South Place Ethical Society
| Founded | 1888 |
|---|---|
| Founder | William Johnson Fox (South Place Chapel), Stanton Coit (Ethical Society) |
| Type | Charity |
| Registration no. | 1156033 |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 51°31′11″N 0°07′06″W / 51.519722°N 0.118333°WCoordinates: 51°31′11″N 0°07′06″W / 51.519722°N 0.118333°W, |
| Origins | South Place Chapel |
|
Area served
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England & Wales |
|
Members (2015)
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562 |
|
Key people
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Dr Jim Walsh, CEO. Trustees: Liz Lutgendorff (Chair), James O'Malley. Stewart Ware, Kate Bevan, Simon Callaghan, Carl Harrison , Amy Crosthwaite, Martin Robbins, Gia Milinovich, Richard Firth-Godbehere, Bob Churchill, Norman Bacrac. |
|
Revenue (2016)
|
GBP £786K 
|
|
Employees
|
12 |
|
Volunteers
|
30 |
| Mission | The advancement of study, research and education in humanist ethical principles. |
| Website | https://conwayhall.org.uk |
|
Formerly called
|
South Place Ethical Society, South Place Institute, South Place Chapel |
| Conway Hall | |
|---|---|
Conway Hall, now numbered as 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL
|
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| General information | |
| Type | Concert Hall |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Address | 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL |
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°31′11″N 00°07′06″W / 51.51972°N 0.11833°W |
| Construction started | February 1928 |
| Inaugurated | 23 September 1929 |
| Cost | GBP £28,485 (1928) |
| Owner | Conway Hall Ethical Society |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Frederick Herbert Mansford |
| Main contractor | John Greenwood Ltd |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
| References | |
| Conway Hall History PDF | |
The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world, and is the only remaining ethical society in the United Kingdom. It now advocates secular humanism and is a member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
The Society can trace back its origins to February 14th 1793 in a congregation of nonconformists known as Philadelphians or Universalists. William Johnson Fox became their minister in 1817. In 1824 the congregation built a chapel at South Place, in the district of central London known as Finsbury. The chapel was repaired by John Wallen, of a family of London architects and builders.
In 1929 they built new premises, Conway Hall, at 37 (now numbered 25) Red Lion Square, in nearby Bloomsbury, on the site of a tenement, previously a factory belonging to James Perry, a pen and ink maker.
Conway Hall is named after an American, Moncure D. Conway, who led the Society from 1864–1885 and 1892–1897, during which time it moved further away from Unitarianism. Conway spent the break in his tenure in the United States, writing a biography of Thomas Paine. In 1888 the name of the Society was changed from South Place Religious Society to South Place Ethical Society (SPES) under Stanton Coit's leadership. In 1950 the SPES joined the Ethical Union. In 1969 another name change was mooted, to The South Place Humanist Society, a discussion that sociologist Colin Campbell suggests symbolized the death of the ethical movement in England.
The original name, South Place Ethical Society, was retained until 2012, when it changed to Conway Hall Ethical Society. In November 2013 Elizabeth Lutgendorff was elected Chair of the Conway Hall General Committee, becoming the youngest Chair in the society's history. On 1 August 2014 the society became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with a new charitable object: "The advancement of study, research and education in humanist ethical principles". This replaced the previous object: "The study and dissemination of ethical principles and the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment."
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Wikipedia