Peter Foxcroft

Peter Foxcroft
Portrait from Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Born	1819 (1819) Gargrave, Yorkshire, England
Died	(1896-04-03)3 April 1896 (aged 77) Glazebrook, England
Occupation(s)	Manager, inventor, preacher, activist
Known for	Vegetarianism activism
Spouses	Esther Horrocks ​ ​ (m. 1848; died 1876)​ Jane Dickinson ​ (m. 1883)​

Peter Foxcroft (1819 – 3 April 1896) was an English cotton mill manager, inventor, Bible Christian Church preacher, and vegetarianism activist. He was an early and prominent member of the Vegetarian Society and a leading figure in the Bible Christian Church. Foxcroft managed a cotton mill owned by Charles and John Tysoe, and filed several patents for improvements in cotton machinery.

Biography

Early life and career

Peter Foxcroft was born in 1819 in Gargrave, Yorkshire, the son of Thomas Foxcroft, a grocer. Originating from a humble background, he managed to build a modest fortune through hard work and careful living on two separate occasions.

In his early years, Foxcroft was not in good health. He spent a significant portion of his life working in a cotton mill with workrooms heated to temperatures 80 and 100 °F (27 and 38 °C). Despite these challenging conditions, he outlived his entire family, which included his father, mother, brothers, and sisters, a total of seven members. Foxcroft worked at one mill for 26 years without missing a single day due to illness. Later, after adopting a vegetarian diet and experiencing an improvement in his health, he was advised to return to his previous dietary habits. However, his former health issues reemerged with greater severity, leading him to ultimately commit to a vegetarian lifestyle permanently. He was also a dedicated teetotaller.

In 1847, Foxcroft joined the Vegetarian Society. He succeeded Henry S. Clubb as the Society's secretary in 1850 and became the local secretary of the Society in Salford around 1852, remaining in the role for two decades. Foxcroft also served as a vice-president of the Society and was a chair of its executive for the same period. He criticised Francis William Newman for allowing associate memberships in the Society for individuals who wanted to be members but were not fully vegetarian.

The following year, Foxcroft became a Bible Christian and served as a lay preacher of its ideas. In the same year, he married Esther Horrocks at St. Mary's Church, Manchester. At the time of their marriage, Foxcroft was a 30-year-old bookkeeper residing in Berkley Street, Manchester, while Esther, aged 35, was the daughter of George Horrocks, a dyer. In 1851, Foxcroft and his wife stayed at the home of James Simpson, a fellow member of the Bible Christian Church, in Fox Hill Bank, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire. Foxcroft officiated at Christ Church in Salford from 1853 to 1855.

Foxcroft later became the manager of a cotton mill owned by Charles and John Tysoe, which had previously been owned by Joseph Brotherton. While working in this position, he filed three patents. In 1853, he filed a patent for specific enhancements in machinery or equipment for doubling cotton and other fibrous materials. In 1856, Foxcroft, along with John and Charles Tysoe, were granted a patent for improvements in machinery or apparatus for roving, spinning, and doubling cotton and other fibrous substances. In 1857, Foxcroft and William Crighton, a machinist, were granted a patent for improvements in machinery or equipment for processing cotton wool or other fibrous materials.

Foxcroft was an ardent supporter of the Liberal Party (founded in 1859) and actively participated in committees supporting national and local Liberal candidates.

In 1870, a 13-year-old girl died at the cotton mill, leading the factory inspector to attempt prosecution against a spinning mule minder, for which Foxcroft provided evidence. The magistrate dismissed the case, stating it was the responsibility of the factory masters to prevent such accidents.

Later life and death

Meeting of the London Vegetarian Society in 1891; Foxcroft is in the back row, on the far right, and his second wife is sitting in front of him

After the death of his first wife, on 26 October 1876, Foxcroft continued to live in Salford, where he retired. On 4 January 1883, he married Jane Dickinson (born 1832), the daughter of Henry Dickinson, at Christ Church, Heaton Norris, Manchester. His second wife was a vegetarian from birth. They later moved to Glazebrook.

In his retirement, Foxcroft devoted his time to lecturing on vegetarianism, delivering hundreds of lectures throughout the United Kingdom. His lecture were well-documented, with notable appearances including a lecture at the Temperance Hall in Pollitt Street, Guernsey. Foxcroft claimed he had not consumed meat, fish, or fowl for 31 years and credited his vegetarian diet for alleviating his indigestion and avoiding medical expenses. He also lectured at the Literary and Philosophical Society Hall in Newcastle, the Torquay YWCA, and the YMCA at Mount Pleasant. In addition, he served as the director of a vegetarian restaurant operated by Frederick Harrison, opened in 1884, which functioned more like a club.

Around a year before his death, Foxcroft made a donation of £100 (equivalent to £14,590 in 2023) to the Vegetarian Society, a significant amount for him, as he was not wealthy. Foxcroft died at the age of 77 on 3 April 1896 in Glazebrook and was buried with his first wife, Esther, at Weaste Cemetery. Rev. James Clark delivered his funeral sermon. Shortly after his death, a memorial window for Foxcroft was installed in the Bible Christian Church in Cross Lane, Salford, in recognition of his extensive and valuable contributions to both the church and the Vegetarian Society.