James Hinton (surgeon)

He was born at Reading, Berkshire, the son of John Howard Hinton, Baptist minister and author of the History and Topography of the United States and other works.

His evenings were spent in intense study, and this, combined with a concentration on moral problems, so affected his health that, aged eighteen, he tried to seek refuge from his own thoughts by running away to sea.

He returned to England in 1850, and entered into partnership with a surgeon in London, where he soon had his interest awakened specially in aural surgery, and also studied physiology.

On account of their fresh and vigorous discussion of many of the important moral and social problems of the times his writings had a wide circulation on both sides of the Atlantic.

[3] His Life and Letters, edited by Ellice Hopkins, with an introduction by Sir WW Gull, appeared in 1878 but overlooked references to polygamy.

The polygamous aspects led to a campaign to discredit him, fronted especially by a group of London radicals, The Men and Women's Club, founded in 1885 to discuss matters of gender and sexuality.