William Edmund Moll (1856–1932) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest and Christian socialist activist. Moll studied at the

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, where he became a supporter of the ideas of Henry George. He joined the English Land Restoration League and on graduation joined the Guild of St Matthew. From 1879, he worked as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in various parishes in London, and from 1884 focused on social activism in Soho. He worked closely with Stewart Headlam, allowing him to conduct mass, and he trained up Charles Marson. In 1893, Moll joined the new Independent Labour Party (ILP), and relocated to the north of England, soon becoming the vicar of St Philip's Church in Newcastle upon Tyne. There, he trained up three notable socialist curates: Conrad Noel, Paul Stacy, and Percy Widdrington. He was prominent in the Church Socialist League, but turned down the opportunity to become its chair, instead focusing on the ILP, where he served on the National Administrative Council for many years, representing

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

. He campaigned against the Second Boer War, and in support of local coal miners. He was often invited to speak by Methodists in pit villages, despite his strongly contrasting theology. In religious matters, Moll identified as an Anglo-Catholic, stating that "As a Catholic, I believe that the Church is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth – an organised society for the promotion of righteousness, and freedom, and truth among nations." He argued that God was not to blame for poverty, but rather the belief that accumulation of property was associated with progress. He supported

disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...

, and believed that people should work as individuals to lobby for just laws. In 1924, Moll relocated to become the vicar at

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

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