Harry Stopes-Roe

Harry Verdon Stopes-Roe (27 March 1924 – 11 May 2014) was a British

British Humanist Association

until his death in May 2014, having served as its Chair previously.

Biography

Born in London,

PhD in philosophy.^[3]

After he married a short-sighted woman, his mother, an advocate of eugenics, cut him out of her will. His wife—Mary Eyre Wallis, later Mary Stopes-Roe—was the daughter of the noted engineer Barnes Wallis.^[4] Stopes reasoned that prospective grandchildren might inherit the condition.^[5]

Stopes-Roe became a lecturer in

International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU).^[3]

In the 1970s, he was largely responsible for developing the BHA's policy on education, covering both religious and non-religious

British Humanist Association (BHA) booklet "Objective, Fair and Balanced" which he and David Pollock produced later in the same year. In the late 1980s, he initiated a successful campaign for the adoption of the term by the IHEU and other organisations.^[3]

He represented the BHA on the Religious Education Council and he led the Values Education Council for many years. He was also president of

South Place Ethical Society

, a position he retained until his death, though the Conway Hall Sunday Lectures have not been given by Appointed Lecturers for many years.

He died at the age of 90 on 11 May 2014.[7]