John Bellers
Encyclopedia
John Bellers was an English
educational theorist and Quaker, author of Proposals for Raising a College of Industry of All Useful Trades and Husbandry (1695).
, the son of the Quaker Francis Bellers and Mary Read. Unable to attend University or join a profession as a result of his religion, John was undoubtedly educated as an apprentice cloth merchant. He rapidly became active in Meetings and in the Quaker community as a whole, purchasing 10000 acres (40.5 km²) of land in Pennsylvania
in 1685 for Hugenot refugees for example. William Penn
was a close friend. He married a fellow Quaker, Frances Fettiplace, in 1686, and they had six children between 1687 and 1695, although one died shortly after birth. From 1695 to his death in 1725, he was continually involved in writing innovative tracts on social issues, including education, health provision, care for the poor, support for refugees, a plan for a European State, and an argument for the abolition of capital punishment, making him "the first European advocate of the abolition of capital punishment." He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in February, 1719.
On his death in London in 1725 he was buried in the Quaker cemetery at Bunhill Fields
. His son Fettiplace Bellers
(1687-1750) was a dramatist and philosophical writer.
Bellers dedicated the first edition to his fellow Quakers, although the College was to be a "Civil Fellowship rather than a religious one." The first edition of the pamphlet ends with an appeal for funding - An Epistle to Friends Concerning the education of Children - in favour of the College, signed by about forty-five Quakers, including William Penn
, Robert Barclay
, Th. Ellwood
, and John Hodgskin. The second edition (1696) was dedicated to Parliament. The Quaker Workhouse at Clerkenwell was established in 1702 as a result of his efforts.
The combination of agriculture and manufacture would enable self-sufficiency and even profit. Bellers argued that if all "the present idle hands of the poor of this nation" were put to work, it would bring England "as much treasure as the mines do Spain".
The plans for the education of children at the College were ahead of their time. Practice and experience were to be valued over rote-learning. Bellers advocated the combination of learning and work as a way of preventing idleness. Karl Marx
mentions Bellers in a footnote in Chapter 23 of Das Kapital
, favourably quoting his assertion that "Labour [is] as proper for the body’s health as eating is for its living" and that "Labour adds Oyl to the Lamp of Life when thinking Inflames it."
Robert Owen
read the proposals in 1817, and in a letter to The Times acknowledged their resemblance to the community he himself had created at New Lanark
. He had 1,000 copies reprinted that year. Eduard Bernstein
saw Bellers as a precursor of socialism, if not communism, highlighting his argument for valuing goods according to labour, not money.
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
educational theorist and Quaker, author of Proposals for Raising a College of Industry of All Useful Trades and Husbandry (1695).
Life
Bellers was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the son of the Quaker Francis Bellers and Mary Read. Unable to attend University or join a profession as a result of his religion, John was undoubtedly educated as an apprentice cloth merchant. He rapidly became active in Meetings and in the Quaker community as a whole, purchasing 10000 acres (40.5 km²) of land in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1685 for Hugenot refugees for example. William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
was a close friend. He married a fellow Quaker, Frances Fettiplace, in 1686, and they had six children between 1687 and 1695, although one died shortly after birth. From 1695 to his death in 1725, he was continually involved in writing innovative tracts on social issues, including education, health provision, care for the poor, support for refugees, a plan for a European State, and an argument for the abolition of capital punishment, making him "the first European advocate of the abolition of capital punishment." He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in February, 1719.
On his death in London in 1725 he was buried in the Quaker cemetery at Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....
. His son Fettiplace Bellers
Fettiplace Bellers
Fettiplace Bellers was an English dramatist and philosophical writer. His most notable written work was a philosophical volume called "A Delineation of Universal Law".-Life and work:...
(1687-1750) was a dramatist and philosophical writer.
Proposals for Raising a College of Industry of All Useful Trades and Husbandry (1695)
Bellers' essay is a proposal for a "College of Industry", a sort of colony for the poor - those who depend on their work or on charity for their living. Bellers argued that it was in the interest of the rich "to take care of the poor and their education".Bellers dedicated the first edition to his fellow Quakers, although the College was to be a "Civil Fellowship rather than a religious one." The first edition of the pamphlet ends with an appeal for funding - An Epistle to Friends Concerning the education of Children - in favour of the College, signed by about forty-five Quakers, including William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, Robert Barclay
Robert Barclay
Robert Barclay was a Scottish Quaker, one of the most eminent writers belonging to the Religious Society of Friends and a member of the Clan Barclay. He was also governor of the East Jersey colony in North America through most of the 1680s, although he himself never resided in the...
, Th. Ellwood
Thomas Ellwood
Thomas Ellwood was an English religious writer.He was born in Oxfordshire, the son of a rural squire. Educated at Lord Williams's School, he later joined the Quakers and became a friend of William Penn and John Milton. However, he was persecuted for his faith and spent some time in prison. His...
, and John Hodgskin. The second edition (1696) was dedicated to Parliament. The Quaker Workhouse at Clerkenwell was established in 1702 as a result of his efforts.
The combination of agriculture and manufacture would enable self-sufficiency and even profit. Bellers argued that if all "the present idle hands of the poor of this nation" were put to work, it would bring England "as much treasure as the mines do Spain".
The plans for the education of children at the College were ahead of their time. Practice and experience were to be valued over rote-learning. Bellers advocated the combination of learning and work as a way of preventing idleness. Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
mentions Bellers in a footnote in Chapter 23 of Das Kapital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
, favourably quoting his assertion that "Labour [is] as proper for the body’s health as eating is for its living" and that "Labour adds Oyl to the Lamp of Life when thinking Inflames it."
Robert Owen
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
read the proposals in 1817, and in a letter to The Times acknowledged their resemblance to the community he himself had created at New Lanark
New Lanark
New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles from Lanark, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was founded in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers. Dale built the mills there to take advantage of the water power provided by the river...
. He had 1,000 copies reprinted that year. Eduard Bernstein
Eduard Bernstein
Eduard Bernstein was a German social democratic theoretician and politician, a member of the SPD, and the founder of evolutionary socialism and revisionism.- Life :...
saw Bellers as a precursor of socialism, if not communism, highlighting his argument for valuing goods according to labour, not money.
About the Improvement of Physick (1714)
Bellers advocated a national system of hospitals, which were to treat the poor and act as training schools for new doctors. Bernstein saw in this essay an anticipation of a national health serviceNational Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
.
Works
- Proposals for Raising a College of Industry of All Useful Trades and Husbandry (1696)
- Essays about the poor, Manufactures, Trade, Plantations and Immorality, and of the Excellency and Divinity of Inward Light (1699)
- Some Reasons for an European State proposed to the Powers of Europe... (1710)
- An Essay towards the Ease of Elections of Members of Parliament (1712)
- About the Improvement of Physick (1714)
- An Essay for Employing the Poor to Profit (1723)
- An Epistle to Friends of the Yearly, Quarterly, and Monthly Meetings (1724)
- An abstract of George Fox’s Advice and Warning To the Magistrates of London in the year 1657... (1724)
External links
- John Bellers Tim Hitchcock's article "John Bellers" in the Oxford Dictionnary of National Biography.
- Richard Hutton's complaints book 'Introduction', Richard Hutton's complaints book: The notebook of the Steward of the Quaker workhouse at Clerkenwell, 1711-1737 (1987), pp. VII-XXIII.