Charles Walter Forward (19 August 1863 – 9 June 1934) was an English activist, writer, and editor, notable for his advocacy of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

and

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. 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.

Early life

Charles Walter Forward was born in

Islington, Middlesex Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields and Regent's Canal, enco ...

, on 19 August 1863, to Charles John Forward and his wife Catherine. He was his parents' only surviving child and had a frail youth, with his education often sacrificed for the sake of his health. Forward's health struggles led him to develop an interest in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

. He became a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

in 1878, inspired by a passage from

William Cullen William Cullen (; 15 April 17105 February 1790) was a British physician, chemist and agriculturalist from Hamilton, Scotland, who also served as a professor at the Edinburgh Medical School. Cullen was a central figure in the Scottish Enli ...

in Richard Phillips's ''A Million of Facts''.

Career

Forward joined the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British Registered charity in England, registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for Vegetarianism, vegetarian and Veganism, v ...

in 1881 while working as a

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

at 6

Blackfriars Road Blackfriars Road is a road in Southwark, SE postcode area, SE1. It runs between St George's Circus at the southern end and Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames at the northern end, leading to the City of London. Halfway up on the west side ...

, London. As a leading London vegetarian, he had a close but critical association with A. F. Hills. He later served as vice-president. Forward was heavily involved in vegetarian journalism, serving as the editor of the ''Herald of Health'' and founding the ''Hygienic/Vegetarian Review''. He also published many works on vegetarianism and has been described as a historian of the vegetarian movement. Forward's first published work was ''The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform'', which he co-authored with

R. E. O'Callaghan Robert Elliott O'Callaghan (1855 – 21 December 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 Re ...

in 1890.He authored a cookery book commissioned by J. S. Virtue in 1891 and edited the ''Vegetarian Yearbook'', ''Birthday Book'' (1898), and ''Jubilee Library''. In 1893, he published a satire through Nichols, titled ''Confessions of a Vegetarian'', focusing on London vegetarian personalities. The same year, he collaborated with C. D. Steele on a musical sketch, "Only a Crossing Sweeper". By 1895, he was involved with the South London Food Reform Society and announced the production of a journal called ''Pure Food, the Journal of the Food Reform Movement'', which was likely never produced. In 1897, he advocated for the amalgamation of vegetarian journals. In the same year, he edited John Smith's vegetarian book '' Fruits and Farinacea''. The book was heavily criticised by the '' English Medical Journal'' as non-scientific. Speaking at the National Vegetarian Congress in 1899, Forward argued that although the vegetarian movement was increasing, vegetarian restaurants in London had decreased in number.Assael, Brenda. (2018). ''The London Restaurant, 1840-1914''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. p. 152. He noted that affordable tinned meat had become widely available and how some of the purported vegetarian restaurants were not strictly vegetarian as they were serving meat dishes. In the early 20th century, he edited the short-lived ''London Vegetarian Association Quarterly''. In 1913, Forward contributed the chapter "Slaughter-House Cruelties" to the book ''The Under Dog'', edited by Sidney Trist. The book documented the wrongs suffered by animals at the hand of man. He also edited ''The Animals' Guardian'', subtitled "A Humane Journal for the Better Protection of Animals". This monthly periodical was published by the

London and Provincial Anti-Vivisection Society The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is an international non-profit animal protection group, based in London, working to end animal testing, and focused on the replacement of animals in research with advanced, scientific techniques. Sinc ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was associated with the Blue Cross Mission and was a delegate at the

International Vegetarian Union The International Vegetarian Union (IVU) is an international non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote vegetarianism. The IVU was founded in 1908 in Dresden, Germany. It is an umbrella organisation, which includes organisations from ...

in Stockholm. He gave lectures for the London Vegetarian Society and the National Food Reform Demonstration Council and worked at the

Ebury Street Ebury Street () is a street in Belgravia, City of Westminster, London. It runs from a Grosvenor Gardens junction south-westwards to Pimlico Road. It was built mostly in the period 1815 to 1860. Odd numbers 19 to 231 are on the south-east side ...

Nature Cure Clinic. His other journalistic ventures included ''The Bohemian'' (1887) and, in 1929, the quarterly ''New Life'', announced in the ''Danielite Star'', which focused on health and nature cure and was described as a "capital little magazine".

''Fifty Years of Food Reform''

In 1897, Forward published a series of articles for the

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

year of the Vegetarian Society, detailing the history of the vegetarian movement in the ''Vegetarian Review''. The following year, these formed his best known work, ''Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England''. The book was the first to document the history of the movement, from the classical period onward from writers including

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People, fictional characters and language * Seneca (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname : :* Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), a Roman rhetorician, writer and father ...

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, along with eighteenth-century poets and writers. It covered notable vegetarians such as William Lambe, G. Nicholson, John Frank Newton, John Oswald, Richard Phillips,

Joseph Ritson Joseph Ritson (2 October 1752 – 23 September 1803) was an English Antiquarian, antiquary known for editing the first scholarly collection of Robin Hood ballads (1795). After a visit to France in 1791, he became a staunch supporter of the idea ...

and

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

. It also contains over 200 illustrations, including a map of London showing vegetarian restaurants of the time.

Diet theories

Forward argued that most diseases including cancer are the result of modern-day unhealthy eating habits because people have shifted from their natural primitive vegetarian diet and are eating less fruit and vegetables.Rossi, Paul N. (2009). ''Fighting Cancer with More than Medicine: A History of Macmillan Cancer Support''. The History Press. pp. 36-45. In 1912, Forward was elected Chairman of the Society for the Prevention and Relief of Cancer. From 1914, he lectured on cancer and diet and gave a lecture at The Polytechnic in Regent Street on cancer causes and prevention. Similar to Robert Bell and

Douglas Macmillan Douglas Macmillan (10 August 1884 – 9 January 1969) was an English civil servant, vegetarianism activist and founder of the Macmillan Cancer Support charity, now one of the largest charities in the UK. Early life and education Douglas Mac ...

he held the view that meat eating was a major cause of cancer.

Personal life and death

Forward married Florance Kate Cramp in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

in 1888. They had three children. Forward died in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, on 9 June 1934.Ancestry.com. ''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Selected publications

*''The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform'' (with

; 1890) *'' Practical Vegetarian Recipes'' (1891) *''Cameos of Vegetarian Literature'' (1898) *''Dulce Sodalitum: A Selection of Stories and Sketches by Vegetarian Writers'' (1898) *'' Popular Vegetarian Cookery'' (1898) *'' Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England'' (1898) *''Vegetariana: A Collection of Facts and Opinions on the Subject of Food Reform'' (1900) *''The Food of the Future: A Summary of Arguments in Favour of a Non-Flesh Diet'' (1904) *'' Slaughter-House Cruelties'' (1913) *''Under the Blue Cross'' (1915) *''Health-Giving Dishes'' (1924) *''Vegetarian Races and Their Diet'' (1921) *''The Fruit of the Tree: An Argument on Behalf of Man's Primitive and Natural Diet'' (1922) *'' Butcher's Meat, and its Effects Upon the Human Body'' (1923) *''Nuts: Their Cultivation, Composition and Use as Food'' (1924) *''The Golden Calf: An Exposure of Vaccine Therapy'' (1932)

Early life

Career

''Fifty Years of Food Reform''

Diet theories

Personal life and death

Selected publications

Notes

References

Further reading