1/6 #HumanistHeritage: The newspaper publisher Henry Hetherington – who championed freedom of the press, freedom of thought, & the rights of the working class – was born #onthisday 1792. He fought to make radical ideas accessible to everyone, regardless of wealth or status. 
2/6 He believed in social reform & cooperation, motivated not by religious belief but by a humanist sense of duty to his fellow man. During the 1820s, he joined variety of radical, reformist causes, particularly in support of universal suffrage & democratic politics.
3/6 Hetherington’s defining cause, however, was that of the ‘taxes on knowledge’. These taxes on newspapers & printed materials were designed – many felt – to prevent the poor being exposed to radical ideas.
4/6 Hetherington was imprisoned 3 times, prosecuted for seditious libel, for the selling of unstamped papers, and for blasphemy in 1840, having published 'Letters to the Clergy of All Denominations'. His trial, where he championed religious freedom, was highly publicised.
5/6 He died of cholera in 1849. His Will affirmed a humanist belief in a life lived for others, & death as the end. 2000 people attended his burial at Kensal Green Cemetery. His hearse bore the words: ‘We ought to endeavour to leave the world better than we found it.’
6/6 Learn more about Henry Hetherington, and the ideas, people, and campaigners whose legacies still impact us today, via our #HumanistHeritage website: heritage.humanists.uk/henry-hetherin…
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