Charles Watts (secularist)
| Charles Watts | |
|---|---|
| Born |
27 February 1835 Bristol, England |
| Died | 16 February 1906 (aged 70) England |
| Occupation | Writer, lecturer, publisher |
| Relatives | Charles Albert Watts (son) |
Charles Watts (27 February 1836–16 February 1906) was an English writer, lecturer and publisher, who was prominent in the secularist and freethought movements in both Britain and Canada.
He was born in Bristol into a family of Methodists, and showed precocious talents, giving his first lecture at the age of 14. At the age of 16 he moved to London, and worked with his elder brother John Watts (1834-1866) in a printing office. Through this work the two brothers came into contact with freethinkers including Charles Southwell and Charles Bradlaugh. John Watts became an active proselytiser for secularism, and in 1863 was appointed editor of the National Reformer, a radical periodical founded by Bradlaugh, with Charles as assistant editor. In 1864 the brothers formed a publishing business, Watts & Co.
John Watts died from tuberculosis at the age of 32. Charles Watts took charge of the publishing business and toured the country, delivering hundreds of lectures on theological, social, and political issues. He declared himself an atheist and, with Bradlaugh and others, helped found the National Secular Society (NSS) in 1866. In 1876, he was appointed full-time editor and publisher of the National Reformer. He also wrote and published a wide range of pamphlets on secularism and republicanism, and wrote the first systematic history of freethought, eventually published in book form as Freethought: its Rise, Progress and Triumph. His wife, Kate Eunice Watts, often travelled with him and also wrote pamphlets, including The Education and Position of Woman and Christianity: Defective and Unnecessary.
In 1877 Charles Watts broke with Bradlaugh over the pamphlet The Fruits of Philosophy, which had been written by American physician and atheist Charles Knowlton, and which promoted birth control and discussed human sexuality. The pamphlet was published for the first time in Britain by Watts' publishing company, with an introduction by Bradlaugh and Annie Besant, and Watts, Bradlaugh and Besant were prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. Watts dissociated himself from Bradlaugh and pleaded guilty, claiming that he had not read the document. He was released, resigned from the NSS, and, with George Holyoake and George Foote, formed the British Secular Union, a short-lived rival group. Watts became editor of the Secular Review founded by Holyoake.
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