In the early 1890s Harry Atkinson, the subject of this thesis, travelled to England and spent ayear as foundation secretary of the Manchester and Salford Labour Church. In ManchesterAtkinson worked closely with the Churchʼs founder John Trevor, took part in Labour Churchservices and worked with a variety of British socialist intellectuals and activists including BenTillett, Edward Carpenter and Robert Blatchford. Atkinson returned to New Zealand in late 1893and three years later founded the Socialist Church in Christchurch. This was not a Church in thetraditional sense—rather, it was a site for the debate, discussion and dissemination of radicaland socialist literature and ideas, and a platform for political agitation and social reform. Itscreed was to ‘promot[e] a fellowship amongst those working for the organisation of Society on abasis of Brotherhood and Equality’. Members of the Church included Jack McCullough, Jamesand Elizabeth McCombs and Jim Thorn. The critical, yet downplayed, role that Atkinson playedworking behind the scenes as an important mentor and conduit in the emergent socialist subculturein Christchurch from 1896 to 1905 has been for the most part unexplored in NewZealand labour historiography.This thesis addresses this imbalance and examines the intellectual and associational activity ofHarry Atkinson during the period 1890 to 1905 and reconsiders the work and key concerns ofthe Christchurch Socialist Church. It argues that the form of ethical socialism Atkinsonexperienced in Manchester, and later promulgated through the Socialist Church, has beenmischaraterised as vague or, inaccurately, Christian Socialist. By situating Atkinson’s beliefs andactivities within a wider transnational context of 1890s ‘New Life’ socialism, we can see hisideas and work as part of a broader ‘world of labour’, shaped by multi-directional flows andcontacts. The varied networks through which Atkinson was exposed to books and ideas areillustrated and the thesis attempts to trace the diversity of his, and others, associational activity.It suggests that the colonial New Zealand socialism of the 1890s was not ‘without doctrine’, andthat individuals engaged in richer intellectual and associational lives than is oftenacknowledged. However, it is shown that Atkinson and members of the Church, though inspiredby foreign or overseas experiences, ideas and literature, focused primarily on local issues.These are also surveyed and include agitation for municipal government, female equality andthe radical reform of democratic institutions. It is argued that a reconsideration of the livedexperience of Atkinson and his wider circle provides a lens to investigate some importantaspects of colonial New Zealand radicalism and socialism, outside the usual foci of tradeunions, the workplace and formal labour politics.
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