Charles Augustus Tulk

His father, a man of independent fortune, was an original member of the Theosophical Society formed (December 1783) by Robert Hindmarsh for the study of Emanuel Swedenborg's writings.

[1][2] Reaching age 21 in 1807, Tulk had settled on him part of his father's estate in the area of Leicester Square in London.

He sold the garden in the Square in 1808; forty years later this action led to the leading case Tulk v Moxhay on restrictive covenants.

[3] In 1810 he assisted, with John Flaxman, in founding the London society for publishing Swedenborg's works, served on its committee till 1843, and often presided at its annual dinners.

After leaving Cambridge he rarely attended public worship, but conducted a service in his own family, using no prayer but the paternoster.

[2] Tulk took part in efforts for bettering the condition of factory hands, aiding the movement by newspaper articles.

[2] Tulk elaborated a rational mysticism, which he found below the surface of Swedenborg's writings, as their underlying religious philosophy.

Tulk contributed for some years to the Intellectual Repository, started in 1812 under the editorship of Samuel Noble.

His development plans caused a furore; and Albert Grant bought him out, to present the whole Square as a public park to the Metropolitan Board of Works.