George
William Foote was a secularist and journal editor.
He
was born in Plymouth and brought up in the Anglican tradition.
He moved to London in 1868, where he became involved with the
secularism, freethought and republicanism, joining the Young Men's
Secular Association, the National Secular Society, and contributing
to Charles Bradlaugh's National Reformer.
In
1877 Foote joined the anti-Bradlaughites in the breakaway British
Secular Union. The split was caused by several factors: Bradlaugh's
alleged autocratic style; Bradlaugh's association with Annie Besant;
and Bradlaugh and Besant's involvement in promoting birth control
and Malthusianism. The BSU was relatively shortlived, and Foote
himself was reconciled to Bradlaugh within a few years, becoming
an NSS vice-president from 1882.
The
Secularist, Foote's first (1876) attempt to launch his own publication,
in collaboration with George Jacob Holyoake, did not last long.
In May, 1881, Foote started a serial publication called The Freethinker
which went on to be very successful and long-lasting. As a result
of contents of this journal, Foote was charged with blasphemy,
and eventually imprisoned for one year. His description of this
experience was published in 1886 as Prisoner for Blasphemy.
Once
released, Foote continued to be very active promoting his ideals,
writing books and pamphlets, lecturing, and debating. Foote was
well-versed in literature, and had extensive knowledge of ancient
and contemporary writers, and ecclesiastical history. In 1890
Foote succeeded Bradlaugh as President of the National Secular
Society and remained in that role for twenty-five years.
His
death was related by Chapman Cohen in The Freethinker (October
31, 1915):
When
I saw him on the Friday (two days) before his death he said, "I
have had another setback, but I am a curious fellow and may get
all right again." But he looked the fact of death in the
face with the same courage and determination that he faced Judge
North many years ago. A few hours before he died he said calmly
to those around him, "I am dying." And when the end
came his head dropped back on the pillow, and with a quiet sigh,
as of one falling to sleep, he passed away.
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