Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Vegetarian Society was founded on the 30th of September 1847, at the Northwood Villa Hydropathic Institute in Ramsgate, Kent. A preparatory physiological conference was held at the Concordium in July 1847, at which resolutions were passed setting the date for the founding meeting.
James Simpson was elected the first president at the founding meeting in Ramsgate on the 30th of September 1847. William Oldham served as treasurer, William Horsell as secretary, and Joseph Brotherton, the MP for Salford, chaired the meeting.
The Vegetarian Society Approved trademark is a licensed certification mark applied to vegetarian and vegan products that meet the Society's standards, including being free from animal flesh, slaughterhouse byproducts, and animal testing. The trademark was introduced in 1969, and a separate vegan version launched in 2017. In 2022, McDonald's used the vegan trademark on its McPlant burger across the United Kingdom.
In 1944, Donald Watson, a member of the London Vegetarian Society, proposed creating a separate organization for those who avoided dairy and eggs as well as meat. That proposal led directly to the establishment of The Vegan Society.
Mahatma Gandhi and Thomas Allinson were among the members of the London Vegetarian Society after it formed in 1888. Arnold Hills, the first president and a raw food advocate, funded the society's journal, The Vegetarian.
Vegetarians who registered with their local Food Office during World War II received special ration books with no meat ration but additional coupons for cheese, eggs, and nuts. Around 100,000 people officially registered as vegetarians in the United Kingdom during the war. The Committee of Vegetarian Interests negotiated with the Ministry of Food on their behalf.