Henry Meulen

Who was Henry Meulen?

Henry Meulen was a British individualist anarchist and economist. He was an editor of the periodical called The Individualist, published by the Personal Rights Association and actively promoted the philosophy of free banking. He is the author of Free Banking: An Outline of a Policy on Individualism and Individualist Anarchism.

Meulen's parents were born in the village of Kirchberg and emigrated to London c. 1870. His father worked as a bookbinder and, though successful, could not afford to send his five children to university. Meulen went to the French school in Soho and then entered the competitive examination, with 400 other candidates, to join the Post Office. He obtained one of the seven available places and because of his fluency in French and German went to work in the Central Telegraph Office. In 1910 he set up home with Violet Middleton in Bedford Park. His only daughter, Paula Meulen, was born in 1911 and Violet died in childbirth. Meulen had become interested in currency reform and began work on his first book Industrial Justice through Banking Reform. An outline of a policy of individualism.