A. O. Broadley

The Reverend
A. O. Broadley
Broadley in 1898
Born
Alfred Owen Broadley

(1868-07-07)7 July 1868
Greetland, Yorkshire
Died25 April 1939(1939-04-25) (aged 70)
Dover, England
Occupations
Known forVegetarianism and anti-vivisection activism

Alfred Owen Broadley (7 July 1868 – 25 April 1939) was an English Unitarian minister and engraver known for his vegetarianism and anti-vivisection activism.

Biography

Early life

Alfred Owen Broadley was born on 7 July 1868 in Greetland, Yorkshire, to Owen and Elizabeth Broadley.[1][2] He was baptised on 6 September at St Thomas, Greetland.[2]

Career

Broadley began his minister career with the Bible Christian Church at Salford from 1905 to 1917.[3] He was assistant preacher to James Clark at Cross Lane Church in Salford.[4] He worked as an engraver at Broad Oak Printworks.[5] He was appointed minister at Haliwell Road Unitarian Church in Bolton from 1918 to 1922. He was minister of the Free Christian Church in Leicester and of Dover Unitarian Church from 1933 to 1939.[3][6]

Vegetarianism

Broadley joined the Vegetarian Society in 1894 and became their lecturer in 1897.[4][7] He advocated for a vegetarian diet consisting of whole bread, nuts, soups, omelettes, coffee and fruit.[8]

In 1912, Broadley was a speaker at Vegetarian Society meeting in Plymouth with Alfred B. Olsen and Robert H. Perks. He commented that he had been a vegetarian for 21 years which had made him a happier man without visit to a doctor.[9][10] He also lectured on "Vegetarianism and the Higher Life", expounding the thesis that "any relationship to living creatures not based upon love, is contrary to conscience and will of God".[9]

Broadley conducted the memorial service for William E. A. Axon's funeral at St Paul's Church, Kersal Moor in January 1913.[11] He was a delegate of the Vegetarian Society to the Fourth Congress of the International Vegetarian Union in June 1913.[12]

Anti-vivisection

Broadley was an opponent of vivisection. In 1923, he attended an anti-vivisection meeting with members from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection in Preston.[13]

Death

Broadley died on 25 April 1939 from a heart attack at his residence in Dover, aged 70.[3][14] His funeral was held at St James's Cemetery.[3]

References

  1. ^ United Kingdom census (1911). "Alfred Owen Broadley". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b "Alfred Owen Broadley". West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1910. Ancestry.com. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d "Death of Retired Unitarian Minister". The Dover Express and Kent News. 28 April 1939. p. 13. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
  4. ^ a b Forward, Charles W. (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London: Ideal Publishing Union. p. 164.
  5. ^ "Mr. A. O. Broadley". The Observer and Times. 6 March 1897. p. 5. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
  6. ^ "New Unitarian Minister". The Dover Express and Kent News. 30 June 1933. p. 9. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
  7. ^ Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (May 2002). "Biographical Index of British Vegetarians and Food reformers of the Victorian Era". 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. 19. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. ^ "A Vegetarian Lecture". The Times. 18 March 1911. p. 8. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
  9. ^ a b "British Vegetarians". The Western Daily Mercury. 13 May 1912. p. 7. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
  10. ^ "Vegetarianism Advocated at Plymouth". The Western Daily Mercury. 14 May 1912. p. 10. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
  11. ^ "The Late Dr. Axon". Manchester City News. 13 January 1914. p. 7 – via Findmypast.
  12. ^ "The Vegetarian Society (UK) and IVU, 1907-1913". International Vegetarian Union. 2002. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025.
  13. ^ "Attack on Vivisection". Lancashire Daily Post. 20 February 1923. p. 4. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
  14. ^ "Deaths". Dover Express. 28 April 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 18 February 2026 – via Findmypast.
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