“A duty of free enquiry”

The charismatic William Johnson Fox, Minister of Parliament Court Chapel and South Place Chapel (forerunners of Conway Hall Ethical Society) addressed his radical congregation on 27 March 1842.

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.

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.