Robert Elliott O'Callaghan (1855 – 21 December 1936) was an English

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 ...

activist, lecturer, and writer. He became a prominent vegetarian advocate after being inspired by

Francis William Newman Francis William Newman (27 June 1805 – 4 October 1897) was an English classical scholar and moral philosopher, prolific miscellaneous writer and activist for vegetarianism and other causes. He was the younger brother of John Henry Newman. Th ...

. 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 The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for vegetarian and vegan products, runs a cookery school and lottery, and or ...

, and First Secretary of the

Vegetarian Federal Union The Vegetarian Federal Union (VFU) was a British vegetarianism umbrella organisation founded in 1889, which operated until 1911. History In July 1889, a group of individuals from the London Vegetarian Society met and drew up plans to form what ...

. O'Callaghan managed the Wheat Sheaf vegetarian restaurant and authored several works on vegetarianism. In 1900, he founded the Catholic Humane League.

Biography

Early life

Robert Elliott O'Callaghan was born in St Pancras, Middlesex, in the final quarter of 1855, of

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

descent.

Career

O'Callaghan's attention was first directed to

by one of

'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 The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that uses pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lens (optics), lenses, and a light source. ...

illustrations. O'Callaghan held several significant positions within the vegetarian movement. He served as the official lecturer for the Vegetarian Association, the secretary of the

, and, from 1890, as the First Secretary of the

. He later acted as an agent for the Federal Union for the Southern Counties. 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. 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. O'Callaghan authored several works on vegetarianism. In 1889, he published ''The Best Diet for a Working Man''. The following year, he co-authored, with Charles W. Forward, ''The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform'' This was followed by ''How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book''.' He also published the pamphlet, ''The Testimony of Science Against Flesh Eating'' 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''. 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. O'Callaghan later moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

with his family. In 1908, he delivered an address on the anti-vivisection movement and a lecture on "Vivisection in Our Hospitals" at Heywood. He served as secretary of the Northern Anti-Vivisection Federation and was affiliated with the Stockport Anti-Vivisection Society and the

British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection Cruelty Free International is a British animal rights and advocacy group that campaigns for the abolition of all animal testing. It organises certification of cruelty-free products which are marked with the symbol of a leaping bunny. It was ...

. He was also a member of the

Humanitarian League The Humanitarian League was a British radical advocacy group formed by Henry S. Salt and others to promote the principle that it is wrong to inflict avoidable suffering on any sentient being. It was based in London and operated between 1891 ...

Personal life and death

In 1888, O'Callaghan married Mary Ann Barry in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. They had one daughter, Florence. O'Callaghan died at

Longsight Longsight is an inner city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester City Centre, city centre, bounded by Ardwick and Gorton, West Gorton to the north and east; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park, Man ...

, Manchester on 21 December 1936, at the age of 81. He was buried on 24 December at Southern Cemetery.

Publications

* ''The Best Diet for a Working Man'' (London: London Vegetarian Society, 1889; ) * ''The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform'' (with Charles W. Forward; London: Hygienic Publishing Union, 1890; ) * ''How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book'' (London: 1897; ) * ''The Testimony of Science Against Flesh Eating'' (Order of the Golden Age)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Callaghan, R. E. 1855 births 1936 deaths 19th-century English educators 19th-century English male writers 19th-century English non-fiction writers 19th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Roman Catholics English anti-vivisectionists English lecturers Burials at Southern Cemetery, Manchester English cookbook writers English food writers English male non-fiction writers English pamphleteers English people of Irish descent English restaurateurs English Roman Catholics English vegetarianism activists Founders of charities Magic lanterns People associated with the Vegetarian Society People from Middlesex (before 1889) People from St Pancras, London Vegetarian cookbook writers Vegetarianism writers