George Robert Stowe Mead was born in Peckham, Surrey, to his father Colonel Robert Mead and his mother Mary. He showed academic potential at a young age while attending King's School, Rochester, and upon entering college, began the study of mathematics before switching his interests to the classics at St. John's College and Cambridge. Upon graduating, Mead took up the profession of teaching and settled into a public school master position.
While studying the classics in the university, Mead became interested in eastern religion through the works of Alfred Percy Sinnett. Following this interest led Mead to contact the then active Theosophical Society of London, headed by the renowned Madame Blavatsky. Mead left his position as a school master to become the secretary of the society full time, where he contributed intellectually in the fields of philosophy, Gnosticism, and Hermeticism. After becoming active in the society, Mead migrated in interests from that of eastern practices to a western focused attention in Christianity and Neoplatonism. In 1909, Mead founded the Quest Society, which planned to be an undogmatic investigation of comparative religion. The main activity of the society was in publishing The Quest: A Quarterly Review from 1909-31.
Mead died in London, England on September 28, 1933.
