The body which became the Personal Rights Association (PRA) was founded in England in 1871. The 1913 Annual Report of the PRA records that 'On the 14th March, 1871, a meeting largely attended by sympathisers from various parts of England, was held in Manchester, to consider the possibility of forming a National League or Association for watching, restraining, and influencing legislation, especially in matters affecting the interests of women, and the personal rights and liberties of the people'. A conference was held on 14 November in Liverpool and the Vigilance Association was founded. The first issue of a journal was published on January 15 1881 with the title Journal of the Vigilance Association for the Defence of Personal Rights. The quotation below the journal title was from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism...

 "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance". The 240th issue of the Journal, for February 1903, explained the reason for changing the title to The Individualist ('Monthly Journal of Personal Rights') was that it would 'be a more distinctive name'. The graphic design of the journal's title showed its editorial policy resting on the twin pillars of "Freedom as wide as possible" and "Equality before the law". The 1903 editorial explained that 'We shall not swerve from the principle which out little Society has persistently proclaimed for nearly a third of a century. If the tide were running strongly in our favour, it might then be argued with some show of plausibility, but not so as to convince us, that we might rest and be thankful. But the tide is running strongly against us. Socialism is in the air. Tyranny has assumed the garb of ethics, and Privilege essays to purchase for itself a renewed lease of life by "ransom" paid out of the pockets of its victims. Never was there a time when it was more necessary for the lovers of freedom and justice to be up and doing'. This was a time of debate between the proponents of Individualism

Individualism

Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...

 and Socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

.

The 1913 Annual Report of the Personal Rights Association contained a reflective Presidential Address by Mr Franklin Thomasson. He reported that 'Since last we met, the Personal Rights Association has suffered a loss which it is impossible to exaggerate, in the death of our friend and leader Mr. Levy' and explained that Mr J H Levy was prominent in the affairs of the Personal Rights Association. He was described by Thomasson as 'a profound logician, an economist of high order, and had made the study of ethics his own'. Joseph Hiam Levy

Joseph Hiam Levy

Joseph Hiam Levy was an English author and economist. He was educated at the City of London School and joined the Civil Service. He later became a lecturer in economics at Birkbeck College and an important figure in the Personal Rights Association....

 published books on these subjects and on Jewish issues. Thomasson summarised the work of the PRA: 'it has done effective reform work in the matter of Prison Law, Marriage Laws, Corporal Punishment in the Army and out of it, Liquour Law, Anti-Vaccination, Anti-Vivisection, Education, Women's Questions, Factory Laws, Capital Punishment, and many other questions, besides numerous instances of individual oppression and injustice' (1913 Report, page 19). One of the most prominent cases taken up by the PRA was that of Miss Jessie Brown. The offices of the PRA were at 11 Abbeville Road London, SW. The PRA survived until the death of its editor, Henry Meulen

Henry Meulen

Henry Meulen was a British individualist anarchist and economist. He was an editor of the periodical called The Individualist, published by the Personal Rights Association and actively promoted the philosophy of free banking...

in 1978, it which time it was run from his home at No 31 Parkside Gardens, London SW19. A final issue was produced under the editorship of Pauline Russell.

External links

• Joseph Hiam Levy - entry from the Jewish Encyclopedia.