William E. A. Axon

William Edward Armytage Axon FRSL (13 January 1846 – 27 December 1913) was an English librarian, antiquary and journalist for the Manchester Guardian. He contributed to the Dictionary of National Biography under his initials W. E. A. A. He was also a notable vegetarianism activist.

William E. A. Axon FRSL
Axon in 1901
Born	William Edward Armytage Axon (1846-01-13)13 January 1846 Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England
Died	27 December 1913(1913-12-27) (aged 67) Manchester, England
Occupation(s)	Librarian, antiquary, journalist
Employer	Manchester Guardian
Spouses	Jane Woods ​ ​ (m. 1866; died 1899)​ Setta Lueft ​ ​ (m. 1899; died 1910)​
Children	4

Biography

Early life

Axon was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, on 13 January 1846. He was the illegitimate child of Edward Armytage, a clothing manufacturer, and Lydia Whitehead, a 15 year old servant girl in his household. He was later adopted by the Axon family and took on their surname. His adoptive family faced financial struggles, and his fragile health kept him from attending regular school. Instead, he gained literacy skills from his adoptive sisters and a Baptist Sunday school in Hulme. From a young age, he displayed a remarkable ability to absorb knowledge, an extraordinary memory, and a deep love of books and learning.^[1]

Career

Axon was best known as an antiquary and a bibliographer, but his interests were extremely varied. As honorary secretary of the Manchester and Salford Sunday Society he took a prominent part in the agitation for the opening of the Manchester libraries on Sunday. Axon had begun life as a boy in the Manchester Reference Library, and was early drawn to literary pursuits. Later he wrote much on the folklore and historical associations of Lancashire and Cheshire, and the antiquaries of these counties made him their president. Besides this, as a member of the English Dialect Society Axon wrote many tales and sketches illustrating the dialect and customs of the county in which he lived.

Axon was also the author of Cobden as a Citizen in 1907. He published his study of Anna Jane Vardill's poem that was a sequel to Coleridge's poem Christabel in 1908. It was claimed that she had not written it but based on new evidence he was able to assure the Royal Society of Literature that the poem had been written by her.^[2]

Axon for 30 years was on the literary staff of the Manchester Guardian, and for his general literary work was distinguished by the University of Manchester, which conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1913. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an honorary LL.D. of Wilberforce University, and contributed articles to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Dictionary of National Biography, American Encyclopædia, and Notes and Queries.^[3]

Vegetarianism

Axon was an ardent vegetarian and member of the Anti-Tobacco League.^[3] He has been described as a "leading figure of the vegetarian movement."^[4] He served as vice-president and honorary secretary of the Vegetarian Society,^[5] as well as treasurer.^[6] He served as president from 1911 to 1913.^{[note 1]}

Axon contributed articles on the history of vegetarianism to John Harvey Kellogg's Good Health journal. He was editor of the Vegetarian Messenger.^[7]

Axon wrote the preface for the 1884 edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley's A Vindication of Natural Diet.^[8] He also authored Shelley's Vegetarianism, in 1891.

Historian Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska has noted that "Axon abhorred cruelty to animals and the degrading work of the 'slaughterman, reeking with blood and striking to death with remorseless blows a creature that shares with him the gift of life".^[9]

Personal life and death

Axon married Jane Woods in 1866; they had three children. After her death in 1899, he married Setta Lueft; they had one child.^[1] Axon's second wife died in 1910.^[1]

Axon was a teetotaller and a member of the Bible Christian Church.^[10]

Axon was elected to membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on 3 November 1874^[11]

Axon died at home on 27 December 1913 and was buried at St Paul's Church in Kersal, Manchester.^[1]

Bibliography

Anna Jane Vardill Niven frontispiece by Axon

• 1877: Handbook of the Public Libraries of Manchester and Salford. Manchester: Abel Heywood and Son.
• 1879: John Ruskin: A Bibliographical Biography.
• 1883: Lancashire Gleanings.
• 1884: Cheshire Gleanings.
• 1888: Stray Chapters in Literature, Folk-lore, and Archaeology.
• 1890: Thomas Taylor, the Platonist.
• 1891: Shelley's Vegetarianism.
• 1893: The Literature of Vegetarianism.
• 1897: Bygone Sussex.
• 1899: Echoes of Old Lancashire.
• 1899: Ortensio Lando, a humorist of the Renaissance on Ortensio Lando
• 1907: Cobden as a Citizen
• 1908: Anna Jane Vardill Niven

Edited works

• 1886: The Annals of Manchester: a chronological record from the earliest times to the end of 1885. Manchester: J. Heywood, Deansgate and Ridgefield ("The volume now offered to the public, as a revised edition of the Manchester Historical Recorder, is virtually a new work ...". - preface); electronic version
• Collected sermons, 1631–1659 of Thomas Fuller, Volume 1 edited by John Eglington Bailey. Completed by William E. A. Axon (1891)^[12]
• Collected sermons, 1631–1659 Volume 2 edited by John Eglington Bailey. Completed by William E. A. Axon (1891)^[13]

Contributions to the DNB

• Ashworth, John
• Banks, George Linnaeus
• Bellot, Thomas
• Bennis, George Geary
• Blythe, John Dean
• Bowers, George Hull
• Bradberry, David
• Brandwood, James
• Brittain, Thomas
• Brooke, Henry
• Brookes, Joshua
• Brotherton, Edward
• Bruen, John
• Butterworth, James
• Calvert, Charles
• Calvert, Thomas
• Canne, John
• Castillo, John
• Caw, John Young
• Clayton, John (1754–1843)
• Cole, Thomas (1628–1697)
• Crestadoro, Andrea

Notes

1. Calvert states that he served until 1914.^[6] However, Axon died the previous year.