Edwin Collier

Edwin Collier FCA (27 March 1827 – 11 February 1899) was an English accountant, deacon and vegetarianism activist. Based in the Manchester area, he worked in the Huddersfield cloth trade and in the treasurer's department of the Salford Corporation before becoming a partner in the accountancy firm of MP David Chadwick and co-founding E. Collier, Tongue and Co., described as one of the largest accountancy firms outside London. As an active member of the Vegetarian Society, he served as vice-president, chaired conferences in Manchester and Exeter and later acted as treasurer, and he was a shareholder in the Vegetarian Restaurants Co. Ltd. Collier connected his advocacy of vegetarianism with Christian vegetarianism, serving for about forty years as a deacon of the Bible Christian Church in Hulme and working in its evening and Sunday schools. A vegetarian from birth, he belonged to a family network involved in Bible Christian and vegetarian circles and spent most of his life in and around Manchester.

Edwin Collier FCA
Portrait from Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Born	(1827-03-27)27 March 1827 Hulme, Lancashire, England
Died	11 February 1899(1899-02-11) (aged 71) Whalley Range, Manchester, Lancashire, England
Resting place	Weaste Cemetery
Occupations	Accountant deacon activist
Organizations	Vegetarian Society (vice-president, honorary auditor and honorary treasurer) Bible Christian Church (deacon)
Known for	Vegetarianism activism Co-founding E. Collier, Tongue and Co.
Spouse	Sarah Bennett ​ ​ (m. 1854; died 1883)​
Children	4
Relatives	James Gaskill (uncle) James Clark (brother-in-law)

Biography

Early life and education

Edwin Collier was born on 27 March 1827 in Hulme, then a township in the parish of Manchester, Lancashire, to George (1799–1866) and Margaret Collier (née Gaskill; 1802–1850). His uncle, Rev. James Gaskill (1800–1870), was a minister at the Bible Christian Church in Hulme, and his grandfather, Peter Gaskill, was a founding member of the church.^[1] His sister Cordelia married Rev. James Clark, a pastor of the church. Collier was a vegetarian from birth; his father adopted the diet in 1815 and his mother in 1812.^[2] Collier and was described as a heavy tobacco smoker.^[3]: 59 He was also a dedicated teetotaller.^[1]

Collier grew up in Hulme and attended the Bible Christian Church School.^[1] He was also educated at Rivington Grammar School.^[4]

Career

Collier worked as a cashier for manufacturers in the Huddersfield cloth trade and in the treasurer's department of the Salford Corporation. He later became a partner in David Chadwick MP's accountancy firm.^[4] He subsequently co-founded E. Collier, Tongue and Co., described as one of the largest accountancy firms outside London.^[1] Collier was also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and served on the council of the Manchester Society of Chartered Accountants.^[5][6]

Vegetarianism activism

Collier was a member of the Vegetarian Society from the year of its formation, served as a vice-president for about thirty years, was honorary auditor from 1873 to 1882, and honorary treasurer from 1882 to 1891. He helped to organise the vegetarian dining-room at the International Health Exhibition in 1884.^[2]

Collier took part in the society's public meetings and conferences.^[4] The York Herald reported on the society's annual meeting in Manchester on 14 October 1881, at which he acted as chairman; the Manchester Courier recorded that he presided over the thirty-sixth anniversary conference at the YMCA Hall, Manchester, on 19 October 1883; and the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette noted his role in chairing a society conference in Exeter. He was also a shareholder in the Vegetarian Restaurants Co. Ltd.^[1]

Religious work

Collier connected his advocacy of vegetarianism with Christian vegetarianism.^[4] He served for about forty years as a deacon of the Bible Christian Church in Hulme. During a vacancy between ministers, he frequently occupied the pulpit. Collier also taught in the church's evening and Sunday schools, regularly devoting four evenings a week and his Sundays to this voluntary work.^[2]

Personal life and death

Collier married Sarah Bennett on 25 May 1854 at Holy Trinity Church, Horwich. She was born in 1832 in Lostock, Bolton, to William and Betty Bennett.^[1] Sarah Collier was also a vegetarian and died on 12 November 1883 at the age of 52.^[1][4]

The couple had four children, all of whom were vegetarian. Their son Bennett was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and served as honorary auditor of the Vegetarian Society. Their daughter Dora married Leonard Greenhalgh, and both were described as lifelong vegetarians.^[4]

Collier died on 11 February 1899 at Whalley Range, Manchester, aged 71.^[7] He was interred in the Collier family grave at Weaste Cemetery.^[1] Collier's obituary in The Vegetarian Messenger described him in old age as tall and well built, with a mass of white hair, and suggested that his appearance was "in itself an argument for vegetarianism".^[2]