Henry Moule

Henry Moule's dry earth closet, first patented in 1860. This example is from around 1875

Henry Moule (born January 27, 1801 in Melksham , † February 3, 1880 in Fordington ) was a pastor of the Church of England and inventor of the dry toilet ( dry earth closet ).

Life

Formation and priesthood

Moule, the sixth son of George Moule (lawyer and banker), was born in Melksham, Wiltshire , England and attended the local school in Marlborough . He then came on a scholarship to St. John's College , Cambridge, where he graduated in 1821. In 1821 he became vicar in his home parish Melksham and in 1829 moved as parish priest to Fordington (now part of Dorchester ), where he remained until the end of his life.

For a few years he took on the duties of pastor of the troops in the barracks of Dorchester. For this purpose, as well as for his own congregation, he built a church known as Christ Church, West Fordington , in part from the proceeds of his barracks sermons in 1846.

Dry earth closet

During the cholera epidemics of 1849 and 1854, he was confronted with the living conditions of the people through his job and recognized a connection between the hygienic conditions and the spread of diseases, especially in the summer of 1858 during the Great Stench , as with the increasing number of Water closets in London households overflowed the existing septic tanks and the faeces ended up in the Thames. Moule then turned his attention to science and began experimenting with the waterless disposal of human waste in 1859. He invented what is known as the dry earth system : a chair where, at the end of the day, a lever is used to cover the contents of the bucket under the seat with a dose of dry ash, earth or sawdust. In partnership with James Bannehr, he registered a patent for this process, which also produced valuable fertilizer (No. 1316, May 28, 1860), published a number of works on it and founded the Moule company for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing it Patent Earth Closet Co. Ltd. .
Some of his works on the subject:

• The Advantages of the Dry Earth System , 1868;
• The Impossibility overcome: or the Inoffensive, Safe, and Economical Disposal of the Refuse of Towns and Villages ; or the safe, safe, and economical disposal of municipal waste, 1870;
• The Dry Earth System , 1871;
• Town Refuse, the Remedy for Local Taxation , 1872;
• National Health and Wealth promoted by the general adoption of the Dry Earth System , 1873.

The system was used in private homes, in rural areas, in military camps (for example the volunteer camp with 2,000 men at Wimbledon ), in public buildings (such as the municipal school in Dorchester) and in the colonies in India and led to savings in operating costs as well as to remove bad smells and diarrhea .

Further life dates

In 1855 he also wrote an important work entitled "Eight Letters to Prince Albert, as President of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall , inspired by the conditions in the parish of Fordington, which was part of that Duchy. In two letters published in The Times on Dec. February and April 2, 1874 he advocated a plan to extract gas from Kimmeridger slate .

He died in the Fordington rectory on February 3, 1880.
1824 married Moule Mary Evans Mullett († August 21, 1877). They had eight sons:

Henry Joseph Moule	1825-1904	Watercolor painter and friend of Thomas Hardy
George Evans Moule	1828-1912	Missionary and Bishop of Central China
Frederick John Moule	1830-1900	Vicar of St Peters Church - Yaxley
Horatio Mosley Moule	1832-1873	also a friend of Thomas Hardy
Charles Walter Moule	1834-1921	Librarian and President of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Arthur Evans Moule	1836-1916	Missionary & Archdeacon of Central China
Christopher Cooper Moule	1838-1839	died as a child
Handley Carr Glyn Moule	1841-1920	noted theologian and scholar and Bishop of Durham

One grandson, CFD Moule, was a respected Anglican theologian.

Publications (selection)

• 1845 Barrack Sermons (barracks sermons)
• 1861 National health and wealth, instead of the disease, nuisance, expense, and waste, caused by cess-pools and water-drainage (health and wealth instead of disease, plague, costs and waste caused by manure basins and water flushing)
• 1870 The Science of Manure as the Food of Plants (The knowledge about feces as plant food)

See also

• Herbal sewage treatment plant
• Water protection
• Sustainable development
• Friedensreich Hundertwasser (also committed to the
• Compost toilet )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography of Henry Moule ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 12, 2011. 
2. ^ Dry earth closet , accessed May 15, 2011.