Charles Lane
Charles Lane was a 19th-century English reformer known for his strong advocacy of absolute freedom from established authority and communal living. Born in England in 1800, he became involved with a group of reformers who promoted concepts such as community property, anarchist government, and free marriage. Lane, who held conservative views among his peers, believed that achieving ultimate spirituality required self-denial and adherence to a strict vegetarian diet.
In the 1830s, Lane worked as the managing editor of the London Mercantile Price-Current, where he met James Pierrepont Greaves, who influenced Lane's thoughts on perfecting the human spirit through communal living. Together, they established a journal called The Healthian, focused on spiritual renewal through diet. In 1842, Lane partnered with Amos Bronson Alcott in founding the utopian community Fruitlands in Massachusetts, which emphasized strict dietary restrictions and eschewed animal labor and trade.
Despite their noble intentions, the rigid guidelines of Fruitlands led to challenges in food production and ultimately caused the community to fail due to malnutrition among its members. Following this experience, Lane moved to Harvard, where he embraced a more practical approach to his ideals while continuing his career in journalism.
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Charles Lane
Reformer
- Born: March 31, 1800
- Birthplace: England
- Died: January 5, 1870
- Place of death: England
Biography
Charles Lane was a nineteenth century English reformer, a prominent member of an elite group of people who believed in absolute freedom from instituted authority. These reformers advocated community property, anarchist government, and free marriage. Lane, one of the most conservative of the reformers, also believed that ultimate spirituality could only be achieved through self-denial and strict adherence to a vegetarian diet.
Lane was born in England in 1800. In the 1830’s, while working as the managing editor of the London Mercantile Price-Current, Lane met James Pierrepont Greaves. Greaves introduced Lane to the idea of perfecting the human spirit through communal living. Lane agreed with Greave’s philosophy and settled at Greave’s communal house in Surrey, England. At this time, Lane established a journal titled The Healthian. The journal promoted spiritual renewal through proper diet.
In 1842, Lane met Amos Bronson Alcott, father of American author Louisa May Alcott. Lane and Alcott, who shared a common interest in communal living and vegetarian diet, founded an utopian community farm outside of Harvard, Massachusetts. They named their ninety-acre communal farm Fruitlands. Lane and Alcott set firm guidelines for the families who joined their Fruitlands community. Members were forbidden to eat meat or use any sort of animal byproduct including milk, eggs, or even manure for fertilizer. They were also forbidden to use animals for labor, which made it difficult to prepare fields for planting. Furthermore, Fruitland members were not allowed to conduct business or trade outside of the community. These strict guidelines made it difficult for members to obtain sufficient food and provisions to maintain themselves through the winter. Most members became extremely malnourished, and by the middle of the first winter, Fruitlands failed.
After the failure of Fruitlands, Lane moved to Harvard. There he married and returned to his career in journalism. Lane never fully gave up on the ideals of Fruitlands. Instead, he incorporated these ideas into more practical forms of living.