Old London – South Place
Now the location of Finsbury Circus House, (opposite South Place Hotel), this 1820s plan gives a fascinating glimpse into old London by revealing the exact location of South Place Chapel (later, South Place Ethical Society).
The building of South Place Chapel, 1821
In 1821 the congregation of William Johnson Fox were in the process of commissioning the Unitarian Chapel at South Place, Finsbury, which would later become the home of South Place Ethical Society.
The minute books created by the predecessors of CHES
Here are just few of the minute books created by the predecessors of CHES. The minutes start in 1807 and trace the evolution of the ethical movement from a congregation of Unitarians and Presbyterians to the humanist membership of the Society today.
Three beautifully designed late twentieth-century leaflets from the British Humanist Association
Here are three beautifully designed late twentieth-century leaflets from the British Humanist Association archives advertising humanist ceremonies for birth, partnerships and death.
The Student Humanist Federation
The Student Humanist Federation (formerly the University Humanist Federation) brought a strong youth presence to the British Humanist Association in the 1960s.
Snapshot of the Ethical Movement in 1904
Delving into the British Humanist Association archive, the first surviving minute book of the Union of Ethical Societies (forerunner of the Association) creates an image of a thriving, growing organisation with widespread interest in the Ethical Movement.
Past Presidents of the BHA
In 2013 Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist, broadcaster and author, was announced as the new President of the British Humanist Association. Al-Khalili joins the list of distinguished former Presidents including Julian Huxley, Alfred Jules Ayer, Edmund Leach, George Melly, Harold Blackham, James Hemming, Hermann Bondi, Clare Rayner, Linda Smith and Polly Toynbee.
The records of the Ethical Union and British Humanist Association
As well as the records of the Ethical Union and British Humanist Association, the archive (held by Bishopsgate Institute) also contains material of affiliated humanist groups.
The Ethical Church, Queensway, Bayswater
The Ethical Church, Queensway, Bayswater, was established in the late 1890s by Dr Stanton Coit, founder of the West London Ethical Society and a prominent figure in the Ethical Movement. Coit hoped that his Church would be the first of many ‘ethical churches’ and act as encouragement to other established churches (ie. the Church of England), to move away from religious teaching.