Thomas Owen (1838 – 26 May 1916) was an English bookseller, publisher, writer, and social reformer. Based in Oswestry, Shropshire, he operated the firm Thomas Owen & Son and published the Oswestry Commercial Circular. He was active in the temperance and vegetarianism movements, served as a vice-president of the Vegetarian Society, and wrote on diet, health, and local history. Owen also promoted a raw food diet, Turkish baths, and other health practices.
Thomas Owen | |
|---|---|
.png) Owen, c. 1895 | |
| Born | 1838 Oswestry, Shropshire, England |
| Died | 26 May 1916 (aged 78) Oswestry, Shropshire, England |
Resting place | Oswestry Cemetery 52°51′13″N 3°02′53″W / 52.85353°N 3.04816°W |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Advocacy for temperance and vegetarianism |
| Spouses | Mary Batten
(m. 1866; died 1876)Mary Sarah Oliver (m. 1878) |
| Children | 8 |
Biography
editEarly life
editCareer
editIn 1853, Owen was apprenticed to a bookseller-stationer.[3] He later joined the bookselling and printing firm of George Lewis. Owen subsequently bought the firm from Lewis, and the business continued into the 20th century as Thomas Owen & Son.[4]
From 1879, Owen was proprietor of the Oswestry Commercial Circular. He used the publication to promote teetotalism, vegetarianism, sanitary reform, air bathing, skin health, "lung culture", and Turkish baths.[3][5] Owen claimed that the paper had 10,000 readers.[3]
Vegetarianism and health reform
editOwen advocated vegetarianism for about 50 years and wrote on the subject.[6] He and his wife were local vegetarian leaders, and Owen served as a vice-president of the Vegetarian Society.[3][7] He followed a raw food diet consisting of uncooked foods, including nuts and fruit cereals. He was also a teetotaller and non-smoker.[6]
Owen argued that vegetarianism would reduce crime and increase human happiness. In an article reported in The Guardian, he stated that social progress required the abandonment of meat and alcohol.[8] He also wrote that "the food which God commanded our first parents to eat was exactly the same kind as we vegetarians now principally use."[7]
Personal life and death
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Owen married Mary Batten in 1866;[9] the couple had four children. She died in July 1876.[10][11]
Owen married his second wife, Mary Sarah Oliver (née Corney), on 25 July 1878 at All Saints, Old Swan, Lancashire.[12] She was a widow with one child.[10] They had four children together. Two sons from Owen's second marriage, Herbert and John, were killed in action during the First World War.[10] Mary Sarah Owen contributed to the vegetarian children's magazine The Daisy Basket and in 1893 wrote a tract on vegetarianism, The Best and Most Nutritional Food.[5]
Owen built a Turkish bath in his house after writing to David Urquhart for advice. He later wrote a pamphlet on its construction.[13]
Owen died in Oswestry on 26 May 1916, aged 78.[6] He was buried at Oswestry Cemetery on 29 May.[14]
Publications
edit- Personal Reminiscences of Oswestry, Fifty Years Ago. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1904. OCLC 771781742.
- Breakfast at Noon! A Clear and Precise Explanation of the Noon-Breakfast System. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1906. OCLC 771781737.
- How to Become Hale, Hearty and Happy. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1906. OCLC 771781740.
- The Use of Heat in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1906. OCLC 562354773.
- How I Came to Build a Turkish Bath: A Personal Narrative. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1910. OCLC 771781739.
- Pessimism: Its Cause and Cure. A Lay Sermonette. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1910. OCLC 774444375.
- The Kettle Cure. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1911. OCLC 774444374.
- The One Infallible Cure for Indigestion: Breakfast at Noon, etc. Oswestry: T. Owen & Son. 1915. OCLC 562354755.
References
edit- ↑ "Births Sep 1838: Owen, Thomas". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
- ↑ Watkin, Isaac (1920). Oswestry: With an Account of Its Old Houses, Shops, Etc., and Some of Their Occupants. Simpkin & Marshall. p. 237 – via Google Books.
- 1 2 3 4 Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (May 2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food Reformers of the Victorian Era" (PDF). The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF) (PhD thesis). Vol. 2. University of Southampton. p. 89. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
- ↑ Greene, Miranda. "Oswestry Town Trail - Leg Street and Salop Road". Discovering Shropshire's History. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
- 1 2 Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (May 2002). The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF) (PhD thesis). Vol. 1. University of Southampton. p. 185. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Pioneer Vegetarian". Birmingham Gazette. 27 May 1916. p. 5. Retrieved 25 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Kubisz, Marzena (2023). "The Daisy Basket and the Rise of the Young Vegetarian Subject". Victorian Periodicals Review. 56 (1): 67–87. doi:10.1353/vpr.2023.a905140. ISSN 1712-526X.
- ↑ "A Social Panacea". The Guardian. 19 October 1909. p. 4. Retrieved 25 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Marriages Sep 1866: Batten, Mary". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
- 1 2 3 Melange, Janis. "OWEN, Herbert M. Second Lieutenant". Men on the Gates. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
- ↑ "Memorial Form: Mary Owen and William Thomas Owen". Shropshire Archives. Shropshire Council. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
- ↑ "Marriages at All Saints in the District of Old Swan, Liverpool". Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
- ↑ "OWEN, Thomas - bookseller, stationer and printer, 1838-1916". Victorian Turkish Baths. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
- ↑ "Owen, Thomas". Oswestry Cemetery Project. Retrieved 25 January 2025.