British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
.
Riley was born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, his father being the manager of a cloth printing factory and
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
preacher.
Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...
, ''Sketches from Life in Town and Country and Some Verses'', pp.205-209 He trained as an engraver before moving to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for three years, then returned to England to work as a commercial traveller.R. C. S. Trahair, ''Utopias and Utopians'', p.339
In the late 1860s, Riley returned to the U.S., where he became an active socialist and gained experience as a
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
. In 1870, he returned to England once more, and got in touch with
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
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 ...
, where he published ''Yankee Letters to British Workmen'' in 1871, and became active in the
First International
The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as ...
, editing its British journal, the ''International Herald'', from 1872.Chūshichi Tsuzuki, ''Edward Carpenter 1844-1929'', p.40 By 1875, he had moved to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, then in 1876 he moved to
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
on the invitation of
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...
to manage St George's Farm at
Totley
Totley is a suburb on the extreme southwest of the Sheffield, City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Lying in the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of Derbyshire, Totley was amalgamated into the city of Sheffield ...
on a communitarian basis. In Sheffield, he launched a monthly journal, ''The Socialist'', which ran for only six months.
The farm project was not a success; the workers, former shoemakers, fell into dispute with each other and with Riley, and the land was not as productive as had been hoped. With the failure of the project, Ruskin permitted Riley to remain at the farm, but in 1880 Riley moved back to the U.S., where he based himself in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, writing socialist articles and farming. In 1884,
Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...
stayed with Riley while he was visiting
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
. In 1889, he moved to
Lunenburg, Massachusetts
Lunenburg is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,946 at the 2020 census.
History
Lunenburg was first settled by Europeans in 1718 and was officially incorporated in 1728. The name stems from one of t ...
, where he lived until 1896.''The Yale University Library Gazette'', v. 34-36, p.90