William Horsell (31 March 1807 – 23 December 1863) was an English

hydrotherapist Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and Physical therapy, physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and tr ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, and

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

activist. Horsell published the first

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

cookbook in 1849.

Biography

Horsell was born in

Brinkworth, Wiltshire Brinkworth is a village and civil parish in northern Wiltshire, England. The village lies between Royal Wootton Bassett and Malmesbury, about north of the M4 motorway and west of Swindon. The west end of Brinkworth village is Causeway End. T ...

. Before the age of twenty he was preaching the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and became a

activist in 1833. In 1838, Horsell established the Anti-Nicotine Society at

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...

, Cheshire. Horsell founded the Nature's Beverage Society in 1842. The Society aimed to spread abstinence from all artificial beverages. Horsell operated a hydropathic infirmary at Northwood Villa,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

.Spencer, Colin. (1995). ''The Heretic's Feast: A History of Vegetarianism''. University Press of New England. p. 252. It has been described as the first vegetarian hospital in Britain. In 1847, a meeting was held at the hospital from which the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...

was formed. Horsell was secretary of the Vegetarian Society for several years.Gregory, James. (2007). ''Of Victorians and Vegetarians: The Vegetarian Movement in Nineteenth-Century Britain''. Tauris Academic Studies. pp. 31-52, pp. 72-73, p. 104. In 1856, Horsell noted that there were a thousand members of the Society. He managed the Society from his London office."London Vegetarian Association, 1850s - the world's first 'vegan society'"
. Retrieved 13 July 2019. Horsell edited the ''Truth Tester'', which became the Society's official journal. The journal described vegetarianism as "the next practical moral subject which is likely to call forth the virtuous energy of society". In 1850, it was renamed the ''Vegetarian Advocate''. Horsell stepped down as Secretary and his journal ceased in 1850.
International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 13 July 2019. From 1849, the Vegetarian Society's President James Simpson published the ''Vegetarian Messenger''. In 1850, Simpson moved the Vegetarian Society office to Manchester and ''Vegetarian Messenger'' became the Society's official journal. Horsell remained active with the London branch of the Vegetarian Society. Another publication of Horsell's was the monthly ''The Journal of Health & Phrenological Magazine'' which amongst its contributors was the popular temperance lecturer Jabez Inwards, a fellow teetotaler and phrenologist . He authored a popular hydropathic manual and was an advocate of

phrenology Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

. He was a publisher for vegetarian and

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

literature. His wife Elizabeth Horsell was also a vegetarian. Horsell was a London agent for the Fowler & Wells Company. In 1849, Horsell published Asenath Nicholson's ''Kitchen Philosophy for Vegetarians'', in London. A review in the ''Vegetarian Advocate'', noted that "butter and eggs are excluded" from the recipes. The

Vegan Society Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. D ...

have cited the book as the first vegan cookbook. Horsell died of a fever, while on board the ''Just'', on 23 December 1863, while on an anti-slavery mission to Nigeria. He was buried in Lagos Cemetery, West Africa.

Selected publications

*'' The Board of Health & Longevity'' (1845) *''Cholera Prevented by the Adoption of a Vegetarian Diet'' (1849) *'' Original Views on Diet'' (1849) *'' Hydropathy for the People'' (1850) *
The Vegetarian Armed at All Points
' (1856) *
The Science of Cooking Vegetarian Food
' (1856)

Biography

Selected publications

References

Further reading