George Whale (freethinker)

George Whale (25 November 1849 – 4 May 1925) was an English solicitor and freethinker.

For the locomotive engineer, see George Whale.

George Whale
Born	25 November 1849
Died	4 May 1925 (1925-05-05) (aged 75)
Occupation	Solicitor, freethinker

Biography

Whale worked as a solicitor in Huntingdon and Woolwich. He was the Mayor of Woolwich (1908–1909) and was a Liberal parliamentary candidate for Marylebone. He was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and member of the Folklore Society, Johnson Club, Omar Khayyam Club, National Liberal Club and Samuel Pepys Club.[1][2] He lived at York Terrace and had a library of 60,000 books.[1][2]

Whale was Chairman of the Rationalist Press Association, 1922–1925.[3]

Whale was a friend of H. G. Wells.[1] He was married to author Winifred Stephens.[4]

Whale collapsed and died after giving a speech at the Annual Dinner of the Rationalist Press Association in 1925.[5]

Publications

• Greater London and Its Government: A Manual and Yearbook (1888)
• Johnson Club Papers by Various Hands (1899)

References

1. Gissing, George; Mattheisen, Paul F; Young, Arthur C. (1995). The Collected Letters of George Gissing: 1897–1899. Ohio University Press. p. 230
2. Waller, Philip. (2006). Writers, Readers, and Reputations: Literary Life in Britain 1870–1918. Oxford University Press. p. 509. ISBN 0-19-820677-1
3. Whyte, Adam Gowans. (1949). The Story of the R.P.A. 1899–1949. London: Watts & Co. p. 93
4. Gould, Frederick James. (1929). The Pioneers of Johnson's Court. London: Watts & Co. p. 122
5. Cooke, Bill. (2003). The Gathering of Infidels: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association. Prometheus Books. p. 85. ISBN 978-1591021964

Further reading

• Edward Clodd, Clement Shorter and Winifred Stephens Whale. (1926). George Whale 1849–1925. London: Jonathan Cape.