Edward Backhouse was a philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

, Quaker minister and a writer on church history. He was also one of the founding fathers of the Sunderland Echo

Sunderland Echo

The Sunderland Echo is an evening newspaper serving the Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott Turnbull in 1873,...

newspaper.

Early life

Edward Backhouse was born in Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

 in 8 May 1808, the son of Edward Backhouse of Darlington. When Edward senior moved to Sunderland in 1816, his family travelled with him. Edward junior remained in Sunderland until his death.

Working life

Backhouse became a partner in the family banking firm of Backhouse & Co, but did not take an active part in the business. Instead, he worked as a minister for the Quaker-run Society of Friends from 1854 and was also active in establishing the Sunderland Indigent Sick Society, the British School in Borough Road, Sunderland, and the old Athenaeum and Reformatories.

Political life

Backhouse, who held Liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 political views, was a leading supporter of Sunderland Infirmary, and of temperance work. At the time of his death in 1879, he was President of the Sunderland Temperance Society and treasurer of the Bible Society

Bible society

A Bible society is a non-profit organization devoted to translating, publishing, distributing the Bible at affordable costs and advocating its credibility and trustworthiness in contemporary cultural life...

. He was also a prominent opponent of the Contagious Diseases Acts, serving as President of the Northern Counties Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts.

The political views of Backhouse were shared by Samuel Storey

Samuel Storey

Samuel Storey was a British politician born in County Durham. He became a Member of Parliament for Sunderland and the main founder of the Sunderland Echo newspaper.-Early life:...

 and other leading local politicians of the day. His political opinions eventually led Backhouse to become one of the original seven founders of the Radical

Political radicalism

The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...

-run Sunderland Echo in 1873.

Personal life

Backhouse married Katherine Mounsey in 1855. The couple had no children. He died in Hastings

Hastings

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....

, where he had gone for his health, on May 22, 1879. The work Backhouse carried out on church history was published posthumously.

Further reading

• See also the biography by H. Trevor-Roper: A Hidden Life. The Enigma of Sir Edmund Backhouse, London 1976.