O'Callaghan founded the Catholic Humane League, aimed at promoting humane principles among Catholics in line with the teachings of the Church. He served as its Honorary Secretary. [11]

O'Callaghan later moved to Manchester with his family. [12] In 1908, he delivered an address on the anti-vivisection movement and a lecture on "Vivisection in Our Hospitals" at Heywood. [13] He served as secretary of the Northern Anti-Vivisection Federation [14] and was affiliated with the Stockport Anti-Vivisection Society [15] and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. [16] He was also a member of the Humanitarian League. [17]

Personal life and death

In 1888, O'Callaghan married Mary Ann Barry in Fulham. [18] They had one daughter, Florence. [12]

O'Callaghan died in Manchester in the final quarter of 1936, at the age of 81. [19] O'Callaghan was buried on 24 December in the Southern Cemetery. [20]

Publications

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References

  1. ↑ "Births Dec 1855". FreeBMD . ONS . Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (May 2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era". The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF). Vol. 2. University of Southampton . Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Forward, Charles W. (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London; Manchester: The Ideal Publishing Union; The Vegetarian Society. p.  148.
  4. ↑ "Appointments for March". Good Health. 6 (3): 85. 1 March 1908.
  5. ↑ "Vegetarianism in Sheffield". Sheffield and Rotherham Independent. 21 August 1889. p.  6 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
  6. ↑ "Vegetarianism in Halifax". Halifax Evening Courier. 11 December 1893. p. 2.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ "Bibliography: The Vegetarian Movement in England 1847-1981". International Vegetarian Union . Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  8. ↑ O'Callaghan, R. E. How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book. OCLC   316664483.
  9. ↑ "Official Publications". Herald of the Golden Age . Vol. 2–16. 1897.
  10. ↑ Kubisz, Marzena (14 August 2024). Children’s Vegetarian Culture in the Victorian Era: The Juvenile Food Reformers Press and Literary Change (1 ed.). London: Routledge. p. 111. doi:10.4324/9781003400042. ISBN   978-1-003-40004-2.
  11. ↑ Boulger, G. S., ed. (1900). Nature Notes: The Selborne Society's Magazine. Vol. XI. London: H. Sotheran (published November 1900). pp.  202–203 – via Internet Archive.
  12. 1 2 "Robert Elliott O'Callaghan" . 1911 England Census . Ancestry.com. 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  13. ↑ "Anti-Vivisection Society" . The Heywood Advertiser and General Family Newspaper. 5 March 1909. p. 3. Retrieved 26 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
  14. ↑ "Stockport Shorthand Writers' Association" . Stockport Advertiser. 21 October 1910. p. 2. Retrieved 26 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Vivisection: Is It Justifiable?" . Stockport Express . 21 January 1915. p. 4. Retrieved 27 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Stockport Adult School". Stockport Advertiser. 19 December 1913. p.  7 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Waterfoot Wesley Guild" . The Ramsbottom Observer. 4 February 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 27 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Marriages Jun 1888". FreeBMD . ONS . Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  19. ↑ "Deaths Dec 1936". FreeBMD . ONS . Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  20. ↑ "Robert Elliot O'Callaghan" . England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2024. Ancestry.com. 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
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