‘These Eighty Years’: Or, The Story of an Unfinished Life

Henry Solly (1813-1903) was a British Unitarian minister and social reformer who supported universal suffrage, the abolition of slavery and free education. He is remembered today for his contribution to the development of the working-class movement in late Victorian Britain, and especially for being involved in the foundation of institutions such as Working Men’s Clubs, the Charity Organization Society and the Garden City movement. First published in 1893, this two-volume autobiography combines the account of Solly’s personal life as a Unitarian minister and father of five with the various social, religious and educational movements he was involved with during his career as an activist. Volume 1 focuses on Solly’s childhood and school days, and provides fascinating insight into Solly’s early intellectual and political development, first as a student of University College London, then as a minister at the Unitarian Chapel at Yeovil, Somerset.