Order of the Golden Age
 Information page from The Herald of the Golden Age (April 1910) | |
| Abbreviation | OGA |
|---|---|
| Formation |
|
| Founders |
|
| Founded at | Brympton, Somerset, England |
| Dissolved | 1959 |
| Type | Christian organisation |
| Purpose | Promotion of Christian vegetarianism; humanitarian and anti-vivisection advocacy |
| Headquarters | Ilfracombe; later Barcombe Hall, Paignton; subsequently London |
Region | Worldwide |
| Methods | Publishing, advocacy, public meetings and concerts |
President |
|
Main organ | The Herald of the Golden Age (1896–1918) |
Formerly called | Order of the Companions of the Golden Age |
The Order of the Golden Age (OGA) was a British Christian vegetarian and humanitarian organisation active between 1895 and 1959, with antecedents in 1881–82. Conceived in 1881 by Rev. Henry John Williams and later revived in 1895 by Sidney H. Beard, the 1881–82 initiative lapsed for lack of funds and was subsequently treated by the Order as a precursor to the 1895 revival. The OGA promoted a form of fruitarianism, linked dietary change with moral and social reform, and engaged in anti-vivisection advocacy alongside interests in psychical research and spiritualism. It published The Herald of the Golden Age (1896–1918), organised meetings and fundraising concerts (including at the Royal Albert Hall in 1910), and reported activity in 47 countries; its headquarters moved from Ilfracombe to Barcombe Hall, Paignton, and later to London. The society's identity and name were briefly disputed in the 1890s by Rev. Gideon J. R. Ouseley. Membership comprised companions and associates, with the latter permitted to eat net-caught fish. Activity in Britain declined after Beard's death in 1938, with later work centred in South Africa until the organisation's closure in 1959.
History
[edit]Origins
[edit]The Order originated in 1881 when Rev. Henry John Williams (younger brother of Howard Williams, later an influence and founder of the Humanitarian League) outlined a devotional fellowship, the Order of the Companions of the Golden Age, commemorating James the Less and guided by the motto Non nocebunt et non occident ("They will not harm and they will not kill").[1][2] A first general meeting on 8 September 1881 at Brympton, Somerset, elected Williams as president, with R. Bailey Walker as vice-president and Frederick L. Catcheside as treasurer, and the society was formally constituted the following year.[3][4]
By 1888, the Order appeared defunct. Contemporary accounts cited insufficient funds as the reason it became inactive. Later materials from the revived organisation acknowledged the 1881 conception but treated 1895 as the effective starting point.[1]
Re-establishment (1895–1904)
[edit]In 1895 vegetarian activist Sidney H. Beard re-established the society as the Order of the Golden Age (OGA).[2][5][6] The headquarters were initially at Beard's residence in Ilfracombe.[6] The OGA promoted psychical research, spiritualism and vegetarianism.[2] A London conference in 1897, held at St. Martin's Town Hall, featured speakers including Rev. J. H. N. Nevill, J. I. Pengelly, Frances L. Boult, Charles W. Forward and May Yates; messages from members abroad were read.[7] In 1904 the headquarters moved to Barcombe Hall, Paignton.[2][6]
Aims
[edit]The Order promoted vegetarianism from a Christian perspective and presented dietary reform as part of moral and religious renewal.[8] Its stated aims included:[9]
[t]o proclaim a message of Peace and Happiness, Health and Purity, Life and Power [and] [t]o hasten the coming of the Golden Age when Love and Righteousness shall reign upon earth ... by proclaiming obedience to the laws of God.
The Order's periodical, The Herald of the Golden Age (1896–1918), edited by Beard, advanced what it termed a "fruitarian"[a] system of living.[5][10]: 73–74
Name and identity disputes
[edit]In 1896 Rev. Gideon Jasper Richard Ouseley, founder of the Order of the Golden Age and United Templary, disputed the revived society's use of the name and complained that it was being confused with his organisation. In 1904 the OGA was reconstituted and declared to be "founded in 1895 by Sidney H. Beard", with Williams's consent.[4]
Organisation and membership
[edit]From 1901 to 1903 George Cozens Prior served as honorary solicitor to the Order.[11][12] By 1909 the OGA reported activity in 47 countries and had transferred its headquarters to London.[1] The Order organised concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in 1910.[13] Notable members included the lawyer and vegetarianism activist Josiah Oldfield.[9]
Position on fish consumption
[edit]The OGA did not oppose consumption of fish. In 1902, a statement printed in The Herald of the Golden Age asserted:[14]
...the eating of fish caught in a net has never been forbidden to members of The Order, and the original rule still remains in force... The Order stands on the basis of its original foundation, and this foundation declared that the eating of net-caught fish should not exclude from membership.
The OGA had two classes in its membership, companions and associates. The companions were vegetarians who abstained from fish, poultry and red meat, whilst the associates abstained from only poultry and red meat. Both were considered members of the Order.[15]
The OGA's position on fish eating was criticised in an article in The British Medical Journal, which questioned "is not a fish as much deserving of consideration on 'humanitarian grounds' as a sheep?".[16]
Reported claims
[edit]In 1907 the Order's journal asserted that Pope Pius X had adopted a vegetarian diet; this was presented as the OGA's claim in its own publication.[17]
Interwar currents and decline (1930s–1959)
[edit]During the 1930s some British fascists were drawn to aspects of the OGA's emphasis on natural living, linking dietary reform with notions of national renewal; Oldfield's later writings endorsed eugenic ideas, including euthanasia for the "unfit".[9] According to Bates, this association increased visibility briefly but became a liability as the Second World War approached. Following Beard's death in 1938, the Order's activities in Britain declined. It subsequently relocated to South Africa, where it continued until 1959.[9]
Legacy
[edit]
A commemorative website was launched in 2006.[1] The following year, James Gregory's Of Victorians and Vegetarians, a study of vegetarianism in the Victorian era, discussed the OGA.[2] In 2008, many issues of The Herald of the Golden Age held at Robarts Library (Toronto) were digitised and made available on the Internet Archive.[18]
Council Members
[edit]Notable council members include:[19]
| 1897–1913 | Sidney H. Beard (also president) |
| 1897–1897 | Edmund J. Baillie |
| 1897–1897 | Robert Semple |
| 1897–1905 | Frances L. Boult |
| 1897–1899 | Albert Broadbent |
| 1897–1897 | Charles W. Forward |
| 1897–1898 | J. Isaac Pengelly |
| 1897–1903 | Harold W. Whiston |
| 1897–1913 | Henry John Williams |
| 1898–1898 | James Christopher Street |
| 1898–1913 | Alfred Mansfield Mitchell |
| 1899–1904 | Arthur Harvie |
| 1899–1904 | Walter Walsh |
| 1900–1902, 1905–1913 | Josiah Oldfield |
| 1901–1904 | Robert H. Perks |
| 1902–1904 | Charles A. Hall |
| 1902–1904 | John Todd Ferrier |
| 1902–1907 | Eustace H. Miles |
| 1907–1908 | James Edge Partington |
| 1907–1909 | Ernest Newlandsmith |
| 1907–1913 | Robert Bell |
| 1910–1911 | Otto Abramowski |
See also
[edit]- List of vegetarian and vegan organizations
- Christianity and animal rights
- Humanitarian League
- Vegetarianism in the Victorian era
Notes
[edit]- ^ At the time, the term 'fruitarian' was used with a variety of meanings, see e.g. "Oldfield's type of 'fruitarian dietary' was not a strict type of fruitarianism".
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Gilheany, John M. "The Order of the Golden Age: An Overview". The Order of the Golden Age. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Gregory, James (2007). Of Victorians and Vegetarians. I.B. Tauris. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-85771-526-5.
- ^ Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (2002). 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. p. 331. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ^ a b Gilheany, John M. (2019). "OGA Notes". Order of the Golden Age. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023.
- ^ a b Who Was Who Among English and European Authors, 1931–1949. Vol. 1: A-F. Detroit: Gale Research Co. 1978. p. 114.
- ^ a b c D. B. A. (December 1938). "Sidney Hartnoll Beard (1862-1938)". The Vegetarian News. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ^ "The Order of the Golden Age". The Methodist Times. 28 January 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ^ Stark, James F. (2018). "Replace them by Salads and Vegetables: Dietary Innovation, Youthfulness, and Authority, 1900–1939". Global Food History. 4 (2): 130–151. doi:10.1080/20549547.2018.1460538. PMC 6743713. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ^ a b c d Bates, A. W. H. (2017). "A New Age for a New Century: Anti-Vivisection, Vegetarianism, and the Order of the Golden Age". In Bates, A. W. H. (ed.). Anti-Vivisection and the Profession of Medicine in Britain: A Social History. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 69–98. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-55697-4_4. ISBN 978-1-137-55697-4.
- ^ Kuhn, Philip (2017). Psychoanalysis in Britain, 1893–1913: Histories and Historiography. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4985-0522-2.
- ^ Beard, Sidney H., ed. (15 October 1901). "The Order of the Golden Age". The Herald of the Golden Age. 6 (10): 118.
- ^ Beard, Sidney H., ed. (September 1903). "The Order of the Golden Age". The Herald of the Golden Age. 8 (9): 96.
- ^ "Order of the Golden Age". The Times. 1 November 1910. p. 16. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ^ "Fish-Eating". The Herald of the Golden Age. 7 (5): 56. 1902 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Companions and Associates". The Herald of the Golden Age. 7 (5): 56. May 1902.
- ^ "Moderate Vegetarians". The British Medical Journal. 2 (2182): 1359–1360. 25 October 1902. JSTOR 20274045.
- ^ "The Pope—A Vegetarian". The Herald of the Golden Age. 11 (7): 132. July 1907.
- ^ "Search: "Herald of the Golden Age"". Internet Archive. 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ^ Dates taken from issues of The Herald of the Golden Age published online at iapsop.com.
Further reading
[edit]- Gilheany, John M. (2010). Familiar Strangers: The Church and the Vegetarian Movement in Britain (1809-2009). Cardiff: Ascendant Press. ISBN 978-0-9552945-1-8.
- Calvert, Samantha Jane (2013). Eden's diet: Christianity and vegetarianism 1809 – 2009 (PhD thesis). University of Birmingham.
- Bates, A. W. H. (2017). "A New Age for a New Century: Anti-Vivisection, Vegetarianism, and the Order of the Golden Age". In Bates, A. W. H. (ed.). Anti-Vivisection and the Profession of Medicine in Britain: A Social History. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 69–98. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-55697-4_4. ISBN 978-1-137-55697-4.
External links
[edit]- Order of the Golden Age – commemorative site
- Herald of the Golden Age – archive at the International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals (IAPSOP)
- The Herald of the Golden Age – issues digitised by Robarts Library at the Internet Archive
- Photos of the Order of the Golden Age – Paignton Heritage Society
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