Mary Anne Rawson
Encyclopedia
Mary Anne Rawson was an abolitionist. She was a campaingner with the Tract Society
, the British and Foreign Bible Society
, Italian nationalism
, Child labour, but above all anti-slavery. She was first involved with a Sheffield group who successfully campaigned for people to boycott
sugar from the West Indies, as it was produced by slave labor. She is pictured attending the World Anti-Slavery Society Conference in London in 1840.
, the society formally ended in 1833.
In 1837 Rawson became secretary of the Sheffield Ladies Association for the Universal Abolition of Slavery, which continued the case for enslaved workers across the world.
Rawson corresponded with figures such as George Thompson
in Britain as well as Frederick Douglass
and William Lloyd Garrison
in the United States. Her visitors included Lord Shaftesbury
and William Wilberforce
. With her mother Elizabeth Read as treasurer, Rawson was prominent in the Sheffield Female Anti-Slavery Society. Her father Joseph Read owned a business involved in the smelting of precious metals.
Her father had built up a business until he was able to buy a substantial house called Wincobank Hall. However his business declined and he was forced to move out of this house. Rawson's father died at the age of 72.
Rawson's early widowhood after her Nottingham banker husband died, allowed her to return and pay off her father's debts. She and her mother retook residence at Wincobank Hall. They both led politically active lives.
The painting shows Rawson in a commemorative painting of the world's first international anti-slavery conference, which attracted delegates from America, France, Haiti, Australia, Ireland, Jamaica and Barbados in 1840. With the exception of Mary Clarkson, all of the women in the painting are shown to the far right and none of them is in the foreground of the painting. No females were allowed into the main body of the convention. This caused some difficulties with the American delegation. Women included in the painting included Elizabeth Pease
, Amelia Opie
, Baroness Byron, Anne Knight
, Mrs John Beaumont, Elizabeth Tredgold
, Thomas Clarkson
's daughter Mary and right at the back Lucretia Mott
. After the convention she played host to Charles Lenox Remond
as well as Nathaniel Peabody Rogers.
In 1841, Rawson and her sister, Emily Read, arranged for a day school to be created in the chapel on the grounds of Wincobank Hall. The school was open to local children. In 1860 the sisters created a trust to provide for its financial endowment and management. The school continued until 1905. Today the chapel has been restored for community use.
's Lilly library has an extensive collection of Rawson's letters and photographs, including a collection of her watercolours of Italy
. The University of Sheffield holds a collection of Rawson's materials related to the poet James Montgomery
.
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...
, the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
, Italian nationalism
Italian nationalism
Italian nationalism refers to the nationalism of Italians or of Italian culture. It claims that Italians are the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic descendants of the ancient Romans who inhabited the Italian Peninsula for centuries. The origins of Italian nationalism have been traced to the...
, Child labour, but above all anti-slavery. She was first involved with a Sheffield group who successfully campaigned for people to boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
sugar from the West Indies, as it was produced by slave labor. She is pictured attending the World Anti-Slavery Society Conference in London in 1840.
Biography
Mary Anne Read was born to Joseph and Elizabeth Read, wealthy parents who encouraged her involvement with good causes. Her abiding interest from the mid 1820s to the 1850s was to lead the campaign for anti-slavery in the Sheffield area. Rawson was a founding member of the Sheffield Female Anti-Slavery Society, which campaigned for the rights of the slaves in the British Empire. By lectures and pamphlets, the society successfully boycotted to decrease sales of West Indian goods produced by slaves, such as coffee and sugar. Following passage of the abolition legislationSlavery Abolition Act
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire...
, the society formally ended in 1833.
Rawson corresponded with figures such as George Thompson
George Thompson (abolitionist)
George Donisthorpe Thompson was a British antislavery orator and activist who worked toward the abolition of slavery through lecture tours and legislation while serving as a Member of Parliament...
in Britain as well as Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
and William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
in the United States. Her visitors included Lord Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...
and William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
. With her mother Elizabeth Read as treasurer, Rawson was prominent in the Sheffield Female Anti-Slavery Society. Her father Joseph Read owned a business involved in the smelting of precious metals.
Her father had built up a business until he was able to buy a substantial house called Wincobank Hall. However his business declined and he was forced to move out of this house. Rawson's father died at the age of 72.
Rawson's early widowhood after her Nottingham banker husband died, allowed her to return and pay off her father's debts. She and her mother retook residence at Wincobank Hall. They both led politically active lives.
The painting shows Rawson in a commemorative painting of the world's first international anti-slavery conference, which attracted delegates from America, France, Haiti, Australia, Ireland, Jamaica and Barbados in 1840. With the exception of Mary Clarkson, all of the women in the painting are shown to the far right and none of them is in the foreground of the painting. No females were allowed into the main body of the convention. This caused some difficulties with the American delegation. Women included in the painting included Elizabeth Pease
Elizabeth Pease Nichol
Elizabeth Pease Nichol was an abolitionist, anti-segregationist, woman suffragist, chartist and anti-vivisectionist in 19th century Great Britain. In 1853 she married Dr. John Pringle Nichol , Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow...
, Amelia Opie
Amelia Opie
Amelia Opie, née Alderson , was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic Period of the early 19th century, through 1828.-Life and work:...
, Baroness Byron, Anne Knight
Anne Knight
Anne Knight was a social reformer noted as a pioneer of feminism.-Family background:Anne Knight was the daughter of William Knight , a Chelmsford grocer and his wife Priscilla Allen...
, Mrs John Beaumont, Elizabeth Tredgold
John Harfield Tredgold
John Harfield Tredgold was an English chemist in the Cape Colony in Africa. He held a number of voluntary roles including Secretary of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. The suburb of Cape Town called Harfield drew its name from Tredgold's middle name.-Biography:Tredgold was baptised in...
, Thomas Clarkson
Thomas Clarkson
Thomas Clarkson , was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves...
's daughter Mary and right at the back Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Coffin Mott was an American Quaker, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights.- Early life and education:...
. After the convention she played host to Charles Lenox Remond
Charles Lenox Remond
Charles Lenox Remond was an American orator, abolitionist and military organizer during the American Civil War...
as well as Nathaniel Peabody Rogers.
In 1841, Rawson and her sister, Emily Read, arranged for a day school to be created in the chapel on the grounds of Wincobank Hall. The school was open to local children. In 1860 the sisters created a trust to provide for its financial endowment and management. The school continued until 1905. Today the chapel has been restored for community use.
Publications
In 1834, Rawson compiled a collection of original writings against slavery and in favour of its abolition in the British colonies. The contributions came from fifty writers.Legacy
The Indiana UniversityIndiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
's Lilly library has an extensive collection of Rawson's letters and photographs, including a collection of her watercolours of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The University of Sheffield holds a collection of Rawson's materials related to the poet James Montgomery
James Montgomery
James Montgomery was a British editor, hymnwriter and poet. He was particularly associated with humanitarian causes such as the campaigns to abolish slavery and to end the exploitation of child chimney sweeps....
.