Joseph Malins (21 October 1844 – 5 January 1926) was an English

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

activist and writer.

Life

Malins was born at 7 Askew Place,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

on 21 October 1844. He emigrated to Philadelphia, USA, with his wife in 1866 and found work as a painter of railway wagons. As a result of his wife's ill health, they returned to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in 1868. When he returned to England, he brought back the

Independent Order of Good Templars The International Organisation of Good Templars (IOGT; founded as the Independent Order of Good Templars), whose international body is known as Movendi International, is a fraternal organization which is part of the temperance movement, promotin ...

(IOGT), a temperance organization which he had joined in the US. He founded the lodge called Columbia No. 1 in Morton's Chapel, Cregoe Street, Birmingham, on 8 September 1868. He became president of the English Good Templars, and was sometimes called despotic. From 1876 to 1887, the English and Irish Good Templars were in conflict with the Good Templars in America, as in 1875 the American body had adopted a policy of accepting de facto

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

of lodges in the American South after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. For the reunion of the American and English lodges in 1887, Malins compromised by accepting segregation, but Malins and the Good Templars were uncompromising over temperance and regarded as extreme in England. Malins was in favour of Local Option votes for local areas, which could vote to go "dry". He opposed compensation for

liquor licence A liquor license (or liquor licence in most forms of Commonwealth English) is a governmentally issued permit to sell, manufacture, store, or otherwise use alcoholic beverages. Canada In Canada, liquor licences are issued by the legal authority ...

owners and public management of retail liquor outlets. Malins supported the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, but went from supporting the

Liberal Unionists The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

to supporting the

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

(for Ireland) Liberals. His support for candidates depended on their attitude to temperance. Malins became a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

in the 1890s and was a member of the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...

. Malins' 1895 poem, "The ambulance down in the Valley", is describing the difference between

prevention Prevention may refer to: Health and medicine * Preventive healthcare, measures to prevent diseases or injuries rather than curing them or treating their symptoms General safety * Crime prevention, the attempt to reduce deter crime and crimi ...

and cure. The poem is quoted in numerous modern day resources (e.g., ''Primary health care in Australia: A nursing and midwifery consensus view''''Primary health care in Australia: A nursing and midwifery consensus view.'' http://anmf.org.au/documents/reports/PHC_Australia.pdf). He died at home in Birmingham on 5 January 1926 and was buried in the nearby Yardley Cemetery.

Selected publications

References

*''Joseph Malins - Patriarch Templar'', by Joseph Malins, 1932, Templar Press, Birmingham. * * ''Primary health care in Australia: A nursing and midwifery consensus view.'' http://anmf.org.au/documents/reports/PHC_Australia.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Malins, Joseph 1844 births 1926 deaths American temperance activists British vegetarianism activists English temperance activists People associated with the Vegetarian Society Writers from Worcester, England