Walter Venning (1781–1821) was an English merchant and philanthropist, interested in prison reform. Walter Venning Cooper

Life

The younger brother of

John Venning John Venning (1776–1858) was an English merchant, and a philanthropist interested in prison reform in Russia, where he was in business. Life Born at Totnes, Devon, on 20 May 1776, he was the son of Walter Venning, a merchant, by his wife Mary An ...

, he was born at Totnes,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, on 15 November 1781. He began business life in London with an elder brother, William, but in 1799 he joined John in St. Petersburg, remaining there till 1807. In 1810 Venning came under strong religious impressions, and after his mother's death joined a congregational church in 1811. On the formation in 1815 of the

Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

he became an active member; and when he returned to St. Petersburg in 1817, he founded a similar society there, in 1819. Through Prince Alexander Golitsyn Venning obtained permission to visit Russian prisons. In 1818 he visited those of Moscow. He proposed to visit Denmark on a similar mission in August 1820, but was beaten back by weather. He died at his brother's country house on 10 January 1821 of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

, caught while visiting a prison in St. Petersburg. He was buried at St. Petersburg, where a monument was erected to his memory by the St. Petersburg Society for the Improvement of Prisons.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Venning, Walter 1781 births 1821 deaths English merchants English Congregationalists British prison reformers 19th-century British businesspeople