Charles
Kingsley,
the son of a vicar of Holne in Devon, was born in 1819. Educated at
King's College, London, and Magdalene College,
Cambridge, he became curate of Eversley
in Hampshire in 1842.
As
a young man, Kingsley was influenced by The
Kingdom of Christ (1838) by Frederick
Denison Maurice. In the book Maurice argued that politics and
religion are inseparable and that the church should be involved in
addressing social questions. Maurice's book rejected individualism,
with its competition and selfishness, and suggested a socialist alternative
to the economic principles of laissez faire.
Kingsley
became a supporter of Chartism and after
the decision by the House of Commons to
reject the Chartist Petition in 1848,
he joined with Frederick
Denison Maurice and Thomas Hughes to
form the Christian Socialist movement.
The men discussed how the Church could help to prevent revolution
by tackling what they considered were the reasonable grievances of
the working class.
The Christian Socialists
published two journals, Politics of the People
(1848-1849) and The Christian Socialist
(1850-51). Kingsley contributed several articles for this journals
under the pseudonym of Parson Lot. The group also produced a series
of pamphlets under the title Tracts on Christian
Socialism. Other initiatives included a night school in
Little Ormond Yard and helping to form eight
Working Men's Associations.
In 1850 Kingsley novel Alton
Locke was published. The book attempted to expose the social
injustice suffered by agricultural labourers and workers in the clothing
trade. In Alton Locke Kingsley
also describes the Chartist campaign that
he was involved with in the 1840s.
Kingsley followed Alton Locke
with the historical novel, Hypatia
(1853). Based on the real-life story of Hypatia, a philosophy teacher
in 5th century Alexandria, who was murdered by a group of fanatical
Christians because they disapproved of her political and religious
ideas. In 1857 Kingsley published Two Years
Ago, a novel about how poor sanitary conditions and public
apathy cause an outbreak of cholera.
In 1863 Kingsley published his most famous book, The
Water Babies. The book, written for his youngest son, tells
the story of a young chimney-sweep, who runs away from his brutal
employer. In his flight he falls into a river and is transformed into
a water baby. Thereafter, in the river and in the seas, he meets all
sorts of creatures and learns a series of moral lessons.
Kingsley,
who held the post
of Professor of Modern History at Cambridge
University between 1860-69, also wrote Westward
Ho! (1855), The Heroes
(1856), Hereward the Wake
(1866) and At Last (1871).
Charles Kingsley
died in 1875.
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