Collet Dobson Collet (31 December 1812 – 28 December 1898) was an English radical

freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other metho ...

, Chartist and campaigner against newspaper taxation. Collet Dobson Collet

Reformers Monument, Kensal Green Cemetery (detail)

Background and work

Collet was born in London on 31 December 1812, the son of John Dobson (1778–1827), a London merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Barker (1787–1875). His sister was the writer and feminist Sophia Dobson Collet (1822–1894). His brother was the engineer Edward Dobson (1816–1908). After abandoning a career in the law due to lack of money, Collet became director of music at

South Place Chapel The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United Kin ...

and was heavily involved in the

Chartist movement Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

. He became Secretary of the People's Charter Union, and of the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee (i.e. to overturn the Stamp Act) in 1849. From 1851 - 1870 he was Secretary of the Association for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge. In 1866 he became editor of '' The Diplomatic Review''. This had been known as ''The Free Press'' prior to Collet taking it over and was a mouthpiece for the views of

David Urquhart David Urquhart Jr. (1 July 180516 May 1877) was a Scottish diplomat, writer and politician, serving as a Member of Parliament from 1847 to 1852. He also was an early promotor of the Turkish bath in the United Kingdom. Early life Urquhart was bo ...

. Collet invited radicals to contribute to the ''Diplomatic Review'' and as a result began publishing articles by

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. The two became great friends and weekly meetings were held at each other's houses at which Shakespeare readings were given by members of their families. These meetings became formalised as the Dogberry Club. Marx's daughter

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

and Collet's daughter,

Clara Collet Clara Collet (10 September 1860 – 3 August 1948) was an economist and British civil servant. She was one of the first women graduates from the University of London and was pivotal in many reforms which greatly improved working conditions and pa ...

, amongst others, became heavily involved in the readings. His five children included the colonial administrator Wilfred Collet (1856–1929) and the educationalist Clara Collet (1860–1948). He died 1898 in Finsbury, and is buried in Highgate West Cemetery. His wife, Jane Collet (1820–1908), died 10 years after him.

Publications

* ''Vocal Rudiments.'' Aus: ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', 1847
Digitalisat Jstor
* ''Vocal Rudiments.'' Part II (Continued). Aus: ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', 1849
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* ''The invasion of France not a war of self-defence. The case against Prussia. Analyses of the "correspondence preliminary to the war"''. London 1870 (''Reprinted from the "Anglo American Times"''). * ''Reasons for the repeal of the railway passenger duty. Paper read in the rooms of the Society of Arts, 26th February, 1877''. In: Some words on railway legislation. Waterlow and Sons, London 1877. * ''Life and career of Mr. Richard Moore. With a short sketch of his struggles for political, social and religious freedom''. Charles Watt, London 1878. * ''Calm is the glassy ocean'', translation of the chorus from Mozart's opera ''

Idomeneo ' (Italian for '' Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a Frenc ...

''. Novello & Company, London 1891
Digitalisat Internet Archive
* ''A History of the Taxes on Knowledge their origin and repeal. With an introduction by

George Jacob Holyoake George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and "jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the ''Reasoner'', from 1846 to J ...

''. T. Fisher Unwin, London 1899. 2 vols
Digitalisat Internet Archive vol. 1Digitalisat Internet Archive vol. 2

References

* Royle, Edward (1974). ''Victorian Infidels: the origins of the British Secularist Movement, 1791-1866''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Online version
* Rudich, Rosie: ''Zwei Marx-Briefe aus dem Jahre 1876''. In: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung''. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1975, Vol. 17, Heft 5, pp. 840–848. Letters 10 November and 9 December 1876 in German and English * Merson, Allan: ''The Free Press (1851–1856)''. In: ''Beiträge zur Marx-Engels-Forschung'' 11. Berlin 1982, pp. 137–156
Digitalisat
* McDonald, Deborah. ''Clara Collet 1860-1948: An Educated Working Woman'' London 2004 *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collet, Collet Dobson 1812 births 1898 deaths Chartists Freethought writers People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society