Harold W. Whiston

Harold Walter Whiston (1873 – 12 January 1952) was an English businessman, magistrate and activist for anti-vaccination and vegetarianism.

Harold W. Whiston
Born	Harold Walter Whiston 1873 Macclesfield
Died	12 January 1952 (aged 78) Macclesfield
Occupation	Magistrate
Spouse	Alice Proctor ​ (m. 1896)​

Career

Whiston was educated at Tettenhall College and Owen's College in Staffordshire.^[1] As a young man he worked with his father Alderman William Whiston who owned and managed Langley Silk Printing Works. In 1901, he became a partner of the business and was the sole owner after his father died in 1915.^[1] He registered the business as a limited company under the title of William Whiston & Sons Ltd and became governing director. In 1929, the company was amalgamated under the title of Brocklehurst Whiston Amalgamated.^[1][2] He became director of the combined company until his retirement in 1951.^[1]

Whiston was the senior Magistrate in Macclesfield, having been appointed as Justice of Peace in 1914.^[3] He was appointed chairman of Macclesfield County Magistrates in 1941. He was also chairman of the Licensing Justices and of the Juvenile Court.^[3][4] He resigned as chairman in 1949 from injuries sustained from an accident falling down steps inside Macclesfield Town Hall, but continued to sit on the bench as a magistrate.^[3][5][6]

He was chairman of the Liberal Party Macclesfield Division, a position he held from 1906.^[7][8] He was active in the temperance movement as president of the Band of Hope Union. He resigned in 1911 to focus on political issues.^[9] He became president of the Liberal Party Macclesfield Division and was invited to become a candidate but was unable to accept because of business demands.^[7][1]

Personal life

Whiston married Alice Proctor in 1896. They celebrated their silver wedding in 1921.^[10] He was a wealthy landowner. In 1925, he invited 50 members of the Stockport Horticultural Society to his gardens at the Elms, Macclesfield.^[11]

He was a vegetarian, non-smoker, teetotaller and anti-vaccinator.^[7] He served on the General Council of the Order of the Golden Age and was appointed its first provincial counsellor.^[12] In 1908, he was a speaker at the Vegetarian Society's May conference at Queen's Hall with Albert Broadbent, Walter Hadwen, William Harrison and James C. Street.^[13]

Whiston was a Methodist and was known as a preacher at Langley Chapel.^[1] He was a member of the National Anti-Vaccination League.^[14] He authored an anti-vaccination book in 1906 titled Why Vaccinate. Mahatma Gandhi was known to have quoted from the book to denounce vaccination as unnecessary.^[15]

Whiston died in 1952, aged 78.^[1] Tributes were paid to him at Macclesfield County Magistrates' Court, including an act of silence as a mark of respect.^[16] An obituary described him as "one of the most forceful and dynamic personalities Macclesfield has ever produced".^[1]

Selected publications

• Humanity’s Great Enemy (1898)^[17]
• "The Great Cry". The Vegetarian Magazine. 6 (7): 152–153. 1902.
• Why Vaccinate (1906)^[18]