Charles Boycott
From Wikinfo
Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott (1823-1897) was a British land agent whose ostracism by his local community in Ireland as part of a political campaign in 1880 gave the English language the verb to boycott, meaning 'to ostracise by avoiding interaction.'
Charles Boycott was born in Norfolk in 1823. He came to Ireland to work as a land agent for Lord Erne, the local landowner in the Lough Mask area. As part of its campaign for the 3Fs (fair rent, fixity of tenure and free sale) to protect tenants from exploitation, the Irish Land League under Michael Davitt withdrew the local labour required to save the harvest on Lord Erne's estate. When Boycott tried to undermine the campaign the League launched a campaign of isolation against him in the local community. Neighbours would not talk to him. Shops would not serve him. People in church would not talk to him or sit near him. His physical safety was also threatened.
The campaign against Boycott became a cause celebr� in the British media, with newspapers sending correspondents to the west of Ireland to highlight what they viewed as the victimisation of a servant of a peer of the realm by Irish peasants. Fifty Orangemen from County Cavan, Ulster, travelled to Lord Erne's estate to save the harvest, while a regiment of the British Army was also sent to help. Over 1000 policemen were deployed to protect the harvesters. The whole episode cost the British government many thousands of pounds. Boycott left Ireland soon after.
Boycotting has become a standard means for non-violent civic and political disobedience, practiced by Mahatma Gandhi, by anti-Nazis during World War II and during the civil rights campaigns in the United States and Northern Ireland in the 1960s.
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Charles_Boycott" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Boycott, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
