Edward Carpenter in Leeds

The Ford-Maguire Society in Leeds is to host a talk on Edward Carpenter next month.

The socialist poet and philosopher abandoned his Cambridge University fellowship in 1874 and moved to Leeds in search of an authentic way of life among the workers. Although his hopes were not met, Carpenter developed friendships in Leeds that would last for the rest of his life.

In later years, when he was an internationally renowned socialist, pacifist, poet of democracy, advocate of sexual liberation, and spiritual thinker, Carpenter returned to the city to give public addresses.

Researcher and author Dr Paul Marshall will explore Carpenter’s connections with Leeds through the friends he knew here, including Charles Oates of Meanwoodside (uncle of Captain Oates), the progressive Ford sisters of Adel, Bessie, Emily and Isabella, and stalwarts of the Leeds Socialist League , Tom Maguire and Alf Mattison.

Formed in 1994, the Ford-Maguire Society of Leeds studies and organises events around the socialist, feminist and radical history of Leeds. It is named after Isabella Ford and Tom Maguire, two notable Leeds socialist pioneers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Edward Carpenter in Leeds is on Wednesday 27 June 2012 in room AG10 (‘the Boardroom’), Broadcasting House, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9EN.

Contact Matthew Caygill for more details: m.caygill@ledsmet.ac.uk

Dr Paul Marshall’s book about Carpenter’s spiritual thought is called Mystical Encounters with the Natural World, published by Oxford University Press.