Robert Elliott O'Callaghan (1855 â 21 December 1936) was an English activist and writer. He was active in the vegetarian movement from the 1880s, serving as official lecturer for the Vegetarian Association, secretary of the London Vegetarian Society, and inaugural secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union. He was also active in anti-vivisection and humane causes, founding the Catholic Humane League in 1900 and later serving in anti-vivisection organisations in northern England, and becoming a member of the Humanitarian League.
O'Callaghan became interested in vegetarianism after encountering a report of a lecture by Francis William Newman. He was known for his public lectures on vegetarianism, often illustrated with magic lantern slides, and later became proprietor of the Wheat Sheaf vegetarian restaurant in London. He also wrote and co-authored several vegetarian publications, including The Best Diet for a Working Man and The Manual of Vegetarianism.
Robert Elliott O'Callaghan was born in St Pancras, Middlesex, in the final quarter of 1855. He was of Irish Catholic descent.
O'Callaghan's interest in vegetarianism was first aroused by a report of one of Francis William Newman's lectures that he saw in a shop window. In 1880, he joined the London Food Reform Society and the following year became a member of its executive committee. He became well known as a lecturer on vegetarianism, often illustrating his talks with magic lantern slides.
O'Callaghan served as official lecturer for the Vegetarian Association, secretary of the London Vegetarian Society (LVS), and, from 1890, inaugural secretary of the Vegetarian Federal Union (VFU). He later acted as the VFU's agent for the Southern Counties.
At a vegetarian meeting in Halifax in 1893, chaired by C. H. Worsnop, O'Callaghan argued that a vegetarian diet was more nourishing than meat eating and that vegetarian cookery was simple and economical.
He later became proprietor of the Wheat Sheaf, a vegetarian restaurant at 13 Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, succeeding Mrs. Britton.
In 1900, O'Callaghan founded the Catholic Humane League to promote humane principles among Catholics in accordance with Church teaching. He served as its honorary secretary.
By 1908, O'Callaghan was active in the anti-vivisection movement. At Heywood, he delivered an address on the movement and a lecture titled "Vivisection in Our Hospitals". He later served as secretary of the Northern Anti-Vivisection Federation and was associated with the Stockport Anti-Vivisection Society and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. He was also a member of the Humanitarian League.
In 1889, O'Callaghan published The Best Diet for a Working Man. The following year, he co-authored, with Charles W. Forward, The Manual of Vegetarianism: A Complete Guide to Food Reform. This was followed by How to Begin Vegetarianism with Month's Dietary and Cookery Book.' He also published the pamphlet, The Testimony of Science Against Flesh Eating and contributed the short story, "The Ghost", about an ex-soldier who refuses to harm animals, to Forward's Dulce Sodalitium: A Selection of Stories and Sketches by Vegetarian Writers.
In 1888, O'Callaghan married Mary Ann Barry in Fulham. They had one daughter, Florence.
In the 1911 United Kingdom census, O'Callaghan was recorded as living in Manchester with his family.
O'Callaghan died at Longsight, Manchester, on 21 December 1936, aged 81. He was buried on 24 December at Southern Cemetery.