Carpenter, Edward (1844-1929)

English socialist and writer. He campaigned for such causes as sexual reform, women's rights, and vegetarianism. He lived openly as a homosexual and made a plea for sexual toleration in Love's Coming of Age (1896).

Carpenter was born in Brighton, England. He was ordained in 1869 and became a curate, but abandoned the Church of England and resigned his fellowship at Cambridge University in 1874 to write and lecture. He was inspired by the writings of Henry Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and William Morris. He campaigned against pollution and vivisection and tried to grow his own food. His liberal idealism influenced later writers, including E M Forster and D H Lawrence. Carpenter's books include The Simplification of Life (1884), Civilization: Its Cause and Cure (1889), the long poem Towards Democracy (1883-1902), and the reminiscences My Days and Dreams (1916).