Mary Corkling
Mary Corkling | |
---|---|
![]() Mary Corkling (middle, far-left) in 1891 | |
Born | Mary Ann Yates Corkling (1850-05-18)18 May 1850 Withington, Manchester, England |
Died | 30 May 1938(1938-05-30) (aged 88) |
Nationality | British |
Other names | Mary Yates |
Occupation(s) | Painter, food reformer |
Mary Ann Yates Corkling, also known as May Yates, (18 May 1850 – 30 May 1938) was an English painter and food reformer. She spread news of the claimed health benefits for wholemeal bread and became a vegetarian out of her regard for other animals.
Biography
Early life
Corkling was born in Withington, a suburb of Manchester, to Mary Anne Corkling (née Booth) and Robert Yates Corkling, who was a cashier and aspiring merchant.
One source relates that her parents were concerned at how strongly myopic their daughter was, and she was excused from drawing in school in case it strained her eyes. However, she chanced to copy a painting and do some drawing from life, which revealed a talent for painting. She enrolled in Dudley School of Art. A later source says the family moved house to where her talent was encouraged. She was sent to Sicily to practise her skills.[1]
Paintings
Corkling mainly painted flowers and figures. In 1878, she had a painting shown at the Royal Academy.[2] In 1875 she exhibited with the Society of Lady Artists and several other galleries.
Food reform
Soon membership of the Ladies' Sanitary Association showed her burgeoning interest in social reform.[3]
During her time in Sicily, Corkling noticed how healthy the peasants were and associated this with the brown bread they ate. She sold her own jewellery to fund experiments to wean Manchester from the popular white wheaten bread. This led to the formation of a Bread Reform League in 1880 at Kensington Town Hall, with Corkling leading it.[4] At her parents' request she used the name May Yates for this, as it was thought unseemly for a woman of the Corkling family to be a public figure. Huxley and others offered their support.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Sin-of-the-miller_1916.jpg/220px-Sin-of-the-miller_1916.jpg)
Corkling wrote on the advantages of brown bread[6] and other women volunteered their time to give lectures on the subject. Money at the League was tight and Corkling tried to use her own income to fund pamphlets. Her interest in food reform led her to become a vegetarian and she was secretary of the London Vegetarian Society (1890–1893).[7]
The Bread Reform League later merged with the London Vegetarian Society. Corkling promoted whole grains, vegetarianism and condemned alcohol and white bread.[8] She influenced Mahatma Gandhi to support the whole grain movement.[8] In 1892 The Staff of Life by "May Yates" was published in the Society's journal, The Vegetarian. Around that time, she also travelled to Belgium to speak to large audiences in French. In 1895, she led the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union in forming a food reform department and herself became a full vegetarian. She spoke of humanity's obligation to other animals and in 1901 led the Women's Vegetarian Union briefly.[3]
Wholemeal bread underwent a revival, with support of the Daily Mail and Lyons teashops. In 1916 she wrote in The Graphic about the advantages of not eating white bread.[5] However, the message became harder to put forward during the First World War, when "war bread" was introduced, although it was created according to recipes that Corkling had supplied.
Death
Mary Corkling died on 30 May 1938.[3]
References
- ^ Clayton, Ellen Creathorne (1876). English Female Artists. Tinsley Brothers, 8 Catherine St., Strand. pp. 270–271.
- ^ Christopher Wood (1978). The Dictionary of Victorian Painters. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 0-902028-72-3.
- ^ a b c d Gregory, James (25 May 2006). "Corkling, Mary Ann Yates [pseud. May Yates] (1850–1938), food reformer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74770. ISBN 9780198614128. Retrieved 9 July 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Brown is Best: the Reform Bread League". History Today, Vol. 55, 5 May 2005.
- ^ a b Corkling, Mary (25 November 1916). "The Sins of the Miller". The Graphic. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "On " Bread Reform," by MISS YATES, Hon. Sec. Bread Reform League". Transactions of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain. 4 (1): 131–138. 1 January 1883. doi:10.1177/146642408300400113. ISSN 0266-7614. S2CID 221052102.
- ^ Gregory, James. (2002). "The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c. 1840-1901". eprints.soton.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
- ^ a b Slate, Nico. (2019). Gandhi’s Search for the Perfect Diet: Eating with the World in Mind. University of Washington Press. pp. 89-90. ISBN 978-0295744957
- v
- t
- e
Veganism |
|
---|---|
Vegetarianism | |
Lists |
Secular | |
---|---|
Religious |
and drink
- Agave syrup
- Chicken fillet roll
- Coconut burger
- Coconut milk
- Fruits
- Grains
- Gelatin substitutes
- Jambon
- Meat alternative
- Miso
- Mochi
- Mock duck
- Nutritional yeast
- Plant cream
- Plant milk
- Quinoa
- Quorn
- Seitan
- Soy yogurt
- Tempeh
- Tofu
- Tofurkey
- Cheese
- Vegetables
- Vegetarian bacon
- Hot dog
- Vegetarian mark
- Sausage
- Sausage roll
- Beer
- Wine
- Veggie burger
and events
reports,
journals
- On Abstinence from Eating Animals (3rd century)
- An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a Moral Duty (1802)
- Vegetable Cookery (1812)
- A Vindication of Natural Diet (1813)
- Reasons for not Eating Animal Food (1814)
- Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
- Nature's Own Book (1835)
- Fruits and Farinacea (1845)
- The Pleasure Boat (1845)
- The Ethics of Diet (1883)
- What is Vegetarianism? (1886)
- Shelley's Vegetarianism (1891)
- Behind the Scenes in Slaughter-Houses (1892)
- Why I Am a Vegetarian (1895)
- Figs or Pigs? (1896)
- Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
- Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian (1903)
- The Meat Fetish (1904)
- The New Ethics (1907)
- A Fleshless Diet (1910)
- The Benefits of Vegetarianism (1927)
- Living the Good Life (1954)
- Ten Talents (1968)
- Diet for a Small Planet (1971)
- The Vegetarian Epicure (1972)
- Moosewood Collective Cookbooks (1973)
- The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook (1975)
- Laurel's Kitchen (1976)
- Moosewood Cookbook (1977)
- Fit for Life (1985)
- Diet for a New America (1987)
- The Sexual Politics of Meat (1990)
- Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997)
- The China Study (2005)
- Skinny Bitch (2005)
- Livestock's Long Shadow (2006)
- The Bloodless Revolution (2006)
- Eating Animals (2009)
- Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows (2009)
- The Vegan Studies Project (2015)
- Animal (De)liberation (2016)
- The End of Animal Farming (2018)
- Vegetable Kingdom (2020)
- Making a Stand for Animals (2022)
- Meat Atlas (annual)
- The Animals Film (1981)
- Diet for a New America (film) (1991)
- A Cow at My Table (1998)
- Meet Your Meat (2002)
- Post Punk Kitchen (2003–2005)
- Peaceable Kingdom (2004)
- Earthlings (2005)
- A Sacred Duty (2007)
- Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010)
- Planeat (2010)
- Forks Over Knives (2011)
- Vegucated (2011)
- Live and Let Live (2013)
- Cowspiracy (2014)
- PlantPure Nation (2015)
- What the Health (2017)
- Carnage (2017)
- Dominion (2018)
- Eating You Alive (2018)
- The Game Changers (2018)
- Maa Ka Doodh (2023)
- You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment (2024)
activists,
authors,
physicians
cookbook authors
- Nava Atlas
- Mayim Bialik
- Carleigh Bodrug
- Gypsy Boots
- BOSH!
- Martha Brotherton
- Edward Espe Brown
- Tabitha Brown (actress)
- Suzy Amis Cameron
- Hannah Che
- Pinky Cole
- Chloe Coscarelli
- Yamuna Devi
- Sue Donaldson
- Crescent Dragonwagon
- Rose Elliot
- Rip Esselstyn
- Toni Fiore
- Carol Lee Flinders
- Alexis Gauthier
- Dick Gregory
- Richa Hingle
- Madhur Jaffrey
- Mollie Katzen
- Frances Moore Lappé
- Deborah Madison
- Linda McCartney
- Mary McCartney
- Hetty Lui McKinnon
- Tracye McQuirter
- Joanne Lee Molinaro
- Moosewood Collective
- Isa Chandra Moskowitz
- Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
- Gaz Oakley
- Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
- Mathew Pritchard
- Satchidananda Saraswati
- Derek Sarno
- Miyoko Schinner
- Alicia Silverstone
- Hannah Sunderani
- Bryant Terry
- Anna Thomas
- Haile Thomas
- Lauren Toyota
- Jeeca Uy
- Umberto Veronesi
- Nisha Vora
- Alan Wakeman
- Cranks (restaurant)
- Food for Thought (restaurant)
- InSpiral Lounge
- Lentil as Anything
- Minerva Café
- New Riverside Cafe
- Nix (restaurant)
- Penny Cafeteria
- Pink Peacock
- The Hollow Reed
- The Pitman Vegetarian Hotel