 In 1815 the first "Little Circle" was formed, around a core of members from the Cross Street Chapel who were influenced by the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and Joseph Priestley.The founding members included John Edward Taylor (cotton merchant), Joseph Brotherton (a non-conformist minister and pioneering vegetarian), Thomas Preston, and Thomas and Richard Potter.Meetings were held in a room at the back of the Potters' Cannon Street counting-house, generally known as the "plotting-parlour", and its core membership was Unitarian.