George Chatterton-Hill facts for kids

George Chatterton-Hill (1883–1947) was an Irish writer who explored ideas about evolution and sociology. Sociology is the study of how societies work and how people interact within them. He wrote in the early 1900s, a time when new discoveries about Gregor Mendel's work on genetics were changing how people understood Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Chatterton-Hill was also greatly influenced by other thinkers like Herbert Spencer, who wrote about evolution and society, and Benjamin Kidd, who wrote about society and religion.

His Ideas on Society

Chatterton-Hill believed that liberalism, which is the idea that everyone should have individual freedom, was not truly possible. He argued that liberalism suggests people should be free as long as they don't limit the freedom of others. However, he felt this idea didn't fit with the natural competition found in life.

He thought that humans naturally want to expand and grow, which often clashes with the idea of everyone being equal. He claimed that in real life, stronger groups or classes often control weaker ones. He also believed that when people revolt, it usually just means a new ruling group takes over from the old one. His ideas were similar to the concept of social Darwinism, which applied Darwin's ideas about "survival of the fittest" to human societies.

His Life During Wartime

During World War I, George Chatterton-Hill lived in Germany. He was there because of his strong Irish nationalist feelings. He even exchanged letters with Roger Casement, another important Irish nationalist figure. Some records suggest he worked for a German politician named Matthias Erzberger as his private secretary.

It is also said that Chatterton-Hill was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to an Irish father and a local mother. Interestingly, he never actually visited Ireland himself.

Later Years and Death

Chatterton-Hill was married to a German woman and lived in Germany for some time. When World War II began, he was in the hospital due to serious health issues. In early 1940, he was released from the hospital but was then sent to a concentration camp. He was considered an "undesirable alien" by the German authorities.

He stayed in the camp until January 1941. Because his health became very poor, he was allowed to leave. With no way to earn money, he started translating British news into German for people in Berlin. He continued this work until the end of the war. George Chatterton-Hill passed away on January 12, 1947. His German wife was later flown to the United Kingdom.

His Published Works

George Chatterton-Hill wrote several books that shared his unique views on society and evolution.

• Heredity and Selection in Sociology (1907)
• The Philosophy of Nietzsche