Austin, Benjamin Fish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Fish_Austin
Wiki Biography:
- Benjamin Fish Austin (September 10, 1850 – January 22, 1933) was a Canadian educator, author, Methodist minister, and spiritualist. He served as the principal of Alma College girls’ school from 1881 to 1897 during which time that institution was regarded as one of the most prestigious centres of female education in Canada. Austin served the Methodist Church for many years as an educator and minister but was expelled from that organisation in 1899 for being a proponent of the Spiritualist movement. He went on to become a renowned spiritualist in Canada and the United States, publishing many books and editing the Rochester and later Los Angeles-based spiritualist magazine Reason.
- Austin was born in Brighton, Ontario, the son of another Benjamin Fish Austin and Mary Anne F. McGuire. He was described as a Canadian of mixed English and Irish ethnicity. Benjamin was raised a Methodist, the fourth generation of his family to belong to that church. He attended the local grammar school and worked as a teacher from the age of 16 to 20. At the age of 20, Austin began preaching locally and became more involved with the church, eventually attending Albert College in nearby Belleville, Ontario where he obtained B.A. in theology and received a first class honours in Oriental literature and languages in 1877. He continued on at the college and was awarded a B.D degree in 1881. During his time at Albert College, Austin was the president of the school’s temperance union.
- Described as a liberal, Austin was always a very strong proponent of social change to alleviate the condition of the poor in society. In 1884 he published a sermon The Gospel of the Poor vs. Pew Rents, in which he argued that the ability of rich families to reserve specific pews created un-Christian divisions between congregants. He argued that the church should be a place for all people to gather, and reminded the Methodist authorities that Jesus of Nazareth had himself opposed the mal-treatment of the poor.
- While Austin denied that he was an anarchist or a socialist “in the sense that most men understand the term” he did admit that a “new social system’ was required xiv. It was also written about him that he “Strongly supports the Public ownership of all utilities and of Nature’s resources”.
- In 1890 he wrote a pamphlet that opposed the creation of Jesuit schools. He claimed that the Jesuits were an illiberal group who wished to impose their values onto ‘British’ (Canadian) society. Enlightened and tolerant British society, in his view, had to stand up for its principles and reject the encroachment of oppressive foreign ideologies.
- Perhaps Austin’s most important, and most progressive, social views were on the status of women in society. He wrote a book in 1890 called On Woman in which he argued that women should be equal members of society and should never be forced into marriage for economic or social reasons. Austin was the principal of two prestigious colleges for young ladies and viewed the education of women to be of pressing importance. “Christ”, he wrote, “has declared Woman’s equality with Man” xv.
Second Grandson to United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=3136
Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/225995650/benjamin-f-austin