John Bowdler

Campaigner for moral reform in Britain and a founder of the Church Building Society. His brother and sister were the editors of the expurgated Family Shakspeare. In 1795 Bowdler wrote a long letter to Lord Auckland about the high prices of the time, in which he attacked clergy and legislators for neglecting morality and religion. In 1796 he addressed letters on similar subjects to the Archbishop of Canterbury and bishops Beilby Porteus and Samuel Horsley. He published in 1797 a pamphlet entitled Reform or Ruin, in which he sought again to expose the immorality and irreligion of the nation. The pamphlet had a wide sale, and reached an eighth edition within a year.Bowdler was one of the founders of the Church Building Society.