Collet Dobson Collet (31 December 1812 – 28 December 1898) was an English radical freethinker, Chartist and campaigner against newspaper taxation.

Background and work

Collet was born in London on 31 December 1812, the son of John Dobson (1778–1827), a London merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Barker (1787–1875). His sister was the writer and feminist

Sophia Dobson Collet Sophia Dobson Collet (1 February 1822 – 27 March 1894) was a 19th-century English feminist freethinker. She wrote under the pen name ''Panthea'' in George Holyoake's ''Reasoner'', wrote for ''The Spectator'' and was a friend of the leading f ...

(1822–1894). His brother was the engineer Edward Dobson (1816–1908). After abandoning a career in the law due to lack of money, Collet became director of music at South Place Chapel and was heavily involved in the Chartist movement. He became Secretary of the People's Charter Union, and of the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee (i.e. to overturn the Stamp Act) in 1849. From 1851 - 1870 he was Secretary of the Association for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge. In 1866 he became editor of '' The Diplomatic Review''. This had been known as ''The Free Press'' prior to Collet taking it over and was a mouthpiece for the views of David Urquhart. Collet invited radicals to contribute to the ''Diplomatic Review'' and as a result began publishing articles by

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

. The two became great friends and weekly meetings were held at each other's houses at which Shakespeare readings were given by members of their families. These meetings became formalised as the Dogberry Club. Marx's daughter

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

and Collet's daughter, Clara Collet, amongst others, became heavily involved in the readings. His five children included the colonial administrator Wilfred Collet (1856–1929) and the educationalist Clara Collet (1860–1948). He died 1898 in

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manorialism, Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man c ...

, and is buried in Highgate West Cemetery. His wife, Jane Collet (1820–1908), died 10 years after him.

Publications

* ''Vocal Rudiments.'' Aus: ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', 1847
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* ''Vocal Rudiments.'' Part II (Continued). Aus: ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', 1849
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* ''The invasion of France not a war of self-defence. The case against Prussia. Analyses of the "correspondence preliminary to the war"''. London 1870 (''Reprinted from the "Anglo American Times"''). * ''Reasons for the repeal of the railway passenger duty. Paper read in the rooms of the Society of Arts, 26th February, 1877''. In: Some words on railway legislation. Waterlow and Sons, London 1877. * ''Life and career of Mr. Richard Moore. With a short sketch of his struggles for political, social and religious freedom''. Charles Watt, London 1878. * ''Calm is the glassy ocean'', translation of the chorus from Mozart's opera ''

Idomeneo (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', Köchel catalogue, K. 366) is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Vares ...

''. Novello & Company, London 1891
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* ''A History of the Taxes on Knowledge their origin and repeal. With an introduction by

George Jacob Holyoake George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and " jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, ''The Reasoner'', from 1846 to ...

''. T. Fisher Unwin, London 1899. 2 vols
Digitalisat Internet Archive vol. 1Digitalisat Internet Archive vol. 2

References

Royle, Edward Edward Royle (born 29 March 1944) is a British academic who is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of York and author of several books on the history of religious ideas, particularly in York and Yorkshire. Career Royle gained his Ph ...

(1974). ''Victorian Infidels: the origins of the British Secularist Movement, 1791-1866''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Online version
* Rudich, Rosie: ''Zwei Marx-Briefe aus dem Jahre 1876''. In: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung''. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1975, Vol. 17, Heft 5, pp. 840–848. Letters 10 November and 9 December 1876 in German and English * Merson, Allan: ''The Free Press (1851–1856)''. In: ''Beiträge zur Marx-Engels-Forschung'' 11. Berlin 1982, pp. 137–156
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* McDonald, Deborah. ''Clara Collet 1860-1948: An Educated Working Woman'' London 2004 *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collet, Collet Dobson 1812 births 1898 deaths Chartists Freethought writers People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society