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Hannah More

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Hannah More was an educator, writer and social reformer. She was also known for her writings on abolition and for encouraging women to join the anti-slavery movement. She was born in the village of Fishponds near Bristol. Her father was a schoolmaster. In her early years she taught at the school her family had opened with her sisters. At 22 she became engaged to a local landowner, William Turner. The wedding never took place and in compensation, Turner paid her a sum of £200 each year. This allowed her to give up teaching and concentrate on writing. Hannah was clever and witty. She was a member of a group of intelligent women called the 'Bluestockings'. She wrote poetry and plays but lost enthusiasm for the theatre after her friend David Garrick died. In 1787 she met John Newton and the 'Clapham Sect' (a group of wealthy evangelicals Christians who lived close to Clapham). The group was strongly opposed to the slave trade. William Wilberforce was a member of the group and they became firm friends. Hannah helped give the abolition movement a public voice with her writings. In 1788 she wrote - 'Slavery, a Poem', to coincide with Wilberforce's parliamentary campaign for abolition. The poem dramatically described a mistreated enslaved female separated from her children and questioned Britains role in the slave trade. More also wrote "The Sorrows of Yamba" (or, The Negro Woman's Lamentation) in 1795. In 1789 she purchased of a small house at Cowslip Green in Somerset. Wilberforce encouraged More to set up a sunday school in Cheddar where poor children could be taught to read. Soon she and her sisters had established similar schools throughout the Mendip villages despite fierce opposition. She continued to support the cause of abolition. In her old age, people from all parts came to vists the bright, amiable old lady she had become. She spent the last five years of her life at Clifton, often in poor health. Like Wilberforce she lived just long enought to see the act finally abolishing slavery in the British Empire, dying in September 1833.

Added:
21st Sep 2007 by Diane Earl

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History

Key Stages:
Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, Key Stage 4+

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