Francis Foster Barham
the 'Alist
Francis Foster Barham (1808–1871), known as the Alist was an English religious writer who promoted a new religion called Alism.
Life
The fifth son of Thomas Foster Barham (1766–1844), by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Morton, he was born 31 May 1808 at Leskinnick, Penzance, Cornwall, where his parents dwelt in independence and retirement. After a preliminary training in the grammar school of Penzance, he studied under one of his brothers near Epping Forest, and was then articled for five years (1826–31) to a solicitor at Devonport.
His family's wealth came from slavery on sugar estates in western Jamaica.
In his twenty-third year he was enrolled as an attorney, and settled in London, but ill-health prevented him from pursuing the practice of the law, and he took to writing for literary periodicals. Together with John Abraham Heraud he was joint editor and proprietor of the New Monthly Magazine from 1 July 1839 to 26 May 1840, when he retired from the editorship, with permission 'to contribute two sheets of matter to each number of the magazine, retaining exclusive property in his own articles'. During the fourteen years of his home in London, Barham's most extensive literary undertaking was the preparation of a new edition of Jeremy Collier's Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain. The study of oriental languages kindled in him a great love for philology, and his intense spiritual aspirations led him to attempt to found a new form of religion, which he called "Alism".
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Francis Foster Barham” as the 'Alist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as the 'Alist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5480987. VIAF identifies the subject as 39167270. The Library of Congress control number is no2007127908. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1808, 1871, 1766 and 1844.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Francis Foster Barham”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Francis Foster Barham primary sources, Francis Foster Barham archive and Francis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Francis Foster Barham”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Francis Foster Barham” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.