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Edward Reynolds Pease (23 December 1857 – 5 January 1955) was an English writer and a founding member of the
Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...
.


Early life

Pease was born near
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
, the son of devout
Quaker 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 ...
s, Thomas Pease (1816–1884) and Susanna Ann Fry (1829–1917; sister of
Edward Fry Sir Edward Fry, (4 November 1827 – 19 October 1918) was an English Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Lord Justice of Appeal (1883–1892) and an arbitrator on the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Biography Joseph Fry (1795-1879) and Mar ...
, the judge); he was the sixth of Thomas's 15 children but Susanna's first, Thomas having had five children by previous marriages. One of his sisters was the schoolteacher Marian Pease. His father had been a wool comber and his mother came from the Fry family known for manufacturing chocolate. Edward Pease was educated at home until he was 16, and soon after moved to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
where he was taken under the wing of his brother in law Sir Thomas Hanbury. He was initially employed as a clerk in a business where Hanbury was a partner. In time Hanbury arranged for him to become a partner in a stock broking firm.


Career

In the early 1880s Pease became friends with
Frank Podmore Frank Podmore (5 February 1856 – 14 August 1910) was an English author, and founding member of the Fabian Society. He is best known as an influential member of the Society for Psychical Research and for his sceptical writings on spiritualism. ...
and husband and wife
Edith Nesbit Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist a ...
and
Hubert Bland Hubert Bland (3 January 1855 – 14 April 1914) was an English author and the husband of Edith Nesbit. He was known for being an infamous libertine, a journalist, an early English socialist, and one of the founders of the Fabian Society. Early ...
. On 4 January 1884, Podmore's group founded the Fabian Society. In 1886, the death of a wealthy relative meant Pease received a sizeable legacy allowing him to give up work at the London Stock Exchange and devote time to his
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
interests. In 1886, he moved to
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, began working as a cabinet-maker and formed the National Labour Federation, a general union with a national scope. However, his attempts to convert the working class to
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
were unsuccessful so he returned to London. He travelled to
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
with
Sidney Webb Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Ge ...
in 1888, and on his return married Marjory Davidson, a young Scottish schoolteacher. In 1890 Pease was appointed secretary of the Fabian Society. As well as managing the society's administration, he edited ''Fabian News'' and wrote ten pamphlets, including tracts on liquor licensing (1899) and ''The History of the Fabian Society'' (1916). With Sidney and
Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...
, Pease was a trustee in the fund used to found the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...
(LSE) in 1895. Pease was also a member of the
Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...
and in February 1900 he represented the Fabian Society at the meeting where it was decided to establish "a distinct Labour group in Parliament", forming the Labour Representation Committee (LRC - the forerunner to the Labour Party) to which Pease was elected, serving on the Party's executive committee for 14 years.


Family

Pease married Mary (Marjory) Gammell Davidson (1861–1950). They had two children: Michael S. Pease, the geneticist, and Nicholas Arthington Pease. With his wife Marjory, Pease established the East
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
Labour Party and both served on the local council. Their home at
Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25.
, The Pendicle, Pastens Road, became known as 'Dostoevsky Corner', because he housed so many Russian refugees who had been forced to leave their country because of their socialist beliefs.biographical record
at British Library of Political & Economic Science


See also

* List of Fabian Tracts


References


External links

* * * * ODNB article by Mark Bevir
‘Pease, Edward Reynolds (1857–1955)’
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pease, Edward 1857 births 1955 deaths English non-fiction writers English Quakers Fry family People associated with the London School of Economics Labour Party (UK) politicians General Secretaries of the Fabian Society Members of the Fabian Society
Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...
English male non-fiction writers