author
Charles T. (Charles Turner) Gorham
1856–1933
A lively voice in Britain’s early humanist and rationalist circles, he wrote clear, questioning books on religion, ethics, and persecution. He also helped shape the movement behind the scenes as an editor, organizer, and longtime worker for the Rationalist Press Association.
1 Audiobook
The medieval Inquisition: A study in religious persecution
by Charles T. (Charles Turner) Gorham
About the author
Born in 1856 and active in Britain’s freethought world, Charles Turner Gorham was a writer, poet, and public intellectual closely connected with the early humanist movement. He became one of the founders of the Rationalist Press Association and later served it as both director and secretary, helping to spread accessible works on religion, ethics, and rational inquiry.
His writing often explored how belief systems shaped society and conscience. Among his best-known books is The Medieval Inquisition: A Study in Religious Persecution (1918), and he also wrote on ethics, progress, and comparative religion in a plain, readable style aimed at general readers rather than specialists.
Gorham was more than an author of books: he was also involved in editing Ethical movement publications and supporting the wider network of reformers and secular thinkers of his day. He died in 1933, leaving behind work that reflects a period when debates about religion, reason, and social progress were being carried into the public square with unusual energy.