Walter Ernest Christopher James, 4th Baron Northbourne (18 January 1896 – 17 June 1982), was an English agriculturalist, author and rower who competed in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

Life

James was the son of Walter James, 3rd Baron Northbourne, and his wife Laura Gwennlian (née Rice). He was educated at Sandroyd School and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, then

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

where he studied agricultural science and was also an accomplished rower. In 1920 he was a member of the

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

crew in the Boat Race. He was also a member of the Leander eight which won the silver medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1920 Summer Olympics, coming within half a length of winning. In 1921 he rowed for Oxford again in the Boat Race. Lord Northbourne married in 1925 Katherine Louise, daughter of George Augustus Nickerson, of Boston and

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. First settled by E ...

, and Ellen Nickerson (''née'' Touzalin, later wife of Sir Horace Hood). She died in 1980. Lord Northbourne survived her by two years and died in June 1982, aged 86. He was succeeded in his titles by his son

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

Agriculture and writing

James later applied the theories of

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (; 27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century ...

to the family estate at Kent. In 1939 he travelled to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

to visit the leading exponent of

biodynamic agriculture Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudoscientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, ...

, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer.Paull, John (2011
"The Betteshanger Summer School: Missing link between biodynamic agriculture and organic farming"
Journal of Organic Systems, 6(2):13–26. The outcome of that visit was that he hosted, at his farm in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference, the first biodynamic farming conference to be held in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. It has been claimed that Northbourne coined the phrase "organic farming", but Northbourne explicitly denied this. In a letter to Ned Halley of the Rodale Press, he wrote: "I was certainly not the first to apply the word 'organic' to farming or gardening. I have never known the ideas and practices involved under any other name". While he is certainly one of the central figures of the early organic movement, it is arguable that Albert Howard was of greater importance. Northbourne published ''Look to the Land'' in 1940, which raises many of the issues current to discussions of organic agriculture. After reading ''Look to the Land'', the philosopher and author Marco Pallis contacted Northbourne and later introduced him to the writings of the Traditionalist (also known as

Perennialist The perennial philosophy (), also referred to as perennialism and perennial wisdom, is a school of thought in philosophy and spirituality that posits that the recurrence of common themes across world religions illuminates universal truths about ...

) philosophy. Northbourne eventually integrated this thinking into his own writings and life, and became a correspondent with many of the most prominent writers of this school, as well as with Thomas Merton."Lord Northbourne: Life and Work."

World Wisdom World Wisdom is an independent American publishing company established in 1980 in Bloomington, Indiana. World Wisdom publishes religious and philosophical texts, including the work of authors such as Frithjof Schuon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Titus ...

World Wisdom Authors, Lord Northbourne
/ref> He was also a frequent contributor to the quarterly journal '' Studies in Comparative Religion'', which dealt with religious symbolism and the Traditionalist perspective.Paull, John (2014
Lord Northbourne, the man who invented organic farming, a biography
Journal of Organic Systems, 9 (1), pp. 31–53. Lord Northbourne was the English translator for the works of several fellow Traditionalists including René Guénon's major work, ''The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times'', ''Light on the Ancient Worlds'' by Frithjof Schuon, and ''Sacred Art in East and West'' by Titus Burckhardt.

Bibliography

*''Look to the Land'' (1940) *''Religion in the Modern World'' (1963) *''Looking Back on Progress'' (1970) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northbourne, Walter James, 4th Baron 1896 births 1982 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford People educated at Sandroyd School English agronomists English non-fiction writers English male rowers English religious writers English translators Olympic rowers for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rowing Organic farmers Rowers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Oxford University Boat Club rowers Traditionalist School 20th-century English translators English male non-fiction writers Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers People from Northbourne, Kent Walter 4 Walter 20th-century British agronomists 20th-century English sportsmen

Life

Agriculture and writing

Bibliography

See also

References