Maurice Benington Reckitt (19 June 1888 – 11 January 1980) was a leading English

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...

and Christian socialist writer. He edited ''Christendom: A Journal of Christian Sociology'' from 1931 to 1950. He founded the charity Christendom Trust.

Life

Reckitt was born on 19 June 1888 in

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, to Arthur Benington Reckitt and Helen Annie Thomas. His background was wealthy, with the family business Reckitt's of Hull manufacturing a well-known brand of bluing. His sister was Eva Collet Reckitt, founder of Collet's, the London bookshop. He graduated from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...

in 1911 with a

second-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

degree in history. At Oxford, and elsewhere throughout his life, he studied under

Sir Ernest Barker Sir Ernest Barker (23 September 1874 – 17 February 1960) was an English political scientist who served as Principal of King's College London from 1920 to 1927. Life and career Ernest Barker was born in Woodley, Cheshire, and educated at ...

, H. A. L. Fisher, G. K. Chesterton, A. R. Orage, John Neville Figgis, P. E. T. Widdrington, and V. A. Demant. Early in life, Reckitt was a supporter of guild socialism and a founder of the

National Guilds League Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influent ...

. He presented the Scott Holland Memorial Lectures in 1946. Reckitt was a leading player and croquet administrator winning the Men's Championship twice (1935 and 1946). Reckitt was on the Council of the Croquet Association between 1929 and 1975, serving as Chairman (1937 to 1939), Vice President (1962 to 1967) and President (1967 to 1975). He died on 11 January 1980 in

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

Works

* ''The Meaning of National Guilds'' (1918) with C. E. Bechhofer * ''Faith and Society: Study of the Structure, Outlook and Opportunity of the Christian Social Movement in Great Britain and the United States of America'' (1932) * ''Religion in Social Action'' (1937) * ''The Church and the World: Being Materials for the Historical Study of Christian Sociology'' in two volumes (1938) with Cyril E. Hudson * ''Church and Society in England from 1800'' (1940) * ''The Vocation of England'' (1941) with J. V. Langmead Casserley * ''As It Happened: An Autobiography'' (1941) * ''Prospect for Christendom: Essays in Catholic Social Reconstruction'' (Faber and Faber, 1945) editor, with F. N. Davey, V. A. Demant, E. L. Mascall, T. S. Eliot, Philip Mairet, Patrick McLaughlin, T. M. Heron, Ruth Kenyon, David G. Peck, William G. Peck, Charles Smyth, Cyril E. Hudson, Henry Balmforth, Rosalinde Wilton, P. E. T. Widdrington * ''The Christian in Politics'' (1946) * ''Maurice to Temple: A Century of the Social Movement in the Church of England'' (Faber and Faber 1946) Holland Lectures 1946 * ''G. K. Chesterton: A Christian Prophet for England Today'' (1950) pamphlet * ''Industry and Democracy'' () pamphlet * ''The World and the Faith: Essays of a Christian Sociologist'' (1954) * ''Croquet Today'' (Macdonald & Co 1954) * ''Militant Here in Earth: Considerations on the Prophetic Function of the Church in the 20th Century'' (1957) * ''P. E. T. Widdrington: A Study in Vocation and Versatility'' (1961) * ''For Christ and the People: Studies of Four Socialist Priests and Prophets of the Church of England Between 1870–1930'' (1968) editor, with Stephen Yeo, Kenneth Leach, and Robert Woodifield; on Thomas Hancock (1832–1903), Stewart Headlam (1847–1924),

Charles Marson Charles Latimer Marson (16 May 1859 – 3 March 1914) was an influential figure in the second wave of Christian socialism in England in the 1880s. Later between 1903 and 1906 he collaborated with his good friend Cecil Sharp in the collection and pu ...

(1859–1914),

Conrad Noel Conrad le Despenser Roden Noel (12 July 1869 – 22 July 1942) was an English priest of the Church of England. Known as the 'Red Vicar' of Thaxted, he was a prominent Christian socialist. Early life Noel was born on 12 July 1869 in Royal Cottage, ...

Life

Works

See also

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Further reading