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John Smith (vegetarian)

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John Smith
Smith in Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Bornc. 1795 (1795)
Knaresborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died (aged 75)
Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupations
OrganizationHull Vegetarian Association (president)
Known forVegetarianism activism
Notable workFruits and Farinacea (1845)
SpouseMary Smith

John Smith (c. 1795 – 13 August 1870) was an English banker, vegetarianism activist, writer, and spiritualist. Based in Malton, he managed the York City and County Bank for three decades and was an agent of the London Assurance Company. Smith was active in the Victorian vegetarian movement, serving as president of the Hull Vegetarian Association and lecturing on dietary reform. His works included Fruits and Farinacea (1845) and The Principles and Practice of Vegetarian Cookery (1860). He was also involved in spiritualism and attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1849.

Biography

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Early life and career

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Smith was born in Knaresborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, around 1795. He later settled in Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire.[1]

Smith worked for 30 years as manager of the York City and County Bank in Malton.[2] He was also an agent of the London Assurance Company.[3]

Vegetarianism

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Advocacy

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Smith attended the first annual meeting of the Vegetarian Society in 1848, held at Hayward's Hotel in Manchester. Charles W. Forward stated that Smith had been a vegetarian for 13 years by that point.[4]: 29  According to historian James Gregory, Smith was led to vegetarianism after reading a paper on "Manifestation of Mind",[a] which drew his attention to mental similarities between humans and animals, including their shared capacity for pleasure and pain.[6]: 108 

In 1848, Smith's advocacy helped prompt the formation of a vegetarian association in Malton, with James Simpson as president. In 1855, Smith gave a lecture in York, and the following year became president of the Hull Vegetarian Association. During his tenure, he persuaded the editor of the Hull Advertiser to adopt a vegetarian diet.[7]

At a meeting of the Vegetarian Society in 1850, Smith addressed criticism of the use of animal products such as milk and eggs. He presented ethical and physiological arguments for vegetarianism while defending the use of such products during transitional stages. He described a fruit- and grain-based diet as the ideal, while acknowledging practical difficulties in fully adopting it.[8]

Writing

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Title page of Russell Thacher Trall's second edition of Fruits and Farinacea (1854)

In 1845, Smith published Fruits and Farinacea, a work advocating vegetarianism. He dedicated the book to Dr William Lambe, an advocate of the diet.[9] Gregory states that the book received attention in the contemporary press.[6]: 108  A second edition was published in New York in 1854, edited and annotated by American physician Russell Thacher Trall.[10] An abridged edition was published posthumously in 1873, edited by Francis William Newman.[9]

In 1860, Smith published a lacto-ovo vegetarian cookbook, The Principles and Practice of Vegetarian Cookery, written at the request of James Simpson and dedicated to him.[6]: 108  A second edition appeared in 1866 under the title Vegetable Cookery.[11]

Other interests

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Smith lectured on scientific topics and spiritualism.[2] In 1849, he attended the Paris Peace Conference.[6]: 108 

Personal life and death

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Smith was married to Mary Smith.[1][12] He died at his home, The Mount, Malton, on 13 August 1870, aged 75.[2][13] Several local businesses closed on the day of his funeral.[6]: 108 

Legacy

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Fruits and Farinacea was among the works that influenced Scottish vegetarian activist John Davie to adopt vegetarianism.[6]: 32 

In Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898), Charles W. Forward described Fruits and Farinacea as "the most comprehensive and complete work on the subject published in England up to that date".[4]: 15  James Gregory has described the book as a "major text" for the vegetarian movement.[7]

Publications

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ The paper was not published until 1843, several years after Smith is said to have adopted the diet, creating a chronological inconsistency.[5]

References

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  1. 1 2 United Kingdom census (1861). "Smith, John". FreeCEN. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Death of Mr. John Smith, of Malton". The Leeds Mercury. 16 August 1870. p. 8. Retrieved 22 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "The London Assurance". The York Herald. 24 September 1864. p. 4. Retrieved 22 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Forward, Charles Walter (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London: The Ideal Publishing Union.
  5. ↑ Morgan, Lewis H. (December 1843). "Mind or Instinct: An Inquiry Concerning the Manifestation of Mind by the Lower Orders of Animals". The Knickerbocker. 22 (6): 507–516.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (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. Retrieved 16 June 2026.
  7. 1 2 Gregory, James (29 June 2007). Of Victorians and Vegetarians: The Vegetarian Movement in Nineteenth-century Britain. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-85771-526-5.
  8. ↑ "What is Vegetarianism". The Vegetarian (PDF). Vol. 3. New York: The Vegetarian Publishing Company. pp. 175–184.
  9. 1 2 Smith, John (1880). Newman, Francis William (ed.). Substance of the Work Entitled Fruits and Farinacea the Proper Food of Man (PDF) (Abridged ed.). Manchester: John Heywood.
  10. ↑ Smith, John (1854). Trall, Russell Thacher (ed.). Fruits and Farinacea: The Proper Food of Man (2nd ed.). New York: Fowler and Wells.
  11. ↑ Smith, John (1866). Vegetable Cookery: Including a Complete Set of Recipes for Pastry, Preserving, Pickling, the Preparation of Sauces, Soups, Beverages, Etc., Etc. London: Frederick Pitman.
  12. ↑ Kelly, A. Lindsay, ed. (1929). "Malton". Kelly's Directory of North and East Ridings of Yorkshire, 1913 (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "Deaths Sep 1870: Smith, John". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
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