Sunday Lecture Society

The Sunday Lecture Society was a British-based society that gave a number of influential lectures on Sundays. The first incarnation of the society met at St. George's Hall, Langham Place^[1] for members to hear lectures on arts, history, science and literature.^[2] It was formed in November 1869 by solicitor William Henry Domville.^[3] The society came about because during November 1865, the National Sunday League (NSL) held a series of lectures for the general public entitled "Sunday Evenings for the People". This was fiercely opposed by the Lord's Day Observance Society (LDOS), which had the lectures cancelled after only four had been given. This was done by threatening the management of St Martin's Hall with legal action, as lectures on a Sunday were forbidden under the Sunday Observance Act 1780.^[4] In the aftermath, it was sometime later that the Sunday Lecture Society was formed, replacing the NSL. ^[4]

The vice presidents included Thomas Henry Huxley, Herbert Spencer, William Spottiswoode, John Tyndall, and Charles Darwin.^[5] Gerald Parsons notes that "Huxley also presided over the organisational meeting, although he declined to serve as president in 1884 while holding the same office in the Royal Society."^[3]

The Sunday Lecture Society soon branched out to Tynedale, and established itself in Leeds where it held meetings at the Coliseum Theatre, situated at Cookridge Street.^[6] In 1894 the LDOS forced the prosecution of the Leeds branch of the Sunday Lecture Society under the Sunday Observance Act, leading to the fining of two members of the Society, Alderman Ward and Mr. Gavazzi King, as well as the proprietor of the Coliseum, a Mr. Wilson.^[7] The Sunday Lecture Society later had this verdict overturned on appeal, and the actions of the LDOS were dismissed with costs.^[7] John Wigley, writing about this in his book The rise and fall of the Victorian Sunday, says he considers this to have been a "tactical blunder" because after the prosecution another group, the Sunday Society, formed a National Association of Sunday Societies in order to better defend themselves.^[8] Furthermore, the prosecution galvanised one of the Sunday Lecture Society's members, Lord Hobhouse, to put forward a Sunday Bill to the House of Lords, where on its second reading it was put to committee.^[8] Wigley says that the Sabbatarians did not "make a good impression, rather letting down their side".^[8] Nonetheless the bill was not enacted, and a second Sunday Bill introduced by Hobhouse in 1897 also failed.^[9]

Lecturers

• Eliza Orme^[10]
• Anna Kingsford^[2]
• George Wotherspoon^[11]
• William Benjamin Carpenter^[12]
• George Simonds Boulger^[13]
• Thomas William Rhys Davids^[13]
• Henry Maudsley^[13]
• Henry Nottidge Moseley^[13]
• George Romanes^[13]
• Gustav Zerffi^[13]
• William Kingdon Clifford^[14]
• John Wentworth^[15]
• John Mackinnon Robertson^[16]
• Karl Pearson^[17]
• John Addington Symonds^[18]
• Florence Miller^[19]
• Edward Aveling^[20]
• Elizabeth Blackwell^[21]

References

1. Moore, James (1993), Speaking Of Science and Religion Then and Now, American Scientific Affiliation, citing:
   • T. Huxley to F. D. Dyster, 10 October 1854 L. Huxley, Life and Letters (ref. 7), i, 113
   • "Sunday Lecture Society Proceedings from 1869 to 1889," British Library, Department of Printed Books, 4355.d.f.17
   • C. J. Ellicott, "Explanatory Paper," in [William Thomson], Lord Archbishop of York, et al,.
   • Modern Scepticism: A Course of Lectures Delivered at the Request of the Christian Evidence Society (London, 1871), 505-27.
2. Pert, Alan (2006), Red cactus: the life of Anna Kingsford, Watson's Bay, New South Wales: Books & Writers, p. 94, ISBN 978-1-74018-405-2
3. Parsons, Gerald (1988), "C. M. Davies on Professor Huxley's Sunday Lecture", in Moore, James R. (ed.), Religion in Victorian Britain, Manchester University Press in association with the Open University, p. 456, ISBN 978-0-7190-2944-8
4. Pope, Norris (1979). Dickens and Charity. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 91. ISBN 1349034363. OCLC 1033650826.
5. Parsons, Gerald; Moore, James Richard (1988). Religion in Victorian Britain: Sources. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-2944-8.
6. Pugh, Brian W. (2018). A Chronology of the Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Revised 2018 ed.). MX Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1780922850.
7. "Appendix C. (9)", Reports from Select Committees of the House of Lords and Evidence, vol. 6, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, 1895, p. 244
8. Wigley, John (1980). The rise and fall of the Victorian Sunday. Manchester University Press. p. 146. ISBN 9780719007941.
9. Wigley, p.157
10. Howsam, Leslie (Fall 1989). ""Sound-Minded Women": Eliza Orme and the Study and Practice of Law in Late-Victorian England". Atlantis. Toronto, Ontario. 15 (1): 48.
11. Wotherspoon, George (14 March 1886), Cremation, ancient and modern : the history of fire-funeral a lecture delivered before the Sunday Lecture Society, St. George's Hall, Langham Place, on Sunday afternoon, 14th March, 1886, Sunday Lecture Society – via Wellcome Collection
12. Carpenter, William Benjamin (7 March 1875), The doctrine of human automatism : a lecture (with additions) delivered before The Sunday Lecture Society, on Sunday afternoon, 7th March, 1875, London: Sunday Lecture Society – via Wellcome Collection
13. A Selection of Lectures Delivered Before the Sunday Lecture Society: Fourth Selection. London: Sunday Lecture Society. January 1876.
14. Clifford, William Kingdon (1 November 1874), Body and Mind: A Lecture Delivered Before the Sunday Lecture Society, on Sunday Afternoon, 1st November, 1874, London: Sunday Lecture Society
15. Wentworth, John (1886). Early Chicago: A Lecture Delivered Before the Sunday Lecture Society at McCormick Hall on Sunday Afternoon, May 7th, 1876. Chicago: Fergus Printing Company.
16. Robertson, John Mackinnon (1900). Over-population: A Lecture Delivered for the Sunday Lecture Society, London, Oct. 27th, 1889, Under the Title "The Law of Population, Its Meaning and Menace".
17. Pearson, Karl (6 December 1885). Matter and Soul: A Lecture Delivered Before the Sunday Lecture Society, St. George's Hall, Langham Place, on 6th December, 1885. London: Sunday Lecture Society.
18. Symonds, John Addington (24 November 1872), Renaissance of Modern Europe: A Review of the Scientific, Artistic, Rationalistic, Revolutionary Revival, Dating from the 15th Century: Being a Lecture Delivered Before the Sunday Lecture Society, the 24th November, 1872, London: Sunday Lecture Society
19. Miller, Florence Fenwick (11 March 1877), The Lessons of a Life, Harriet Martineau, a Lecture Delivered 11th March 1877, London: Sunday Lecture Society
20. Aveling, Edward Bibbins (5 November 1882), The Borderland Between Living and Non-living Things: A Lecture Delivered Before the Sunday Lecture Society, on Sunday Afternoon, November 5th, 1882, London: Sunday Lecture Society
21. Blackwell, Elizabeth (1871). On the religion of health: a lecture delivered before the Sunday Lecture Society, February 19, 1871. London: Office of "The Examiner". OCLC 926090108.

External links

• Sunday Lecture Society (London) - WorldCat