James Pierrepont Greaves

James Pierrepont Greaves (1 February 1777 – 11 March 1842), was an English mystic, educational reformer, socialist and progressive thinker who founded Alcott House, a short-lived utopian community and free school in Surrey. He described himself as a "sacred socialist" and was an advocate of vegetarianism and other health practices.

Pierrepont Greaves was born in Merton in Surrey, the son of Charles Greaves, a draper, and Ann Pierrepont, and spent his early life engaged as a merchant and draper in London. According to one account the firm in which he was a partner became bankrupt in 1806 owing to the Milan and Berlin decrees of Napoleon which blocked trade between Britain and the continent; another source says that "after getting rich in commerce he lost his fortune by imprudent speculations". At any rate, he surrendered all his property to his creditors, and lived for some time on the income allowed him for winding up the affairs of his establishment. He eventually rebuilt his business.

In 1817, Greaves experienced "some strong interior visitations" which led him to a belief in the "divine in man" and convinced him that he had a spiritual mission in life to share his commitment to the love of God with others. In 1818, he joined Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, the Swiss educational reformer, then established at Yverdon, where he taught English. There he met fellow socialist Robert Owen.

Returning to England in 1825 he founded the London Infant School Society and became its secretary. In 1832 he was settled in the village of Randwick, Gloucestershire, and engaged in an industrial scheme for the benefit of agricultural labourers with his sister Mary Ann Greaves. From the 1830s onwards he referred to himself as a "sacred socialist".

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