Frederic Richard Lees (15 March 1815 – 29 May 1897) was an English temperance and vegetarianism advocate, writer, and editor. He worked in the British temperance movement from the 1830s, edited several temperance periodicals, and was a founding member of the United Kingdom Alliance. Lees also lectured on vegetarianism, won a Vegetarian Society essay competition in 1857, and became an associate member of the society in 1874.

Life and career

Lees was born in Meanwood, near Leeds, on 15 March 1815.[1] He signed the antispirits pledge in 1832 and became a teetotaller in 1835.[2]

In 1837, Lees became secretary of the British Association for the Promotion of Temperance, later known as the British Temperance League, and edited its journal from 1840 to 1844.[2] He also edited the Truth-Seeker from 1844 to 1850, the Teetotal Topic in 1847, and the Temperance Spectator in 1859.[2] He was a founding member of the United Kingdom Alliance in 1863.[2]

Lees was also a vegetarian and lectured on vegetarianism. In 1857, he won a Vegetarian Society essay competition for "An Argument on Behalf of the Primitive Diet of Man", which was republished in 1884.[2] He became an associate member of the Society in 1874.[2]

Lees received an honorary doctorate from the University of Giessen for his writings against Owenism.[2]

Personal life and death

Lees married Mercy Joanna Jowett (d. 1870) in 1838. They had two children: Frederic Arnold (1847–1921) and Mary Eleanor. On 22 October 1878, he married Sarah Barnesley (née Brooks; d. 1889) at St Peter's Church, Leeds.[1]

Lees died in Halifax, West Yorkshire, on 29 May 1897. He was buried at Meanwood on 1 June.[1]

Publications

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fahey, David M. (23 July 2004). "Lees, Frederic Richard (1815–1897), temperance advocate". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39154. Retrieved 8 July 2020. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Blocker, Jr., Jack S.; Fahey, David M.; Tyrrell, Ian R., eds. (2003). "Lees, Frederic Richard". Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 364–365. ISBN 1-57607-833-7. Retrieved 6 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.

Further reading

  • Lees, Frederic Arnold (1904). Dr Frederic Richard Lees: A Biography. London: H. J. Osborn.
  • Pitney, Judith Anne (1970). Frederic Richard Lees: The Teetotal Philosopher (Master's thesis). University of Wisconsin.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Richard_Lees