John Smith (vegetarian)

For other people named John Smith, see John Smith (disambiguation).
John Smith
Portrait from Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Bornc. 1795
Knaresborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died(1870-08-13)13 August 1870 (aged 75)
Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupations
Known forVegetarianism activism
Notable workFruits and Farinacea (1845)
SpouseMary Smith

John Smith (c. 1795 – 13 August 1870) was an English banker, vegetarianism activist, writer, and spiritualist. Based in Malton, he managed the York City and County Bank for three decades and was also an agent of the London Assurance Company. Smith was a leading advocate of vegetarianism in 19th-century Britain, serving as president of the Hull Vegetarian Association and promoting dietary reform through public lectures and publications. His influential works include Fruits and Farinacea (1845) and The Principles and Practice of Vegetarian Cookery (1860). He was also active in the spiritualist movement and attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1849.

Biography

Early life and career

Smith was born in Knaresborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, around 1795. He later settled in Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire.[1]

He worked for three decades as manager of the York City and County Bank in Malton.[2] He was also an agent of the London Assurance Company.[3]

Vegetarianism

Advocacy

Smith adopted a vegetarian diet around 1835.[4]: 29  He was influenced by a paper titled "Manifestation of Mind", which emphasised the cognitive and emotional capacities of animals, including their ability to experience pleasure and pain.[5]: 108 

Smith attended the first annual meeting of the Vegetarian Society in 1848, held at Hayward's Hotel in Manchester.[4]: 29  That same year, his advocacy helped inspire the formation of a vegetarian association in Malton, with James Simpson serving as its president. In 1855, Smith gave a lecture in York, and the following year became president of the Hull Vegetarian Association. During his tenure, he persuaded the editor of the Hull Advertiser to adopt a vegetarian diet.[6]

At a meeting of the Vegetarian Society in 1850, Smith addressed criticisms of the use of animal products such as milk and eggs. He presented ethical and physiological arguments in favour of vegetarianism while defending the pragmatic inclusion of such products during transitional phases. He advocated a fruit- and grain-based diet as the ideal, while acknowledging the challenges of fully adopting it.[7]

Writings

In 1845, Smith published Fruits and Farinacea, a work promoting vegetarianism, which he dedicated to Dr William Lambe, a long-standing advocate of the diet.[8] The book received widespread attention in the contemporary press.[5]: 108  A second edition was published in New York in 1854, edited and annotated by American physician Russell Thacher Trall.[9] An abridged edition was published posthumously in 1873, edited by Francis William Newman.[8]

In 1860, Smith published a lacto-ovo vegetarian cookbook, The Principles and Practice of Vegetarian Cookery, written at the request of James Simpson and dedicated to him.[5]: 108  A second edition appeared in 1866 under the title Vegetable Cookery.[10]

Other interests

Smith lectured on scientific topics and spiritualism.[2] In 1849, he attended the Paris Peace Conference.[5]: 108 

Personal life and death

Smith was married to Mary Smith.[11] He died at his home, the Mount in Malton, on 13 August 1870, aged 75.[2][12] Several local businesses closed on the day of his funeral as a mark of respect.[5]: 108 

Legacy

Fruits and Farinacea was among the works that influenced Scottish vegetarian activist John Davie to adopt vegetarianism.[5]: 32 

In his 1898 work Fifty Years of Food Reform, vegetarian historian Charles W. Forward described Fruits and Farinacea as "the most comprehensive and complete work on the subject published in England up to that date".[4]: 15  Modern historian James Gregory has referred to the book as a "major text" for the vegetarian movement.[6]

Publications

References

  1. ^ "1861 Census Returns database". FreeCEN. Free UK Genealogy. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Death of Mr. John Smith, of Malton". The Leeds Mercury. 16 August 1870. p. 8. Retrieved 22 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "The London Assurance". The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald. 24 September 1864. p. 4. Retrieved 22 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c Forward, Charles Walter (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London: The Ideal Publishing Union.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (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) (PhD thesis). Vol. 2. University of Southampton.
  6. ^ a b Gregory, James (29 June 2007). Of Victorians and Vegetarians: The Vegetarian Movement in Nineteenth-century Britain. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-85771-526-5.
  7. ^ "What is Vegetarianism". The Vegetarian (PDF). Vol. 3. pp. 175–184.
  8. ^ a b Smith, John (1880). Newman, Francis William (ed.). Substance of the Work Entitled Fruits and Farinacea the Proper Food of Man (PDF) (Abridged ed.). Manchester: John Heywood.
  9. ^ Smith, John (1854). Trall, Russell Thacher (ed.). Fruits and Farinacea: The Proper Food of Man (2nd ed.). New York: Fowler and Wells.
  10. ^ Smith, John (1866). Vegetable Cookery: Including a Complete Set of Recipes for Pastry, Preserving, Pickling, the Preparation of Sauces, Soups, Beverages, Etc., Etc. London: Frederick Pitman.
  11. ^ Kelly, A. Lindsay, ed. (1929). "Malton". Kelly's Directory of North and East Ridings of Yorkshire, 1913 (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Deaths Sep 1870". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.