Howard Williams (humanitarian)

Howard Williams
Howard Williams
Born	6 January 1837; Whatley, Mendip, England
Died	21 September 1931 (aged 94); Aspley Guise, England
Education	St John's College, Cambridge (BA, 1860; MA, 1863)
Occupation(s)	Activist, historian, writer
Notable work	The Ethics of Diet (1883)
Spouse	Eliza Smith (m. 1860; died 1906)
Family	Henry John Williams (brother)

Howard Williams (6 January 1837 – 21 September 1931) was an English humanitarianism and vegetarianism activist, historian, and writer. He was noted for authoring The Ethics of Diet, a history of vegetarianism, which was influential on the Victorian vegetarian movement.

Biography

Williams was a born on 6 January 1837, in Whatley, Mendip, the fifth son of the Reverend Hamilton John Williams and Margaret Sophia;^[1] one of his older brothers was the priest and animal rights and vegetarianism activist Henry John Williams.^[2]^[3] He was home educated,^[1] then went on to study history at St John's College, Cambridge;^[4] he earned his BA in 1860 and MA in 1863. Williams married Eliza Smith on 20 November 1860;^[1] she died around 1906.^[5]

Williams' first book was published in 1865, entitled The Superstitions of Witchcraft. Williams became a vegetarian in 1872, as well as an anti-vivisectionist; he published The Ethics of Diet, a history of vegetarianism, in 1883.^[1]

Williams was the inspiration for and one of the founding members of the Humanitarian League, in 1891, which "opposed all avoidable suffering on any sentient being".^[4]^[6] He remained on the board for several years and authored the "Pioneers of humanity" section for the league's journal, which was later published as a popular pamphlet.^[1] He also served as the Vice-President of the London Vegetarian Society^[5] and was a board member of the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society.^[4]

Williams died in Aspley Guise, on 21 September 1931.^[1]