People
Académie Royale des Belles Lettres
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Archibald Acheson, second earl of Gosford (1776-1849) and later governor in chief of British North America, was the elder brother of Lady Olivia Sparrow. On 20 July 1805 he married Mary Sparrow, the sister of Lady Olivia's husband Sir Robert Bernard Sparrow. He succeeded his father as earl of Gosford in 1807.
Lady Mary Acheson (d. 1843) was the younger sister of
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Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), politician and philanthropist. A Tory, he was elected MP for Devon in 1812. In 1808 he married Lydia Elizabeth Hoare, whose father, the prominent banker Henry Hoare, lent his support to many religious projects in Britain and abroad. As a result of this connection, Acland became acquainted with many prominent evangelical Christians and was close friends with some of the younger members of More's circle, including Alexander Knox and Bishop John Jebb.
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From 1805 to 1815, Thomas Adams is listed in the Bristol Trade Directory as a pastry cook and confectioner keeping an 'eating house' at 5 Wine Lane, Bristol.
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Hiley Addington (1759-1818), politician. Addington was the younger brother of Henry Addington, Viscount Sidmouth, who was prime minister from 1801-4. Hiley Addington lived at Langford Court in Lower Langford, Somerset, which was just three miles from More's home at Barley Wood in Wrington.
Although close neighbours, their ideas about what, and how much, to do for the poor were quite different, and More was at times scathing about Addington's lack of ambition. Towards the end of his life, however, Addington seems to have become more active in assisting More with her philanthropic efforts in the Mendips region, in 1816 assisting More in buying up calamine ore (an ore of zinc used in brass making) from the miners at Shipham after the peace in Europe caused prices to plummet.
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Unknown. D. Baillie offered More an 'elegant kindness' of some sort in March of 1813, for which she may have repaid him with a specially bound copy of Christian Morals.
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Richard Beadon (1737-1824), Bishop of Bath and Wells. Beadon translated to the Bishopric of Bath and Wells from Gloucester in 1802 at the height of the Blagdon Controversy, which had engulfed More and damaged her reputation, and which jeopardised the future of the Sunday Schools in the Mendips.
Beadon had subscribed to More's Cheap Repository, and responded sympathetically to More's prompt letter to him (she wrote before he even arrived in Wells) on the matter, thus helping to force More's opponents into retreat. Whilst More did not always enjoy Beadon's support for her activities in the region, they remained on cordial terms during his episcopacy.
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John Boak (fl. 1764-1833), an evangelical, was appointed curate at Cheddar and Axbridge in 1791, largely as a result of More's intervention. At the height of the Blagdon Controversy of 1801 Boak proved stalwart in defence of More's conduct of the Sunday Schools in the Mendips region (as curate, the schools had nominally been under Boak's supervision).
It is highly likely that Boak authored A Statement of Facts relating to Mrs. H. More's Schools, in which pamphlet was gathered the testimony of nine local clergy, approving and vindicating the religious practises of the schools. Boak, who owed much of his early advancement in the church to More's patronage, evidenced his continuing affection for his benefactor by preaching the sermon at her funeral in 1833.
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b. Napoleone di Buonaparte (1769 – 5 May 1821). More's correspondance touches often upon tumultuous affairs in France during the Revolutionary Wars and their aftermath. In her letters, she shares gossip she has heard about the French Military commander, alongside her political disapproval and fears of unrest spreading to Britain.
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Boscawen, Elizabeth, Duchess of Beaufort
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Henrietta Maria Bowdler (1750-1830), writer and editor. Known familiarly as 'Harriet', Bowdler was a prominent and much-admired writer, active in both literary and religious circles, and well-known for the salon she hosted in Bath. Her writing was admired by Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London and close friend of More.
Whilst Bowdler's younger brother Thomas took the blame for the expurgations in The Family Shakespeare for which the family would later become notorious, it was originally published by Henrietta in 1807. Thomas became the editor of the text for a fuller edition in 1818.
John Bowdler (senior, 1746-1823), layman in the Church of England, religious writer and philanthropist. Bowdler was raised a strict Anglican by his mother, and in later life became an admirer of certain non-juring clergy and was a member of High Church circles. Some of his religious views matched those of the evangelicals, such as his abhorrence for breaches of the Sabbath, gambling and levity in the clergy. However, Bowdler's recommendations for the moral and religious improvement of society, made in various publications during the 1790s, tended to the impractical. Despite this he was admired by members of More's circles, and was close friends with
John Bowdler (the younger, 1783-1815), was a religious writer and prominent member of the Clapham Sect. From 1812 he contributed frequently to the Christian Observer, often under the name 'Crito', but by this time he was ill with consumption. He died from the illness on 1 February 1815. His writings were collected by
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Bruce, George Charles Constantine (1800-40)
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William Buglin was a Bristol printer, bookseller and stationer, and was printer of the Bristol Mercury. He often worked with other local booksellers, and traded at times as Richardson and Bulgin. He is documented in the Bristol Trade Directory as having premises on Wine Street, and later Corn Street and Broad Street.
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Thomas Cadell (the younger, 1773-1836), publisher and bookseller. Cadell the younger took over the family business at 141 Strand, London, from his father, Thomas Cadell senior, in 1793, going into partnership with William Davies (d. 1820). From this point the firm traded as Cadell and Davies.
As had been the case when Thomas Cadell senior was at the helm, the business continued to work closely with More, publishing the majority of her new works (including More's only novel, Cœlebs in Search of a Wife (1808)), and producing editions of her older texts.
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Cavendish-Bentinck, Lord William Henry
Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (1774-1839), army officer and governor-general of India. In 1811 Cavendish-Bentinck had been appointed by the foreign secretary Richard, Marquess Wellesley (1760-1842), as envoy to the court of the Two Sicilies.
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Committee of the Bristol Infirmary, the
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Thomas Connolly Cowan, curate at St. Thomas's in Clifton until his secession from the Established Church as part of the 'Western Schism' of 1815. Cowan was a member of the 'Baring Party' which practised itinerant preaching and espoused 'unorthodox doctrines' which had the appearance, for some, of 'heresy' (Grayson Carter, Anglican Evangelicals, p. 111). As a result of the 'party's' origins within evangelicalism the Schism threatened to reverse the gains recently made by evangelicals towards acceptance by the Church of England. As a result, many evangelical Christians, including Hannah More, reacted with bitter, even vehement, condemnation towards the secessionists.
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Sir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp (1749-1833) was born Edmund Bunney, but took the surname Cradock-Hartopp following his marriage to Anne Hurlock in 1777. He was the MP for Leicestershire from 1798 until 1806, where he usually supported the administration.
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John William Cunningham (1780-1861) was an evangelical clergyman, ordained deacon in 1803. He was appointed vicar of Harrow on the Hill in 1811, and proved very active in the role; he urged his parishioners to observe the Sabbath and built schools and churches. In 1814 he published a novel, The Velvet Cushion, an historical account of divisions within the Church of England since the Reformation.
Cunningham was a member of the Clapham Sect, having served as Curate at Clapham Church in 1809 under John Venn, and proved a loyal supporter of the Church Missionary Society, at whose meetings he frequently spoke. Cunningham was one of the leaders of the evangelical movement in the mid-nineteenth century, and served as editor of the Christian Observer from 1850-58.
It has not yet been possible to identify this individual, though from context it is likely he is a relative of James William Cunningam.
Robert Daly (1783-1872) was appointed prebend of Holy Trinity in the diocese of Cork in 1808; in 1814 he also became prebend of Stagonil and took over the rectory at Powerscourt in the diocese of Dublin. Whilst at Powerscourt Daly enjoyed the patronage of Lady Powerscourt, which helped him advance professionally and considerably raised his profile in evangelical circles.
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Richard Hart Davis (1766-1842), merchant, banker, and MP. Hart Davis was a native of Bristol and a partner at Harford's bank before becoming a merchant. Having made his fortune on Spanish wool, he was elected MP for Colchester in 1807 and for Bristol in 1812 – he remained MP for his home city until 1831. Hart Davis served on the committee of the Bristol branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society and was a frequent correspondent of More's for over twenty years.
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The Reverend James Dunn, the evangelical rector of the parish of Delgany near Dublin in Ireland. He was a member of the Hibernian Church Missionary Society, and a friend of William Wilberforce's.
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Lady Elizabeth Oswald Bruce (1790-1860), wife of Thomas Bruce, earl of Elgin and Kincardine (1766-1841).
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Sir Abraham Elton (1755-1842), fifth baronet, was a clergyman and magistrate, and a prominent Bristol merchant. Elton owned Clevedon Court in Clevedon, Somerset, eight miles north of More's home at Wrington. In 1800 Elton was asked to act as intermediary in the dispute at Blagdon, in which relations between the local curate and the schoolmaster appointed by More broke down amid accusations of Methodistical meetings and religious irregularities. Elton proved a poor choice as intermediary, but continued to support More as the controversy rumbled on, publishing pamphlets in her cause.
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Probably William Farish (1759-1837), professor of chemistry at Cambridge. There is evidence he attended a Bible meeting at Huntington and then went to Brampton Park, see Memoir of the Late Rev. Joseph Hughes, A.M (1835), 385 (Preview on Google Books)
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Fitzroy, Charles 3rd Baron Southampton
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FitzRoy, Frances Isabella Seymour
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Mary Frowd. Lord Exmouth married Susanna, second daughter of James Frowd, on 28 May 1783 (Gentleman's Magazine (March, 1833), 267). According to John Seely Stone, 'She [Hannah More] has no inmates except her servants and Miss Frowd, a niece of Lord Exmouth, who is her constant companion, and devotes to her, with all the affection of a daughter, the most assiduous attentions'. (A Memoir of the Life of James Milnor, D.D.: Late Rector of St. George's Church, New York (1848), p. 405).
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James Gambier, Baron Gambier (1756-1833), naval officer and evangelist. Gambier had seen action in the American War of Independence and in the conflicts following the French Revolution, serving with distinction amid some controversy. As a captain and later as an admiral, Gambier was vigorous in promoting Christianity amongst the men of the lower deck, and lent his support to several evangelical groups, including the Naval and Military Bible Society.
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Mary Babington Gisborne (b. 1760), married Thomas Gisborne in 1784. The marriage was a long and happy one. Mary was sister of Thomas Babington, who had married Jean Macaulay, and through Mary, the Gisbornes were closely tied to the Clapham Sect.
Thomas Gisborne (1759-1846), clergyman and religious writer. A close friend of Thomas Babington and
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Gloucester, Princess Sophia of
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Gough-Calthorpe, Frances Elizabeth
Frances Carpenter Gough-Calthorpe (1761-1827), married Sir Henry Gough (later Gough-Calthorpe) in 1783.
Lord George Gough-Calthorpe, third Baron Calthorpe (1787-1851), diplomat and orientalist. A cousin of Barbara Spooner Wilberforce (Mrs Wilberforce's mother had been sister of Baron Calthorpe's father), Gough-Calthorpe had close ties with the Clapham Sect and was well known to Hannah More: in 1815 she presented him with a copy of An Essay on the Character and Writings of St Paul (1815).
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Grant, Charmile March Phillips
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John Scandrett Harford (1787-1866) was the son of a Bristol manufacturer, a Quaker. After the death of his brother, Harford had a religious experience following which he converted to evangelical Christianty. He was active in the Bristol branches of the Church Missionary and Bible Societies, becoming friends with More in 1809. He and More remained close for many years, with Harford and his wife, Louisa Davies (fl. 1800-64) enjoying frequent visits to Barley Wood.
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John Hatchard (1768-1849) was a bookseller and publisher with evangelical beliefs that underpinned many of his activities and informed the stock he carried in his shop. Hatchard for many years sold Hannah More's books, though he was also involved in literary projects connected to the wider Clapham Sect: from 1802 he was the publisher of the Christian Observer. Indeed, it seems that members of the Clapham Sect considered Hatchard's premises as some kind of 'club' for the group, and his shop at 190 Piccadilly Street often saw gatherings of the powerful and well-connected. As a publisher he had a reputation for dealing fairly with his writers, and seems to have been held in high regard by those who had business with him.
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John Hensman, appointed as curate of Clifton in 1809.
Lady Alicia Oliver Hewitt (1762-1845), second wife of the Right Hon. and Very Reverend James Hewitt, 2nd Viscount Lifford.
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George Hodson (1788-1855), tutor and clergyman, whose father (also George) was a merchant from Carlisle. The younger George entered Cambridge in 1805, obtaining his BA in 1810 and his MA in 1813. He was ordained in 1812, and appointed curate of the Old Church at Clifton, Bristol in 1815. He would later become chaplain at Stansted Park under Lewis Way, and also later tutored William Wilberforce's sons.
With evangelical beliefs, Hodson benefitted from the support of sympathetic clergy, in particular
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Mary Inglis (1787-1872), eldest daughter of Joseph Seymour Biscoe of Surrey, married Sir Robert Inglis in 1807. The couple had no children, but adopted the nine children of Henry and Marianne Sykes Thornton upon the latter's death in October 1815.
Sir Robert Harry Inglis (1786-1855), politician and evangelical. Whilst at Oxford Inglis established a friendship with Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, with whom he subsequently came to be acquainted with the Clapham Sect. He was also a close friend of John Jebb.
Inglis enjoyed appointments to moderately prominent political roles during the 1810s, and was tasked with intercepting Queen Caroline at the doors of Westminster Abbey at the coronation of George IV in 1821. In 1824 he was returned to parliament for Dundalk, a borough in the control of a fellow evangelical.
Inglis and his wife Mary became guardians to the nine orphaned Thornton children in 1815, and moved in with them at Battersea Rise. The Inglises proved kind to their wards, and were later remembered with affection by Marianne Thornton, to whom the Inglises left their estate at Milton Bryan in Bedfordshire. [Source: ODNB]
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It has not yet been possible to deduce to whom More is referring here. It is a mutual acquaintance of hers and Lady Olivia's, to whom she has written inclosing a letter that she hopes will precede Lady Olivia to London.
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John Jebb (1775-1833), priest and scholar, was an intimate friend of Alexander Knox by whom he was introduced to Hannah More in the summer of 1809. Jebb published a number of religious works during his life, in addition to volumes documenting his friendship with Knox. Appointed Bishop of Limerick in 1822, Jebb's religious views combined evangelicalism with elements of the Catholic tradition. He died unmarried in 1833. [Source: ODNB]
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Alexander Knox (1757-1831) was an Irish religious writer. Largely self-taught, Knox was early influenced by the writings of John Wesley, with whom he was acquainted as a young man. Knox would defend Wesley's teachings and Methodism throughout his life.
Knox was also active politically in the 1790s: he favoured moderate reform and supported the emancipation of Roman Catholics, though the unrest caused by the uprising in 1798 pushed him towards more conservative views.
Never possessed of a strong constitution, Knox's health forced his retirement from public life in 1799; he subsequently resided principally at the home of his friends, the La Touche family at Bellevue, in County Wicklow, or his own residence in Dublin. It was in these years of retirement, however, that Knox earned a reputation as a religious thinker of great importance. Key to this was his long-standing friendship with John Jebb: the religious thought of both was shaped by their connection.
Whilst Knox enjoyed the friendship of several members of the Clapham Sect, including Hannah More and William Wilberforce, his views tended to High Church in some respects. In others, such as his belief in the importance of an inward trust in faith as the means for salvation, he had much in common with Anglican evangelicals like More. Indeed, Knox and More shared a mutual admiration for each other's intellectual capabilities and religious convictions, and this formed the basis for a stimulating and enriching friendship that lasted many years. On the matter of Catholic emancipation, however, they were entirely opposed and this caused some tension in their relationship, especially in later years. [Source: ODNB]
Possibly Isabella Cotter La Touche (More spells her name incorrectly on occasion), whose husband James was a supporter of Sunday Schools. James was the son of William George Digges La Touche and his wife Grace, who had been a partner in the London bank La Touche's. The La Touches were a prominent Irish family.
James La Touche (1788–1827). A supporter of the Sunday Schools. James was the son of William George Digges La Touche and his wife Grace, who had been a partner in the London bank La Touche's. The La Touches were a prominent Irish family.
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Henry Daniel Leeves, son of More's longstanding friend and rector of Wrington, Reverend William Leeves (1748-1828). Henry was ordained deacon on 29 June 1812 and took up the post of curate at Wrington on the same day.
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Leslie-Melville, Jane Thornton
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Macaulay, Major-General Colin Campbell
Major-General Colin Macaulay (c. 1759-1836), soldier and politician. The elder brother of Zachary Macaulay, Colin Macaulay spent several years in India and was involved in several military actions there, including the capture of Seringapatam. After more than thirty years on the sub-continent Macaulay returned home for his health in 1810. Soon after he met Hannah More, who was impressed by his considerable intellectual abilities and good manners. In Paris after the fall of Napoleon in 1814, Macaulay's facility with European languages made him invaluable to the Duke of Wellington in the latter's negotiations regarding the discontinuation of the French slave trade. In 1826 he became an MP for Saltash.
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Selina Mills Macaulay (1767-1831) with her two sisters Mary and Fanny took over the More sisters' Park Street School for young ladies in 1789. Her sweet temper and gentle character endeared her to all five More sisters, and she was considered as a sort of adopted sister. In 1796 she met the abolitionist campaigner
Despite the awkward relations occasioned by her relationship with Zachary Macaulay, Selina Mills Macaulay settled again after her marriage into comfortable friendships with the More sisters, and even named one of her daughters Hannah More Macaulay, for her godmother. The Macaulay family were frequent visitors to Barley Wood, and received visits to Clapham when More's health allowed. They were to remain close all their lives.
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Zachary Macaulay (1768-1838), abolitionist. Connected by marriage to the Clapham Sect (Macaulay's brother-in-law, Thomas Babington, was a friend of
As well as being a dedicated supporter of the parliamentary campaign to abolish slavery and other anti-slavery activities, Macaulay also helped found, and served as editor of, the Christian Observer. Not content with these demanding roles, Macaulay was also a member of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Church Missionary Society, and the Society for the Suppression of Vice.
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Probably Miss Maltby, an unidentified sister of Edward Maltby, future Bishop of Durham (1770-1859).
Mrs Lucy Mann (1766-1816), wife of James Mann and daughter of Sir Horatio Mann and Lady Lucy Noel.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton (1755-1828), was not in favour of the work done by the Bible Society.
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Possibly John Marriott (1780-1825), clergyman, writer, and poet. In a letter to Olivia Sparrow in October 1816, More absolves Marriott of any blame for the misbehaviour of the British nobility in France
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Joshua Marshman (1768-1837) was a Christian missionary and linguist. During his time in Bengal, Marshman translated scripture into a number of Indian languages. He also contributed to the first Chinese translation of the Bible.
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Thomas Anthony Methuen (1782-1869). The Methuen family seat was at Corsham Court in Wiltshire, around thirty miles east of Wrington. Methuen had five sisters: Cecilia, Matilda, Catharine, Gertrude and Ann.
Thomas Plympton Methuen, son of Thomas Anthony, wrote a memoir in which he recalled the relationship between More and his family: 'Hannah More was also one of the stars of the day whom my father held in honour. He was a great admirer of her works: the pointed antithesis of her style suited him exactly. He read her Christian Morals continually during the latter years of his life. He had visited her, along with my mother, at Barley Wood; and I suppose she must have taken a fancy to them, as she left a small legacy to my brother Pemberton. My father probably made her acquaintance when he held the curacy of Henbury, in the neighbourhood of Bristol; and he used to tell us how he had paid her a last visit when she was very old, and when she had left Barley Wood in consequence of difficulties connected with her servants' (Autobiography of Thomas Anthony Methuen, with a memoir by T. P. Methuen (1870)), p. 313. See Clergy of the Church of England Database.
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Montagu,George, 6th Duke of Manchester
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Hannah More had four sisters, three elder and one
younger:
The three eldest More sisters opened a school for young ladies on Trinity Street in Bristol in 1758, initially teaching their younger siblings. Within four years the school had expanded so much that it required new premises, which were found in Park Street. When she was old enough, Hannah joined her elder sisters as a teacher herself. The school continued for more than thirty years, with Mary, Betty and Sally More finally retiring in 1789. At around the same time Hannah and Patty established the first in what would be a series of Sunday Schools in the Mendips area – the two women would together devote considerable time and money over the next two decades to their numerous joint charitable ventures.
In their later years all five sisters lived together at Barley Wood, the home Hannah had built for herself just outside Wrington in 1801. Hannah's letters testify to her profound grief at the rapid loss of her sisters, though it was Patty's death in 1819 that hit her the hardest.
"Elizabeth 'Betty' More (1740-1816) was the second eldest of the five More sisters, and was particularly close to her eldest sister
Though known to her friends and family to be relatively reserved (at least in comparison to her gregarious sisters) she was valued for her kind-heartedness. In 1814 she suffered a stroke, before contracting gangrene in 1816. She died on 16 June that year.
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Patty More (1750-1819) was the youngest of the five More sisters and, like her four elder siblings, taught at the Mores' school when she was old enough (she had been a pupil there first). From early childhood she enjoyed a close bond with Hannah, the next youngest in the family, and the two would remain close all their lives.
Patty More was an active philanthropist in the Mendips area, and worked with Hannah to establish a series of Sunday Schools in villages in the region; as well as giving money to support the schools, Patty also taught, assisted with the logistics of finding and retaining good teachers, and helped with the annual 'fetes' that Hannah hosted at Barley Wood.
Patty, like her four sisters, suffered from ill health for many years, much of it debilitating and distressing. Ultimately, though, her death in September 1819 was relatively sudden, and left Hannah stunned and grief-stricken at being left alone. Despite this, Hannah had the responsibility of discharging Patty's will, which directed that considerable amounts of money be given to charities to which Patty had been particularly devoted: a thousand pounds for the Bristol Infirmary and the Bible Society, with many other bodies benefitting from smaller bequests.
Mary More (1738-1813) was the eldest of the five More sisters. Named for their mother, Mary was considered the head of the family, a role she performed early on by teaching her younger sisters what she had learned from the school to which she was sent from around the age of fourteen. It is perhaps this experience that encouraged Mary to establish, with
In later life she came to live with her other siblings at Hannah's home at Barley Wood. She would die there in 1813, having suffered from considerable ill health for a year or so.
Sarah 'Sally' More (1743-1817) was the middle of the five More sisters, and was known to her family and friends for her quick wit and lively character. As a young woman she joined with her two elder siblings to establish a school at Trinity Street in Bristol. After retiring from the school in 1789 Sally moved, with
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John Newton (1725-1807), slave trader and clergyman. Newton found religion after experiencing the horrors of a storm at sea followed by a severe illness on dry land; having decided, as a result, to enter the church, Newton's applications were for many years rejected by multiple bishops, at least in part as a result of being labelled a Methodist.
As an evangelical layman Newton developed extensive connections amongst sympathetic clergy across the country. His applications for a curacy were eventually successful and he was appointed in 1764 as curate of Olney, William Cowper's parish. In 1780 he accepted the benefice of St Mary Woolnoth in London, offered to him by the wealthy merchant John Thornton (father of
Sources: ODNB and Stott.
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Archibald Eyre Obins (1776-1868) was born in Ireland and educated at the Armagh Royal School before entering Trinity College, Dublin. He became rector of Hemingford Abbots, near his cousin
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Harriet Ouseley (née Whitelocke), the wife of Sir Gore Ouseley. Lady Harriet visited More in the late summer of 1815.
Sir Gore Ouseley (1770-1844), diplomatist, was born in Limerick, Ireland. At 17 he left Ireland for India, where he established himself in business, whilst also setting about learning the languages of the area. He was particularly gifted in Persian, in which language he proved himself an elegant writer
. Ouseley was also a capable diplomat, and cultivated warm relations between Britain and the state of Oudh during the febrile period of Napoleon's interest in the middle east and Asia. As a result of this Ouseley attracted the patronage of the future Duke of Wellington, who played a significant role in furthering Ouseley's subsequent career.
In 1809 he was appointed host to the Persian Ambassador to Britain, Mirza Abul Hasan. The next year Ouseley accompanied Abul Hasan back to Persia as Britain's Ambassador-Extraordinary, where he succeeded in securing an important treaty for Britain. In this role he also assisted with the first translation of the New Testament into Persian.
On his return home, Ouseley maintained his interest in oriental literatures and cultures, and he helped found the Royal Asiatic Society in 1823.
John Owen (1766-1822) was secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society from shortly after its formation until his death. In this role he played a key part in persuading Bishop Beilby Porteus to allow there to be a link between the Society and the Church of England. Owen was also important in documenting the history of the Society, and published in 1816 The History of the Origin and first ten years of the British and Foreign Bible Society in two volumes. Typically of those associated with the Clapham Sect, Owen's daughter Mary married William Wilberforce's eldest son, also William, in 1820.
Sir Edward Michael Pakenham (1778-1815), army officer. Pakenham was killed during the British defeat in the battle of New Orleans on 8 January 1815
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Hugh Nicholas Pearson (1776-1856) had strong connections with the Clapham Sect through his position as curate to Richard Cecil (1748-1810) and John Venn (1759-1813), the spiritual leader of the group.
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John Perceval, 3rd Earl of Egmont (1738-1822), politician, was the elder brother of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval (1762-1812).
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Physician in Bath. More mentions that his advice has been sought by Lord Calthorpe. but that Perry himself had suffered a stroke in 1815.
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Samuel March Phillipps (1780-1862), lawyer. He married Charemile Grant (d. 1825) in 1812, thereby becoming connected with the Clapham circle of Grants and Thorntons. His sister, Sophia, was the wife of the bishop Henry Ryder.
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Margaret Porteus (nee Hodgson), widow of More's close friend Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London, who had died in 1809. More had an urn erected at Barley Wood to commemorate her friendship with the Bishop.
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Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
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William Roberts (1767-1849), barrister and editor, was the brother of Mary and Margaret Roberts, two of More's closest companions in her later life. From 1811-1822 he was the editor of the British Critic, a journal sympathetic to evangelical views. Although he enjoyed a good degree of success in the law, he was also ambitious in the cultivation of literary acquaintances.
Roberts was first introduced to Hannah More in 1814, and subsequently became an associate of a number of her circle. After her death, he was tasked by his sister Margaret (Mary having predeceased More) with the task of preparing a Memoir of More. His four-volume Memoir of the Life and Correspondence of Hannah More was published in 1834, and sold four thousand copies within a year. Subsequent editions were also popular. Although it was heavily criticised at the time, it was never revised or replaced, and stood as the only edition of More's correspondence until the present project. [Source: ODNB and Smith, The Literary Manuscripts of Hannah More]
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Henry Ryder (1777-1836), Bishop of Gloucester and later of Lichfield and Coventry. More first met Ryder in 1811 at
Originally suspicious of evangelism, Ryder was to become active in a range of evangelical societies, including the Bible Society. His appointment as Bishop of Gloucester was a major advance for the evangelical cause, though it proved extremely controversial.
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Arabella Sackville, Dowager Duchess of Dorset (1767-1825), whose only son, George Sackville, 4th Duke of Dorset, died from a fall from his horse whilst hunting in Ireland.
George Sandford (1756-1846), 3rd Baron Mount Sandford. Elected to the Irish House of Commons in 1783, he served as representative for Roscommon Borough, a position which he held, with only a short interruption in 1797, until 1800. Sandford's elder brother Henry became Baron Mount Sandford that year; upon Henry's death in 1814 George became guardian for his young and now orphaned nephew, also Henry, who inherited his father's title. On the younger Henry's death in 1828 the barony devolved to George.
Isaac Saunders (fl. 1784-1816), curate at St Andrew by the Wardrobe with St Ann Blackfriars in London from 1804 until 1817. During his time in this parish Saunders established a considerable reputation as an extempore preacher, with reports of his style appearing in various metropolitan publications, including The National Register which featured Saunders as one of its 'Popular Preachers' in 1808. Saunders' preaching style was described as being 'entirely extempore', though exhibiting both 'much of the excellence of the system' as well as 'some of its disadvantages'. See The National Register Vol. 1, 1808 (p. 702). For some commentators extempore preaching was associated with the Methodists; it was therefore the source of some anxiety.
In 1812 Saunders published Sermons on Various Subjects, and Letters to an Undergraduate at the University; by the late Rev. William Alphonsus Gunn. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life. The volume was poorly received in the reviews; the Monthly, for instance, lamented the 'highly Methodistic strain' of the 'bulk of the memoir' which were not 'in good taste'. See the Monthly Review, vol. 71 (May to August), pp. 439-440.
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Anna Seward (1742-1809), poet. Seward's extensive circle of correspondence and acquaintance overlapped with Hannah More's: they had both friends and neighbours in common, including Thomas
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Sarah Kemble Siddons (1755-1831), actress. Perhaps the most famous tragic actress of the age, Siddons performed as the lead female character, Elwina, from More's play Percy (1778), in a number of revivals including at Bristol in 1781 and Drury Lane in 1787. In 1813 Siddons visited the More sisters at Barley Wood along with More's friend and neighbour
Source: Stott.
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Somerset, Lady Mary Isabella, Duchess of Rutland
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Bowyer Sparke (1759-1836) became Bishop of Ely, the see in which Lady Olivia Sparrow's home at Brampton Park was located, in 1812.
Lady Olivia Bernard Sparrow (c. 1775-1863) was the daughter of Arthur Acheson, 1st Earl of Gosford, an Irish peer and MP. In 1797 she married Brigadier-General Robert Bernard Sparrow, with whom she had three children: a daughter,
Millicent Sparrow (1798-1848), only daughter of
Robert Acheson Bernard St. John Sparrow was born around 1799 and died at Nice, March 3rd, 1818, aged 19 (see letter dated 23 March 1818, in which More discusses his death). His education as a gentleman under the tutelage of
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Staël-Holstein, Auguste Louis
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Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (1776–1839), archaeologist and adventurer. Lady Hester was a niece of William Pitt the Younger, and served as his private secretary. In 1810, at the age of 34, she left England to travel to Egypt and the Middle East. Her many adventures included an expedition to the ruins of Ashkelon to search for buried treasure mentioned in a manuscript she had found in Syria. This was the first archaeological dig in Palestine, and one of the first uses of manuscipt evidence in archaeology.
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James Stephen (1758-1832), lawyer and abolitionist, was the second husband of
The year after his wife's death Stephen moved to Clapham, and it was through his new acquaintances there that he met Sarah Clarke (née Wilberforce). The pair married in 1800. Joined by their religious faith and mutual affection, the marriage proved a happy one until Sarah Stephen's death in 1816.
James Stephen's knowledge of the slave trade – acquired through his legal practice and a lengthy residence on St Kitts with his first wife – proved instrumental in the development of the parliamentary strategy which led, in 1807, to the abolition of the slave trade.
Source: ODNB and Stott.
Sarah 'Sally' Wilberforce Stephen (1758-1816) was William Wilberforce's only sister (two other sisters died in infancy). She remained close to her brother throughout her life, and More's friendship with William, whom she met in 1789, grew alongside her friendship for his sister. Sarah Wilberforce first married Dr Thomas Clark (d. 1797). After his death she married James Stephen (1758-1832), a campaigner for the abolition of slavery like her brother. Sarah Stephen died 16 October 1816. There is a character sketch of her in Sir George Stephen, A Memoir of the Late James Stephen (1875), pp. 28-31. (Preview on Google Books)
The Hon. Charles Stewart (1775-1837) was the third son of the Earl of Galloway, John Stewart. Ordained deacon in 1798 andpriest in 1799, Stewart was selected as a missionary to north America in1807. For the next twenty years he was extremely active over a vast swathe of the eastern part of the continent, travelling thousands of miles some years between Montreal in the north and Vermont in the south. As a result of his ministry twenty-four churches were built in the region, all of which attracted large and loyal congregations. Stewart was generous with money, and gave support to various charitable causes. He would be consecrated Bishop of Canada in 1826.
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Henry Thornton (1760-1815), banker, MP and philanthropist. Henry's father, John Thornton, was an early supporter of the evangelical movement, helping to establish
Henry Thornton, like his father, was a banker: having initially joined the family firm (in which he became a partner), Henry left in 1784 to join Down and Free which subsequently became Down, Thornton and Free. The enterprise was a considerable success, becoming one of the most substantial banks in London. One of Thornton's major contributions to finance was the publication in 1802 of his An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain, an important and lucid account of the English monetary system and the role of the Bank of England.
Thornton's cousin was
Thornton proved, like his cousin, a dedicated campaigner for the abolition of the slave trade, a cause taken up by several members of the Clapham Sect. Where Wilberforce fought the campaign in parliament, Thornton used his financial acumen to facilitate the establishment in 1791 of the Sierra Leone Company, an enterprise intended to support an African colony of freed slaves. Thornton would remain chairman for the rest of his life. Through this work Thornton became firm friends with
Thornton was introduced to Hannah More by their mutual friend Wilberforce in 1789, and quickly became a friend and firm supporter of her charitable activities: he gave money to her Sunday Schools and wrote tracts for the 'Cheap Repository'. He also helped establish, and was a frequent contributor to, the Christian Observer.
In 1796 Thornton married
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Marianne Thornton (1797-1887) was the eldest daughter of Henry Thornton and Marianne Sykes Thornton. On the death of both her parents, she and her siblings were cared for by Mary and Robert Inglis. Marianne was More's god-daughter, and they shared a close bond until More's death.
Marianne Thornton was remembered with great fondness by her great-nephew and biographer, E.M. Forster.
Marianne Sykes Thornton (1765-1815). The daughter of a Yorkshire merchant, Marianne Sykes established two charitable schools in West Ella, a small village in that county, and was active in teaching the pupils there. As a young woman she was acquainted with
Marianne Sykes Thornton's dedication to actively pursuing good works continued after her marriage, and she retained a strong interest in politics, teaching and philanthropy in addition to participating in the concerns of her husband. Henry Thornton had been friends with More for a while before his marriage; More thoroughly approved of his wife, and there developed between them a tender friendship, evidenced by Marianne's confidences in More at her fears for her life during her pregnancies. Although Marianne Thornton enjoyed a largely happy marriage and an active life, the final months of her life were attended by grief and misery following the death of her husband in January 1815. Marianne's health declined rapidly after this blow, and she died just ten months later, in October. Hannah More suspected that she had, at least in part, died from grief.
"Robert Thornton (1759-1826), Member of Parliament for Bridgwater. For many years a successful business man like his brothers
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Charles Tidy (fl. 1800-1840) served as Hannah More's coachman, though in More's later years he took on an increasingly large role in the management (or, as More's friends came to feel, mismanagement) of the household. In March 1828 he was accused by
Louisa Tidy (b. 1809) was the daughter of More's coachman
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Elizabeth Laura Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave (1760-1816), was the great-niece of More's friend Horace Walpole and the step-daughter of Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
Hannah More met Lady Elizabeth Laura at Walpole's home in 1874. Walpole hoped that More could his great-niece who was still mourning the loss of her husband. Their friendship lasted beyond Walpole's death in 1797, and in 1813 More and her sister
John James Waldegrave, 6th Earl Waldegrave (1785-1835), second son of
The 6th earl gained a reputation for wildness. In her letters, More makes reference to rumours that were circulating about Waldegrave's liaison with the daughter of an army chaplain; a secret marriage was suspected (the couple already had at least one illegitimate child), which attracted considerable comment about the imprudence and impropriety of Waldegrave's alleged conduct. His marriage to Anna King did in fact take place in October 1815.
Source: Stott
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Reverend Richard Warner, vicar of Norton St Philip near Frome in Somerset.
Lewis Way (1772-1840), religious activist. Way was early in his life influenced by members of the Clapham Sect, including
Way was ordained deacon in 1816, and became a priest in the Church of England the following year. His evangelical faith, and his attempts to convert the Jews, were rooted in the belief that it was necessary to prepare for the second coming of Christ. More found Way's ideas of increasing comfort as she entered older age, and she supported his activities for several years and left £200 to the 'Jew Society' in her will.
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Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), had secured considerable glory for his conduct during the Peninsular War, receiving his Dukedom on 11 May 1814 following the abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte in April of that year. As Britain's new ambassador to France, it was Wellington who came under pressure from the abolitionists to renegotiate the Treaty of Paris when three quarters of a million signatorees objected to its provision to allow France to resume the slave trade.
Having served as Chief secretary for Ireland in 1807-08, by the 1820s Wellington was deeply involved in debates over the question of Catholic emancipation, to which More was staunchly opposed. In 1806 Wellesley married the Honourable Catherine Pakenham, daughter of a prominent Irish family, and an old friend of
Sources: ODNB, Stott
"Lady Catherine Wellesley (née Pakenham), a friend of Lady Olivia's since before her marriage to Arthur Wellesley in 1806.
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Richard Chaple Sedwick (1748-1816), Rector of Chelwood, Somersetshire. R.C Sedgwick was the youngest brother of
Thomas Plumbtre Methuen, in his memoir of his father (
"His eminent holiness obtained for him the name of 'the saint of Chelwood,' and a memoir of him was written by Mr. Harford of Blaize Castle. My father observed, 'He was, in his unconverted state, so proud and haughty, that Mrs. Hannah More said she hardly ventured to speak to him. But I can witness from personal acquaintance, and Christian friendship, that latterly no man was more humble.'" (Methuen, p. 207)
In her letters, More refers to him as the 'Saint of Chelwood' with a certain measure of irony.
Sources: Methuen, Thomas A. The Autobiography of Thomas Anthony Methuen, with a Memoir by His Eldest Son by Thomas Plumptre Methuen. London, 1870. Harford, John S. Memoir of the Rev. Richard Chapple Whalley, B.d., Late Rector of Chelwood: Illustrated by Select Letters and Sermons. London: J. Nisbet and Co, 1846.
"Thomas Sedgwick Whalley (1746-1828), poet and translator. Ordained in 1770, he was a prebendary of Wells Cathedral for almost fifty years. Whalley was also a magistrate and a minor literary figure whose works include Edwy and Edilda (1779), and The Castle of Montval (1781).
A neighbour of More's during the summer months he spent at Mendip Lodge near Wrington, Whalley supported her during the Blagdon controversy. His allegiance was expressed both publically in active defense of her, and in the anoynmous publication of a pamphlet called Animadversions on the Curate of Blagdon's Three Publications (1802).
Whalley made a wealthy match in his first marraige and was known for his enjoyment of expensive entertainments, a trait to which More alludes in her letters.
Sources: ODNB, Stott.
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Barbara Wilberforce (née Spooner) (1777-1847) was the wife of More's close friend
William Wilberforce (1759–1833) was a politician, a leading abolitionist, and a member of the Clapham Sect. Elected MP for Hull at the age of twenty-one, Wilberforce built a political career as a supporter of William Pitt the younger. In the 1780s, Wilberforce experienced an evangelical conversion. On the advice of
Hannah More and Wilberforce became acquainted in the summer of 1787 and struck up a lifelong friendship. They shared a dedicated belief in the abolitionist cause; Wilberforce was the leader of the parliamentary campaign to abolisih the slave trade, and he and More corresponded throughout the years of unsuccessful attempts to raise sufficient conscience to legally prohibit trade in slaves. Her Slavery: A Poem was written to support Wilberforce's 1788 abolition bill, and to raise public awareness of the political fight.
In 1789, Wilberforce stayed with More and her sisters at
The long and abiding friendship between More and Wilberforce was not without its disagreements. To More's chagrin, Wilberforce supported Catholic emanciption, and threw his considerable political weight behind the 1813 vote to allow Catholics to enter parliament. Though united in their belief in the need for reform in majority-Catholic Ireland, where the abortive 1798 uprising had signalled ongoing public unrest, More staunchly disagreed with Wilberforce on the risk of papal influence in British politics. Despite such occasional conflicts, Wilberforce remained one of More's closest friends and confidantes throughout her life.
Sources: ODNB, Stott.
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Daniel Wilson (1778-1858),. Before he was twenty Wilson experienced a religious conversion, influenced by John Newton, and converted to evangelicalism. His sermons at St. John's Chapel in Bloomsbury proved popular with several members of the Clapham Sect, and he was an active member of several evangelical philanthropic organisations, including the Church Missionary Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. He was consecrated Bishop of Calcutta in 1832.
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