R. E. O'Callaghan

{{Short description|English vegetarianism activist, lecturer, and writer (1855–1936)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = R. E. O'Callaghan

| image = R. E. O'Callaghan.png

| alt = Image is an oval, black-and-white portrait of a distinguished man with a beard and bow tie

| caption = Portrait from Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)

| birth_name = Robert Elliott O'Callaghan

| birth_date = 1855

| birth_place = St Pancras, Middlesex, England

| death_date = 21 December 1936 (aged 81)

| death_place = Longsight, Manchester, England

| resting_place = Southern Cemetery, Manchester

| occupation = {{Hlist|Activist|lecturer|writer}}

| years_active = 1880–{{Circa|1911}}

| known_for = Vegetarianism activism

| spouse = {{Marriage|Mary Ann Barry|1888}}

| children = 1

| signature = R. E. O'Callaghan signature.svg

}}

Robert Elliott O'Callaghan (1855 – 21 December 1936) was an English vegetarianism activist, lecturer, and writer. He became a prominent vegetarian advocate after being inspired by Francis William Newman. O'Callaghan joined the London Food Reform Society in 1880 and quickly rose to a position on its Executive Committee. He held key roles such as official lecturer for the Vegetarian Association, secretary of the London Vegetarian Society, and First Secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union. O'Callaghan managed the Wheat Sheaf vegetarian restaurant and authored several works on vegetarianism. In 1900, he founded the Catholic Humane League.

Biography

= Early life =

Robert Elliott O'Callaghan was born in St Pancras, Middlesex, in the final quarter of 1855,{{Cite web |title=Births Dec 1855 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=H3xw9Om%2BaFwtsRchTNEGRw&scan=1 |accessdate=2024-06-21 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}} of Irish Catholic descent.{{Cite book |last=Gregory |first=James Richard Thomas Elliott |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/467032/2/886115_v.2.pdf |title=The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections |date=May 2002 |publisher=University of Southampton |volume=2 |language=en |chapter=Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era |access-date=2022-10-02}}{{Rp|page=88}}

= Career =

O'Callaghan's attention was first directed to vegetarianism by one of Francis William Newman's lectures, a report of which he noticed in a shop window. In 1880, he joined the London Food Reform Society and became a member of its Executive Committee the following year. O’Callaghan became well known for his impactful lectures on vegetarianism, which he often enriched with magic lantern illustrations.{{Cite book |last=Forward |first=Charles W. |author-link=Charles W. Forward |url=http://archive.org/details/b2486609x |title=Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England |publisher=The Ideal Publishing Union; The Vegetarian Society |year=1898 |location=London; Manchester |page=[https://archive.org/details/b2486609x/page/148/mode/1up 148]}}

O'Callaghan held several significant positions within the vegetarian movement. He served as the official lecturer for the Vegetarian Association,{{Cite journal |date=1908-03-01 |title=Appointments for March |url=https://adventistdigitallibrary.org/adl-409914/good-health-march-1-1908 |journal=Good Health |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=85}} the secretary of the London Vegetarian Society,{{Cite news |date=1889-08-21 |title=Vegetarianism in Sheffield |work=Sheffield and Rotherham Independent |page=[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/410160610/ 6] |via=Newspapers.com}} {{subscription required}} and, from 1890, as the First Secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union. He later acted as an agent for the Federal Union for the Southern Counties.

In 1893, O'Callaghan was a speaker at a vegetarian meeting chaired by C. H. Worsnop in Halifax. He argued that a vegetarian diet was more nourishing than eating meat and such a diet involved no additional work as vegetarian cookery was simple and more economical for the household.{{cite news|url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0002843%2F18931211&page=2 |title=Vegetarianism in Halifax|newspaper=Halifax Evening Courier |date=December 11, 1893|page=2}} {{subscription required}}

O'Callaghan later became the proprietor of the London vegetarian restaurant, the Wheat Sheaf, located at 13 Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, taking over from Mrs. Britton.{{Rp|page=88}}

O'Callaghan authored several works on vegetarianism. In 1889, he published The Best Diet for a Working Man.{{Cite web |title=Bibliography: The Vegetarian Movement in England 1847-1981 |url=https://ivu.org/history/thesis/bibliography.html |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=International Vegetarian Union}} The following year, he co-authored, with Charles W. Forward, The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform{{Rp|page=351}} This was followed by How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book.{{Cite book |last=O'Callaghan |first=R. E. |title=How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book |language=en |oclc=316664483}} He also published the pamphlet, The Testimony of Science Against Flesh Eating{{Cite book |url= |title=Herald of the Golden Age |date=1897 |volume=2–16 |language=en |chapter=Official Publications |chapter-url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Herald_of_the_Golden_Age/4Nj5XPoAmdEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Testimony+of+Science+Against+Flesh+Eating+callaghan&pg=PA106-IA3&printsec=frontcover}} and contributed the short story, "The Ghost", about an ex-soldier who refuses to harm animals, to Forward's Dulce Sodalitium: A Selection of Stories and Sketches by Vegetarian Writers.{{Cite book |last=Kubisz |first=Marzena |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003400042 |title=Children’s Vegetarian Culture in the Victorian Era: The Juvenile Food Reformers Press and Literary Change |date=2024-08-14 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-40004-2 |edition=1 |location=London |pages=111 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781003400042}}

In 1900, O'Callaghan founded the Catholic Humane League, aimed at promoting humane principles among Catholics in line with the teachings of the Church. He served as its Honorary Secretary.{{Cite book |last= |url=http://archive.org/details/naturenotesselb1119selb_0 |title=Nature Notes: The Selborne Society's Magazine |publisher=H. Sotheran |year=1900 |editor-last=Boulger |editor-first=G. S. |volume=XI |location=London |publication-date=November 1900 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/naturenotesselb1119selb_0/page/202/mode/2up 202–203] |language=en |via=Internet Archive}}

O'Callaghan later moved to Manchester with his family. In 1908, he delivered an address on the anti-vivisection movement and a lecture on "Vivisection in Our Hospitals" at Heywood.{{Cite news |date=1909-03-05 |title=Anti-Vivisection Society |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/793427543/?terms=%22Anti-Vivisection%20Society%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-01-26 |work=The Heywood Advertiser and General Family Newspaper |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{subscription required}} He served as secretary of the Northern Anti-Vivisection Federation{{Cite news |date=1910-10-21 |title=Stockport Shorthand Writers' Association |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/972259969/?terms=%22Stockport%20Shorthand%20Writers%27%20Association%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-01-26 |work=Stockport Advertiser |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} and was affiliated with the Stockport Anti-Vivisection Society{{Cite news |date=1915-01-21 |title=Vivisection: Is It Justifiable? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/971256191/?terms=%22Vivisection%3A%20Is%20It%20Justifiable%3F%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=Stockport Express |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}} and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.{{Cite news |date=1913-12-19 |title=Stockport Adult School |work=Stockport Advertiser |page=[https://www.newspapers.com/image/971514776 7] |via=Newspapers.com}} He was also a member of the Humanitarian League.{{Cite news |date=1916-02-04 |title=Waterfoot Wesley Guild |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/972062389/?terms=%22Waterfoot%20Wesley%20Guild%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The Ramsbottom Observer |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}

= Personal life and death =

In 1888, O'Callaghan married Mary Ann Barry in Fulham.{{Cite web |title=Marriages Jun 1888 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=2MLOR6oJiP0ny9drC6aI7A&scan=1 |accessdate=27 November 2024 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}} They had one daughter, Florence.{{Cite web |date=2011 |title=Robert Elliott O'Callaghan |url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2352/records/24953076?tid=&pid=&queryId=6c09685e-8af3-4f81-9e40-32ba9ef584b5 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=1911 England Census |publisher=Ancestry.com}}

O'Callaghan died at Longsight, Manchester on 21 December 1936, at the age of 81. He was buried on 24 December at Southern Cemetery.{{Cite news |date=1936-12-23 |title=O'Callaghan |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000272%2F19361223&page=11&article=011&stringtohighlight=o%27callaghan |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=Manchester Evening News |pages=9 |via=Findmypast}}

Publications

The Best Diet for a Working Man (London: London Vegetarian Society, 1889; {{OCLC|266967686}})
The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform (with Charles W. Forward; London: Hygienic Publishing Union, 1890; {{OCLC|561996761}})
How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book (London: 1897; {{OCLC|316664483}})
The Testimony of Science Against Flesh Eating (Order of the Golden Age)