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Edward Carpenter

The Knitting Circle: Lesbian and Gay Studies

Biography,work,bibliography.

British social reformer.

His mother was Sophia Carpenter from Wapping in Middlesex. His father was Charles Carpenter from Saltash in Cornwall, who was a magistrate in Brighton. Edward Carpenter had five elder sisters, two elder brothers, three younger sisters, and a younger brother.

He studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and then was ordained deacon in 1870, to become curate at St. Edward's Church, Cambridge. While at Cambridge he met and became friends withC R Ashbeeand had considerable influence over him.

After two years he left the church and became a travelling lecturer in the north of England for the University Extension Movement.

His father died in 1882 and left him £6000, which made him financially independent. He bought a smallholding at Millthorpe near Sheffield and took up market gardening and sandal making. His Millthorpe cottage became the focus for Sheffield socialists and radicals.

He met George Merrill on a train, and in 1898 George Merrill moved into the cottage at Millthorpe. They lived together for thirty years. A black and white photograph of Edward Carpenter and George Merrill is in the Sheffield City Archives and is reproduced inColin Spencer, (1995). The couple were used as the model for the relationship between Maurice and Alec, the gamekeeper, in the novelMauricebyE. M. Forsterwho visited Millthorpe in 1912.

Edward Carpenter and his friendLaurence Housemanfounded the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology which was formally instituted in April, 1914. He also lectured to the Independent Labour Party, and to the Fellowship of the New Life, from which the Fabian Society grew.

A black and white photograph of Edward Carpenter is reproduced inElliman and Roll, (1986), page 35. A portrait by Roger Fry is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, and is reproduced in black and white inA. L. Rowse, (1977), (Illustration 14). A black and white photograph of Edward Carpenter when he was about 56 (c1900) is published inJames Gardiner's "e;Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, (1996), page 26. A black and white photograph of George Merrill (1890s) is reproduced on the same page.

Edward Carpenter was listed at number 59 in the top 500 lesbian and gay heroes inThe Pink Paper, 26th. September, 1997, issue 500, page 18.

• Towards Democracy, 1883, (prose poem, expanded 1905).

• England's Ideal, 1885.

• Civilisation, its Cause and Cure, 1889, (enlarged 1921).

• From Adam's Peak to Elephanta, 1892.

• A Visit to a Gnani; Homogenic Love, 1895.

• Love's Coming of Age, 1896.

• Angel's Wings, 1898.

• Iolaus, 1902.

• The Art of Creation, 1904.

• The Intermediate Sex, 1908.

• My Days and Dreams, 1916, (autobiography).

• Selected Writings. Volume 1: Sex, with an introduction byNoël Greig, compiled by Noël Greig and David Fernbach, (1984), London: GMP Publishers, 318 pages, ISBN 0-907040-44-6, ISBN 0-907040-43-8 Pbk
  • Introduction by Noël Greig.
  • My Days and Dreams(excerpts).
  • Love's Coming-of-Age.
  • The Intermediate Sex.
  • Intermediate Types among Primitive Folk.
  • Self-Analysis for Havelock Ellis.

• Elliman and Roll, (1986), pages 34-35.

• Paul Elliott Russell, (1994), "e;The Gay 100"e;

• Chushichi Tsuzuki, (1980), "e;Edward Carpenter, 1844-1929: Prophet of Human Fellowship"e;, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Biography,work,bibliography.

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The Knitting Circle

First uploaded 21st. February, 1996

Last altered 15th. September, 2005.