William Oldham, born on 13 February 1790, was one of the associates of
James Pierrepont Greaves at Alcott House in Ham County, Surrey, England. Together with the other English reformers J. Westland Marston, Richard Kennett,
John Heraud,
Charles Lane, and
Henry Gardner Wright, Oldham shared in the zeal for
Amos Bronson Alcott’s educational methods and efforts to live a “pure life” of the soul. Although he remained in England in 1842 to care for Alcott House, rather than accompany Alcott to the United States, he donated money to help establish the
Fruitlands community in 1843.