I am obviously an amateur, so I clicked on the Wikipedia footnote that accompanied the article's claim that the term "socialism" was in use as early as 1822. The footnote states:
1822 E.Cowper Let. to Robert Owen 2 Nov. in Revue d'Histoire Economique & Sociale (1957) 35 80 [She] seems well adapted to become what my friend Jo. Applegath calls a Socialist".
Who was E. Cowper in relation to Robert Owen? And more importantly, who was Cowper's friend Jo. Applegath?
If there were any biographical information whatsoever on this Applegath person, It would be super significant.
Joseph Applega[r]th was the brother of Robert Owen's publisher Augustus Applegarth and taught at New Lanark and was later a shareholder in the planned community at Orbiston in Lanarkshire. He also taught at the community at New Harmony in Indiana.
E. Cowper is Edward Cowper a printer, inventor and engineer. He and Augustus Applegarth built improved presses for printing bank notes, printing on silk and newspapers.
Sources: Robert Owen’s Experiment at New Lanark: From Paternalism to Socialism
Robert Owen and the Owenites in Britain and America
History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois