Adams

WILLIAM EDWIN ADAMS (1832 - 1906)

A Cheltenham Chartist, Adams became a staunch republican and admirer of Mazzini, whom he regarded as 'the greatest teacher since Christ'. He supported the North in the American Civil War. In early 1863, Adams went to Newcastle, where he lived at 32 Holly Park, Jesmond. He spent many years as editor of Joseph Cowen's celebrated Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, though he continued to write for Bradlaugh's National Reformer under the pen-name of Caractacus. In politics, Adams favoured a transatlantic alignment, and in 1882 he wrote Our American Cousins. Charleton, the Newcastle historian, calls this 'the best and most unbiased account of the great republic ever penned by an Englishman'.

Adams campaigned for free libraries and parks for the people. As 'Uncle Toby' he founded the 'Dicky Bird Club' for the protection of birds. Membership approached a quarter of a million young people and rallies filled the Tyne Theatre. Celebrities like Ruskin and Tennyson became honorary officers. An autobiography, Memoirs of a Social Atom, appeared in 1903.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
WILLIAM EDWIN ADAMS (1832 - 1906) A Cheltenham Chartist, Adams became a staunch republican and admirer of Mazzini, whom he regarded as 'the greatest teacher since Christ'. He supported the North in the American Civil War. In early 1863, Adams went to Newcastle, where he lived at 32 Holly Park, Jesmond. He spent many years as editor of Joseph Cowen's celebrated Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, though he continued to write for Bradlaugh's National Reformer under the pen-name of Caractacus. In politics, Adams favoured a transatlantic alignment, and in 1882 he wrote Our American Cousins. Charleton, the Newcastle historian, calls this 'the best and most unbiased account of the great republic ever penned by an Englishman'. Adams campaigned for free libraries and parks for the people. As 'Uncle Toby' he founded the 'Dicky Bird Club' for the protection of birds. Membership approached a quarter of a million young people and rallies filled the Tyne Theatre. Celebrities like Ruskin and Tennyson became honorary officers. An autobiography, Memoirs of a Social Atom, appeared in 1903.
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