Stephen Henry Hobhouse (5 August 1881 – 2 April 1961) was a prominent English peace activist, prison reformer, and religious writer.

Family

Stephen Henry Hobhouse was born in

Pitcombe Pitcombe is a village and civil parish south-west of Bruton and from Wincanton in Somerset, England. It has a population of 532. The parish includes the hamlets of Cole and Godminster. The village lies on the River Pitt and other streams that ...

Somerset, England ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. He was the eldest son of Henry Hobhouse (1854–1937), a wealthy landowner and Liberal MP from 1885 to 1906, and Margaret Heyworth Potter.The Peerage: A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe:Stephen Hobhouse
/ref> Both sides of his family included a number of reformers and progressive politicians: * As an MP, his father was behind the Education Act of 1902. * His paternal cousin

Emily Hobhouse Emily Hobhouse (9 April 1860 – 8 June 1926) was a British welfare campaigner, anti-war activist, and pacifist. She is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the deprived conditions insi ...

(1860–1926) was known for bringing attention to British concentration camps in South Africa during the

Second 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 Sout ...

. Her views greatly influenced Stephen.Zedner, p. 248 * His paternal cousin

Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, FBA (8 September 1864 – 21 June 1929) was an English liberal political theorist and sociologist, who has been considered one of the leading and earliest proponents of social liberalism. His works, culminating in ...

(1864–1929) was a sociologist and one of the founders of

social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

. * His brother Sir Arthur Lawrence Hobhouse (1886–1965) was the architect of the system of

National parks of England and Wales National parks of the United Kingdom ( cy, parciau cenedlaethol; gd, pàircean nàiseanta) are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape across the country. Despite their name, they are quite different from national parks in many ot ...

. * His maternal aunt

Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith ( Potter; 4 April 1847 – 26 February 1929), known as Kate Courtney, was a British social worker and internationalist. Active in charitable organisations in her early life, she later campaigned w ...

(1847-1929), was a social worker and internationalist. * His maternal aunt Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield (1858–1943), was a sociologist, economist, and social reformer who played key roles in founding both the

London School of Economics and Political Science , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and 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. The Fab ...

. * His maternal grandfather Richard Potter (1817–1892) was a chairman of the Great Western Railway. * His maternal great-grandfather Richard Potter (1778–1842) was a radical Liberal Party MP.

Education and formative years

Stephen Hobhouse was brought up as a member of the established Church of England.Brock, p. 14 He was educated at Eton, where he won prizes in both academics and sports, and at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

.Hochschild, pp. 220–222 Hobhouse attended Quaker meetings in Hampstead after graduation and officially became a member of the

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 abil ...

in 1909. The

broke out when he was 18. He originally supported the war but his views were soon challenged by his cousin Emily. "Thus, no doubt, it was that my mind was prepared for the awakening". What he regarded as an awakening came from a 1902 reading of a pamphlet by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. This tract had a profound influence on him and he became an ardent lifelong

pacifist 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 campaigne ...

.Hochschild, p. 277 He worked as a civil servant for seven years in the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

. During the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, he resigned his post to go to Constantinople as a volunteer with a Quaker relief mission that helped refugees and saw firsthand the damage that war can do.

Marriage

In April 1915, Hobhouse married Rosa Waugh (1882–1971). He met her at a dinner party for Christian activists. She was also an activist, and spent three months in jail for distributing pacifist pamphlets. Rosa was also a prolific author on her own.Sue Young Histories: Rosa and Stephen Hobhouse and Homeopathy
/ref> Together they wrote a biography of

Samuel Hahnemann Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (; 10 April 1755 – 2 July 1843) was a German physician, best known for creating the pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine called homeopathy. Early life Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann was ...

, the founder of

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...

. Both Hobhouses were firm believers in homeopathy, and Steven even translated articles for the ''Homeopathic Journal''. As eldest son of a wealthy family, Stephen stood to inherit a large fortune, but, influenced by Tolstoy again, he renounced his inheritance. He and his wife adopted a lifestyle of poverty, living in

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It l ...

, then a slum district in East London. At the same time they joined the

Quakers 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 ...

and became active in Quaker service.

Pacifism and prison

Hobhouse was

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

into the army in 1916. At a

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

in August 1916, he was granted an exemption from military service so long as he joined the

Friends Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 19 ...

. As an absolutist or unconditionalist

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 ...

, however, Hobhouse refused either to accept the decision or to appeal against it. He ignored a notice to report to barracks, was arrested by the civil police, brought before a magistrates' court, and handed over to the military. He refused to put on military uniform, was court-martialled and sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour. Hobhouse was then placed in solitary confinement because he refused to obey the "Rule of Silence" forbidding prisoners to speak to one another. He wrote to his wife: "The spirit of love requires that I should speak to my fellow-prisoners, the spirit of truth that I should speak to them openly" By mid-1917, after 112 days in jail, followed by a second jail sentence, his health was declining rapidly. (His health had always been frail: he had previously suffered nervous breakdowns and

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

.Hochschild, p. 276) His wife was very angry about his treatment in prison and some said that he never recovered his health entirely. In 1917 Hobhouse wrote:Brock, p. 18

Nearly every feature of prison life seems deliberately arranged to destroy a man's sense of his own personality, his power of choice and initiative, his possessive instincts, his concept of himself as a being designed to love and serve his fellow-man. His very name is blotted out and he becomes a number; A.3.21 and D.2.65 were two of my designations. He and his fellows are elaborately counted, when-ever moved from one location to another, in the characteristic machine-like way. He is continually, of course, under lock and key, ignored except as an object for spying.

His mother, Margaret, was a supporter of the First World War, in which three of her four sons served: the youngest Paul Edward was killed in March 1918. She was determined, however, to save her eldest son Stephen's life and to draw attention to the predicament of 1,350 war resisters then being held in prison. She maintained that "absolutists" like Stephen should either receive a King's Pardon or be released into civilian life. Margaret produced a pamphlet, ''I Appeal unto Caesar: the case of the conscientious objectors'', with an introduction by the eminent classicist and public figure

Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...

, publicising the plight of the conscientious objectors. The pamphlet sold over 18,000 copies. (Recent research by Jo Vellacott has revealed that the appeal's author was actually

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ar ...

.)The Bat Segundo Show: Adam Hochschild
/ref> This active public campaign was aided discreetly by the influential

Alfred Milner Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From De ...

, who was a family friend. The case of Stephen Hobhouse was first raised in Parliament on 9 July 1917. The campaign eventually prevailed, and in December 1917 Stephen, and some 300 other COs, was released from prison on grounds of ill health. In prison Hobhouse met

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to W. G. Brockway and Frances Elizabeth Abbey ...

, a "fiery socialist" and fellow anti-war activist. After the war, they wrote ''English Prisons Today'', sponsored by the Prison System Enquiry Committee. This book, which appeared in 1922, was a critique of the entire English prison system, initiating a wave of prison reform which has continued to this day.

Writings

Hobhouse wrote many books on prison reform, Quakerism, and religion. Selected works include:Stephen_Hobhouse at WorldCat
/ref> * 1918 * 1919 * 1919 * 1922 * 1927 * 1934 * 1937 * 1948 * 1944? * 1946 * 1951 * 1952 * 1954

References

;Notes ;Sources * Brock, Peter, ''These strange criminals : an anthology of prison memoirs by conscientious objectors to military service from the Great War to the Cold War'', Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004, * Hobhouse, Rosa Waugh, ''Life of Christian Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy'', New Delhi: B. Jain, 2001, * Hochschild, Adam, ''To end all wars : a story of loyalty and rebellion, 1914-1918'', Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, * Moorehead, Caroline, ''Bertrand Russell: a life'', New York: Viking, 1993, * Rae, John, ''Conscience and Politics - The British Government and the Conscientious Objector to Military Service 1916-1919'', Oxford University Press, 1970, * Vellacott, Jo, ''Bertrand Russell and the pacifists in the First World War'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981, * Wills, David W, ''Stephen Henry Hobhouse: a twentieth-century Quaker saint'', London, Friends Home Service Committee, 1972 * Zedner, Lucia, ''The criminological foundations of penal policy: essays in honour of Roger Hood'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003,

External links

*
Full text of ''English prisons to-day; being the report of the Prison System Enquiry Committee''
digitized by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Full text of ''I appeal unto Cæsar: the case of the conscientious objector''
(fourth edition) digitized by the Internet Archive * Hobhouse, Mrs. Henry
''I Appeal Unto Caesar''
London: Allen & Unwin, 1917 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobhouse, Stephen Henry 1881 births 1961 deaths Military personnel from Somerset British Army personnel of World War I British Army soldiers Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Anglican pacifists Classical liberalism Converts to Quakerism English Christian pacifists English conscientious objectors English male non-fiction writers English Quakers English religious writers

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

Non-interventionism People educated at Eton College People from Somerset Prison reformers