Order of the Golden Age

The Order of the Golden Age (OGA) was a British Christian vegetarian and humanitarian organisation active between 1895 and 1959, with antecedents in 1881–82. Conceived in 1881 by Rev. Henry John Williams and later revived in 1895 by Sidney H. Beard, the 1881–82 initiative lapsed for lack of funds and was subsequently treated by the Order as a precursor to the 1895 revival. The OGA promoted a form of fruitarianism, linked dietary change with moral and social reform, and engaged in anti-vivisection advocacy alongside interests in psychical research and spiritualism. It published The Herald of the Golden Age (1896–1918), organised meetings and fundraising concerts (including at the Royal Albert Hall in 1910), and reported activity in 47 countries; its headquarters moved from Ilfracombe to Barcombe Hall, Paignton, and later to London. The society's identity and name were briefly disputed in the 1890s by Rev. Gideon J. R. Ouseley. Membership comprised companions and associates, with the latter permitted to eat net-caught fish. Activity in Britain declined after Beard's death in 1938, with later work centred in South Africa until the organisation's closure in 1959.

The Order originated in 1881 when Rev. Henry John Williams (younger brother of Howard Williams, later an influence and founder of the Humanitarian League) outlined a devotional fellowship, the Order of the Companions of the Golden Age, commemorating James the Less and guided by the motto Non nocebunt et non occidentcode: lat promoted to code: la ("They will not harm and they will not kill"). A first general meeting on 8 September 1881 at Brympton, Somerset, elected Williams as president, with R. Bailey Walker as vice-president and Frederick L. Catcheside as treasurer, and the society was formally constituted the following year.

By 1888, the Order appeared defunct. Contemporary accounts cited insufficient funds as the reason it became inactive. Later materials from the revived organisation acknowledged the 1881 conception but treated 1895 as the effective starting point.

In 1895 vegetarian activist Sidney H. Beard re-established the society as the Order of the Golden Age (OGA). The headquarters were initially at Beard's residence in Ilfracombe. The OGA promoted psychical research, spiritualism and vegetarianism. A London conference in 1897, held at St. Martin's Town Hall, featured speakers including Rev. J. H. N. Nevill, J. I. Pengelly, Frances L. Boult, Charles W. Forward and May Yates; messages from members abroad were read. In 1904 the headquarters moved to Barcombe Hall, Paignton.

The Order promoted vegetarianism from a Christian perspective and presented dietary reform as part of moral and religious renewal. Its stated aims included:

[t]o proclaim a message of Peace and Happiness, Health and Purity, Life and Power [and] [t]o hasten the coming of the Golden Age when Love and Righteousness shall reign upon earth ... by proclaiming obedience to the laws of God.

The Order's periodical, The Herald of the Golden Age (1896–1918), edited by Beard, advanced what it termed a "fruitarian" system of living.

In 1896 Rev. Gideon Jasper Richard Ouseley, founder of the Order of the Golden Age and United Templary, disputed the revived society's use of the name and complained that it was being confused with his organisation. In 1904 the OGA was reconstituted and declared to be "founded in 1895 by Sidney H. Beard", with Williams's consent.