Percy William Bunting (1 February 1836 – 22 July 1911) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

and

social reformer Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

. During his early legal career, Bunting became actively involved in

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politics and progressive Methodism. He was the editor of ''

The Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals intent on promoting their v ...

'' from 1882 until his death in 1911. His work as a social reformer encompassed a leading role in the

National Vigilance Association The National Vigilance Association (NVA) was a British society established in 1885. Its goal was to combat prostitution, particularly forced prostitution by children. It has been described as the main social purity organization in the United Kingdom ...

, addressing juvenile prostitution. Bunting was also involved in religious reform within the

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, as well as taking an active role in an association of Nonconformist churches and broader

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

concerns.

Biography

Early years

Percy William Bunting was born on 1 February 1836 at Radcliffe in Lancashire, the only son of Thomas Percival Bunting and Eliza (''née'' Bealey). His father was a solicitor in Manchester. Percy had three sisters, Mary (born in 1833), Eliza (born in 1838) and

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

(born in 1841). The children, whose paternal grandfather was the prominent

Wesleyan Methodist The Wesleyan Church is a Methodist Christian denomination aligned with the holiness movement. Wesleyan Church may also refer to: * Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia, the Australian branch of the Wesleyan Church Denominations * Allegheny We ...

leader

Jabez Bunting Jabez Bunting (13 May 1779 – 16 June 1858) was an English Wesleyan Methodist leader and the most prominent Methodist after John Wesley's death in 1791. Bunting began as a revivalist but later became dedicated to church order and discipline. ...

, were raised in a devout household.'Obituary: Sir Percy Bunting', ''The Times'' (London), 24 July 1911, page 11.Family records, Ancestry.com.Guide to the Sir Percy William Bunting Papers 1882-1911
''University of Chicago Library'' website; accessed 20 November 2024. Percy Bunting was educated at home until 1851, when he became one of the original students at the newly-opened

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Af ...

in Manchester. He was awarded a scholarship to Pembroke College at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. In 1859 Bunting was classed as the twentieth ' wrangler', denoting a ranking of those who gained

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...

competition. He graduated that year with a Master of Arts.Leading British Methodist Dead
, ''The Intelligencer'', 25 July 1911, page 8.

Legal practice

In 1862 Bunting was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

, where he practiced law and acquired a large practice as a conveyancer and at the Chancery bar. He was an "examiner in equity and real property at the London University for some years".Obituary: Sir P. W. Bunting
, ''The Solicitors' Journal & Weekly Reporter'', 28 July 1911, page 691. Bunting married Mary Hyett Lidgett on 21 June 1869, the elder sister of Elizabeth Lidgett. The couple had four children: two daughters (Evelyn, born in 1870, and Dora, born in 1877) and two sons ( Sidney, born in 1873, and Sheldon, born in 1882). Bunting was one of the founders and served as a governor of

The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational private school in Cambridge, England. It is a boarding and day school for about 565 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen. The head is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. ...

at Cambridge which opened in 1875, a public school under Wesleyan management.

A liberal editor

In politics Bunting was a liberal and an admirer of

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

. He served on the executive committee of the

National Liberal Federation The National Liberal Federation (1877–1936) was the union of all English and Welsh (but not Scottish) Liberal Associations. It held an annual conference which was regarded as being representative of the opinion of the party's rank and file and ...

from 1880 until his death. In 1881 Bunting was a member of the executive committee of the Marylebone United Liberal Association. In 1882 Bunting was appointed editor of ''

'', a position he occupied until his death in 1911. He conducted the journal with a liberal slant, supportive of social reform. He encouraged writers in the fields of contemporary theology, science, art, literature and politics and enlisted foreign correspondents. Bunting grew less active in his legal profession after becoming editor of ''The Contemporary Review''. It was said of him that he had "no great interest in legal work; he was devoted, heart and soul, to social and religious movements". Throughout his life, Bunting was an active supporter of Wesleyan Methodism. He became an advocate of the '

Forward Movement Forward Movement is the name taken by a number of Christian Protestant movements in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and other countries. The movement emphasised holiness. It generally promoted a form of "practical Christianity" that respo ...

', a liberal strand within Methodism that emerged in the mid-1880s to address urban poverty. This movement led to the establishment of the West London Mission in 1887 under the leadership of

Hugh Price Hughes Hugh Price Hughes (8 February 1847 – 17 November 1902) was a Welsh Methodist clergyman and religious reformer. He served in multiple leadership roles in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He organised the West London Methodist Mission, a key Me ...

.Kenneth Cracknell & Susan J. White (2005),
An Introduction to World Methodism
', Cambridge University Press, pages 43-44. Bunting took on the role of treasurer of the mission. In the Wesleyan Conference, where he sat as a lay representative, he served for many years as the lay secretary of the Committee of Privileges. Bunting took an active part in the 'Social Purity' movement with his sister Sarah Amos and Mrs.

Josephine Butler Josephine Elizabeth Butler (; 13 April 1828 – 30 December 1906) was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of coverture in B ...

. From 1885 until his death Bunting was the chairman of the executive committee of the

, established in August 1885 in response to articles by W. T. Stead exposing juvenile prostitution in London, published in the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

''.J. Scott Lidgett & William T. Stead,
Sir Percy Bunting
, ''The Contemporary Review'', Volume C, July-December 1911, London: The Contemporary Review Company Ltd., pages 301-307. Bunting frequently visited European countries promoting moral purity as a social reform. Grave of Percy William Bunting in Highgate Cemetery

Grave of Percy William Bunting in Highgate Cemetery

In 1891 Henry S. Lunn founded a journal called ''The Review of the Churches'' with the intention of furthering the concept of a union of the churches. Lunn was general editor of the journal, which also had editors representing various protestant denominations: Archdeacon

Frederic Farrar Dean Frederic William Farrar (Bombay, 7 August 1831 – Canterbury, 22 March 1903) was a senior-ranking cleric of the Church of England, schoolteacher and author. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of Charles Darwin in 1882. He was a member of ...

(Anglican), Percy Bunting (Methodist), Dr. MacKennal (Congregationalist), Dr. Clifford (Baptist) and Dr. Donald Fraser (Presbyterian).Varied Career Ends: Death of Sir Henry Lunn
''The West Australian'' (Perth), 20 March 1939, page 16. Bunting remained as Methodist editor of ''The Review of the Churches'' until 1896. He was actively involved in the formation of the

Free Church Federation Free Church Federation is a voluntary association of British Nonconformist churches for cooperation in religious social work. It was the outcome of a unifying tendency displayed during the latter part of the 19th century. History About 1890 the p ...

in the mid-1890s, an association of British Nonconformist churches. The Free Church movement had been initiated in 1891 at a dinner party at Bunting's house in Euston Square in London. In the general election of July 1892 Bunting stood unsuccessfully as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate for the electorate of

Islington East Islington East was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United ...

. Bunting retired from his law practice in about 1895. After the death of Hugh Price Hughes in November 1902, Bunting took on the role of editor of the ''Methodist Times'', a journal of progressive Methodism (concurrent with his editorship of ''The Contemporary Review''). In 1907 Bunting was replaced as editor of the ''Methodist Times'' by his nephew

John Scott Lidgett John Scott Lidgett, CH (10 August 1854 – 16 June 1953) was a British Wesleyan Methodist minister and educationist. He achieved prominence both as a theologian and reformer within British Methodism, stressing the importance of the church's ...

Last years

Bunting was awarded a knighthood in June 1908.'Birthday Honours', ''The Times'' (London), 26 June 1908, page 14. Bunting was an advocate of international peace and friendship. He visited Germany in 1907 and 1909 and assisted in the formation of the Anglo-German Friendship Society in the months before his death. In the last three years of his life, Bunting's physical powers slowly declined. Sir Percy Bunting died on 22 July 1911 at his home in London, at 11

Endsleigh Gardens Endsleigh Gardens is a street in the Bloomsbury district of central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It runs south-west to north-east from Gordon Street to Woburn Place. The south-west end becomes Gower Place after the junction with Gor ...

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, aged 75. He was buried at

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

(on the western side).

Publications

* Percy W. Bunting, 'Chapter XI: The Land and the Citizen' (in) Samuel E. Keeble (editor) (1906), ''The Citizen of To-morrow: A Handbook on Social Questions'', London: Charles H. Kelly, pages 207-222. * Rev. John Brown Paton, Sir Percy William Bunting & Rev. Alfred Ernest Garvie (editors) (1910), ''Christ and Civilization: A Survey of the Influence of the Christian Religion Upon the Course of Civilization'', London: National Council of Evangelical Free Churches. Articles by Bunting published in ''The Contemporary Review'' include: 'Reminiscences of Cardinal Manning' (1892), 'Nonconformists and the Education Bill' (1902), 'The White Slave Trade' (1902), 'The Journalistic Tour in Germany' (1907), 'Convocation and the Bishop of Hereford' (1911).

References

External links

Guide to the Sir Percy William Bunting Papers 1882-1911
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunting, Percy William 1836 births 1911 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery English male journalists British Methodists Journalists from Manchester Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn