Temperance Witness

By studying the temperance societies that flourished in late Victorian and Edwardian England, this book opens a window through which we can view middle-class and working-class society. Such societies provided the backbone for temperance both as a social movement and a political lobby. Most temperance societies became aligned with the Liberal Party in support of prohibition by Local Veto. A few allowed members to drink, but most were committed to total abstinence. There were organizations of middle-class men, of workingmen and their wives, of women, and of children and youth. The largest adult society was affiliated with the Church of England, but most societies were identified with Nonconformist denominations.

This book is a collection of biographies of leaders in the temperance movement: Margaret Fison, Sir Thomas Whittaker, Arthur Sherwell, Jessie Forsyth and Guy Hayler. All five of the forgotten temperance reformers were prolific writers. Recovering the lives and works of these forgotten women and men enhances our understanding of the temperance movement. This book will be of special interest for anyone interested in the lost history of social movements, academics and researchers.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.