William Winstanley
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William Winstanley, known as "The Man Who Saved Christmas," was born in Essex in the 1600s in the time of Oliver Cromwell's Puritans who in 1647, in the name of reform, cancelled Christmas.
After a short period of Britain being a republic Charles II came to the throne and after 13 years of Christmas-deprivation the celebrations were reinstated. William Winstanley, a poet and writer, reintroduced details of forgotten customs and practices in pamphlets he produced about his family Christmas celebrations, and they became best-sellers at the family bookstore in Saffron Walden, England. He wrote about holding open house with a well-stocked table for neighbours and the poor; he wrote of plum pudding, Christmas pie, mince pies and turkey.
William Winstanley's ideas were picked up by authors such as Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol and Pickwick Papers.
[edit] References
- The One Show, BBC1, 13 December 2007
- William Winstanley: The Man Who Saved Christmas, by Alison Barnes, Poppyland, 2007, ISBN 978-0946148820
