G. W. Foote | |
|---|---|
 Foote c. 1910 | |
| Born | George William Foot 11 January 1850 Plymouth, England |
| Died | 17 October 1915 (aged 65) Westcliff-on-Sea, England |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1868–1915 |
| Known for | Secularism activism |
| Criminal charges | Blasphemy |
| Criminal penalty | 12-month sentence in Holloway prison |
| Spouses | Henriette Mariane Heimann
(m. 1877; died 1877)Rosalia Martha Angel
(m. 1884) |
| Children | 4 |
| Signature | |
 | |
George William Foote (11 January 1850 – 17 October 1915) was an English radical journalist, writer, editor, publisher, and prominent secularist. He was a leading advocate of freethought, founding and editing notable publications such as The Freethinker and The Secularist and co-founding the British Secular Union. Additionally, he ran a publishing business known as the Pioneer Press. Foote was convicted of blasphemy in 1883 for his satirical attacks on Christianity published in The Freethinker and sentenced to a year in prison. He authored over eighty works, mainly polemical pamphlets, with his editorial essays from The Freethinker compiled into Flowers of Freethought (1893–94).