Maurice Benington Reckitt (19 June 1888 – 11 January 1980) was a leading English

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

and

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

writer. He edited ''Christendom: A Journal of Christian Sociology'' from 1931 to 1950. He founded the charity Christendom Trust.

Life

Reckitt was born on 19 June 1888 in

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, to Arthur Benington Reckitt and Helen Annie Thomas. His background was wealthy, with the family business Reckitt's of Hull manufacturing a well-known brand of bluing. His sister was

Eva Collet Reckitt Eva Collet Reckitt (28 June 1890 – 24 September 1976) was the founder of the left-wing bookshop Collet's on Charing Cross Road, London, in 1933. Biography Reckitt was elected in 1927 to the executive of the Labour Research Department. One of the ...

, founder of Collet's, the London bookshop. He graduated from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

in 1911 with a

second-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

degree in history. At Oxford, and elsewhere throughout his life, he studied under Sir Ernest Barker, H. A. L. Fisher, G. K. Chesterton, A. R. Orage,

John Neville Figgis John Neville Figgis (2 October 1866 – 13 April 1919) was an English historian, political philosopher, and Anglican priest and monk of the Community of the Resurrection. He was born in Brighton on 2 October 1866. Educated at Brighton College and ...

, P. E. T. Widdrington, and V. A. Demant. Early in life, Reckitt was a supporter of

guild socialism Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influent ...

and a founder of the

National Guilds League Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influent ...

. He presented the

Scott Holland Memorial Lectures The Scott Holland Memorial Lectures are held in memory of Henry Scott Holland. They are given by a prominent Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church ...

in 1946. Reckitt was a leading player and

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

administrator winning the Men's Championship twice (1935 and 1946). Reckitt was on the Council of the

Croquet Association The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897, is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole of the Unit ...

between 1929 and 1975, serving as Chairman (1937 to 1939), Vice President (1962 to 1967) and President (1967 to 1975). He died on 11 January 1980 in

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Works

* ''The Meaning of National Guilds'' (1918) with C. E. Bechhofer * ''Faith and Society: Study of the Structure, Outlook and Opportunity of the Christian Social Movement in Great Britain and the United States of America'' (1932) * ''Religion in Social Action'' (1937) * ''The Church and the World: Being Materials for the Historical Study of Christian Sociology'' in two volumes (1938) with Cyril E. Hudson * ''Church and Society in England from 1800'' (1940) * ''The Vocation of England'' (1941) with J. V. Langmead Casserley * ''As It Happened: An Autobiography'' (1941) * ''Prospect for Christendom: Essays in Catholic Social Reconstruction'' (Faber and Faber, 1945) editor, with F. N. Davey, V. A. Demant, E. L. Mascall, T. S. Eliot,

Philip Mairet Philip Mairet (; full name: Philippe Auguste Mairet; 1886–1975) was a British designer, writer and journalist. He had a wide range of interest: crafts, Alfred Adler and psychiatry, and Social Credit. He translated major figures including Jean- ...

, Patrick McLaughlin, T. M. Heron, Ruth Kenyon, David G. Peck, William G. Peck, Charles Smyth, Cyril E. Hudson, Henry Balmforth, Rosalinde Wilton, P. E. T. Widdrington * ''The Christian in Politics'' (1946) * ''Maurice to Temple: A Century of the Social Movement in the Church of England'' (Faber and Faber 1946) Holland Lectures 1946 * ''G. K. Chesterton: A Christian Prophet for England Today'' (1950) pamphlet * ''Industry and Democracy'' () pamphlet * ''The World and the Faith: Essays of a Christian Sociologist'' (1954) * ''Croquet Today'' (Macdonald & Co 1954) * ''Militant Here in Earth: Considerations on the Prophetic Function of the Church in the 20th Century'' (1957) * ''P. E. T. Widdrington: A Study in Vocation and Versatility'' (1961) * ''For Christ and the People: Studies of Four Socialist Priests and Prophets of the Church of England Between 1870–1930'' (1968) editor, with Stephen Yeo, Kenneth Leach, and Robert Woodifield; on Thomas Hancock (1832–1903),

Stewart Headlam Stewart Duckworth Headlam (1847–1924) was an English Anglican priest who was involved in frequent controversy in the final decades of the nineteenth century. Headlam was a pioneer and publicist of Christian socialism, on which he wrote a pamphl ...

(1847–1924),

Charles Marson Charles Latimer Marson (16 May 1859 – 3 March 1914) was an influential figure in the second wave of Christian socialism in England in the 1880s. Later between 1903 and 1906 he collaborated with his good friend Cecil Sharp in the collection and p ...

(1859–1914),

Conrad Noel Conrad le Despenser Roden Noel (12 July 1869 – 22 July 1942) was an English priest of the Church of England. Known as the 'Red Vicar' of Thaxted, he was a prominent Christian socialist. Early life Noel was born on 12 July 1869 in Royal Cottage, ...

Life

Works

See also

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Further reading