Edward Grubb (19 October 1854 – 23 January 1939) was an influential English

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

who made significant contributions to revitalizing

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and a concern for social issues in the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

in the late 19th century as a leader of the movement known as the ''Quaker Renaissance''. He also wrote a number of hymns including ''Our God, to Whom we turn''. He would later play a major role in the

No-Conscription Fellowship The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British pacifist organization which was founded in London by Fenner Brockway and Clifford Allen on 27 November 1914, after the First World War had failed to reach an early conclusion. Other prominent support ...

, an organization that united and supported

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s in Britain during

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early career

Grubb was born in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, educated at

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school ...

, York and studied at the University of Leeds and University of London. He began his career as a teacher when he returned to

in York, England. Bootham is a boarding school for boys of the

. Grubb had attended the school himself, beginning in 1868 at the age of fourteen. He would later move on to teach at a number of other schools, including other Quaker schools. He received his B.A. in 1876 and in 1877 married Emma M. Horsnail of Bulford Mill, who he had courted for seven years.

Struggles with faith and science

While preparing for his M.A. examination in 1879, he had a crisis of faith resulting from his inability to reconcile science with the religious beliefs he had grown up with. He initially found it impossible to see how any serious intellectual could also be religious. He did not find any satisfaction in agnosticism; however, and remained open to a solution to his intellectual problems that included belief in God. In the 1880s Grubb began to develop an interest in social concerns, even cutting back on his teaching in order to devote time to the study of economics and to public work. In keeping with his desire to reconcile faith with science, Grubb was among those who vocally and successfully opposed the adoption of the

Richmond Declaration The Richmond Declaration was made by 95 Quakers (representatives of all Orthodox Gurneyite Friends Yearly Meetings) in September 1887, at a conference in Richmond, Indiana. It was a declaration of faith, and although Quakers do not have a dogma or c ...

by London Yearly Meeting in 1888. Soon after, as a result of his regular participation in meeting for worship, Grubb was officially recorded as a minister in the

. At the time, he still did not feel he had a firm basis for his faith, but was confident that it would come with time.

Major contributions

Grubb would go on to be a major leader of British Quakerism, a prolific religious author, and a key member of a number of religious and social organizations, including the

. Like most pacifists of his generation, his absolute pacifist stance was born from the disillusionment with the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. From 1901 to 1906 he was secretary of the Howard Association.

Death and final resting place

The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' records that Grubb was buried on 26 January 1939 at the Hitchin Quaker burial ground. However, the Hertford & Hitchin Monthly Meeting minutes of 4 February 1939 state quite clearly: "He was cremated at Golders Green 27th 1. 39., the death having been registered at Letchworth 25th 1st mo. 1939".

Selected writings

*''Social Aspects of the Quaker Faith'' (London: Headley Brothers, 1899). *''Quakerism in England: Its Present Position'' (London: Headley Brothers, 1901). *''Authority and the Light Within'' (Philadelphia: J.C. Winston, 1908). *''The Silence of God'' (London: Headley Brothers, 1909). *''Notes on the Life and Teaching of Jesus'' (London: James Clark & Co.; Headley Brothers, 1910). *''The Personality of God and Other Essays in Constructive Christian Thought'' (London: Headley Brothers, 1911). *''The True Way Of Life'' (London: Headley Brothers, 1915). *''What is Quakerism?: An Exposition of the Leading Principles and Practices of the Society of Friends, as Based on the Experience of "the Inward Light"'' (London: Swarthmore, 1917). *''Christ in Christian thought: Notes on the Development of the Doctrine of Christ's Person'' (London: James Clark, 1919). *''The Bible; Its Nature and Inspiration'' (London: Swarthmore, 1920). *''The Meaning of the Cross: A Story of the Atonement'' (London: Allen and Unwin, 1922). *''Authority in Religion'' (New York: MacMillan, 1924). *''Quaker Thought and History: A Volume of Essays'' (New York: MacMillan, 1925). *''Christianity as Life'' (London: Swarthmore, 1927). *''The Nature of Christianity'' (London: Swarthmore, 1927). *''Christianity as Truth'' (London: Swarthmore, 1928). *''The Worth of Prayer: And Other Essays'' (London: James Clark, 1930). *''Thoughts on the Divine in Man'' (London: Friends Book Centre, 1931).

References