Hannah More

Hannah More was a prolific writer, philanthropist, and a leading figure in the Evangelical revival within the Church of England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Her extensive literary output, which included plays, poetry, moral tracts, and novels, was instrumental in promoting conservative social reform, moral education, and the campaign against the Atlantic slave trade. A prominent member of the Clapham Sect, she used her influence and writings to advocate for the poor, for female education within strict bounds, and for the abolitionist cause, leaving a complex legacy as both a pioneering female intellectual and a staunch defender of the existing social order.

Early life and education

Born in Fishponds near Bristol, she was the fourth of five daughters of Jacob More, a Church of England schoolmaster. Her early education was overseen by her father, who taught her Latin and mathematics, unusual subjects for girls at the time, while her elder sisters established a boarding school in Bristol. This early exposure to both intellectual pursuit and practical education shaped her future endeavors. In her youth, she became engaged to a wealthy landowner, William Turner, but after a six-year postponement, the engagement was broken, and Turner provided her with an annual annuity, granting her financial independence to pursue a literary life in London.

Literary career and philanthropy

Her move to the capital in the 1770s brought her into the orbit of London's literary elite, including the actor David Garrick, who produced her successful tragic plays Percy and The Fatal Falsehood. She became a celebrated figure in bluestocking circles, associating with Elizabeth Montagu, Samuel Johnson, and Edmund Burke. Following Garrick's death and a spiritual awakening, she shifted her focus from fashionable society to religious and philanthropic writing. With her sisters, she established a series of Sunday schools and charity schools in the impoverished Mendip Hills area, promoting basic literacy and Anglican doctrine, which were detailed in her influential work, Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education.

Religious and moral activism

Deeply influenced by the Evangelical movement, she became a formidable propagandist for moral reformation, targeting both the upper classes and the poor. She published a vast number of cheap, widely distributed tracts through the Cheap Repository Tracts series, including the immensely popular The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, to counteract the radical ideas of the French Revolution and promote contented piety. Her novel Coelebs in Search of a Wife was a best-selling conduct book that outlined her vision for an ideal, religiously grounded domestic life. This work, alongside her critiques of fashionable society, positioned her as a conservative counterpoint to more radical thinkers like Mary Wollstonecraft.

Involvement in the abolition movement

A central member of the evangelical Clapham Sect, which included William Wilberforce and Granville Sharp, she dedicated her literary talents to the abolitionist cause. She wrote the influential poem Slavery, a Poem in 1788 to support the parliamentary campaign led by Wilberforce. Her work powerfully condemned the brutality of the slave trade and appealed to British notions of liberty and morality. She maintained a long correspondence with Wilberforce, offering strategic advice and using her network to rally support, particularly among women, for the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Her writings were crucial in shaping pious public opinion against slavery.

Later life and legacy

In her later years, she continued her philanthropic and writing work from her home in Barley Wood, Wrington, where she was visited by many notable figures, including the religious writer William Wordsworth. A dispute with her household staff led her to move to Clifton in 1828. Upon her death, she was buried at All Saints' Church, Clifton. Her legacy is multifaceted; she was a trailblazer for female authorship and social influence, yet her advocacy was firmly within a framework of social hierarchy and conservative morality. Her efforts in popular education and her pivotal role in the abolitionism movement remain her most enduring contributions, while her writings offer a critical window into the social and religious tensions of the Georgian era and Regency era.

Category:1745 births Category:1833 deaths Category:English poets Category:English philanthropists Category:English religious writers Category:Abolitionism in the United Kingdom