Elizabeth Pease Nichol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elizabeth Pease Nichol

Pease in 1840.[1]
Born 1807
Died 1897
Nationality British
Occupation Campaigner
Religion Quaker

Elizabeth Pease Nichol (1807–1897) was an abolitionist, anti-segregationist, woman suffragist, chartist[2] and anti-vivisectionist in 19th century Great Britain.[3] In 1853 she married Dr. John Pringle Nichol (1804–1859), Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. She was one of about six women who were in the painting of the World Anti-Slavery Convention of 1840.[1]

Biography

Early life

Elizabeth Pease was born in Darlington, England to Joseph Pease and his wife Elizabeth Beaumont, who were members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Her father started the Peace Society the year of her birth, the same year that Great Britain abolished the slave trade in its empire, while allowing slavery to continue.

Public life

Isaac Crewdson (Beaconite) writer Samuel Jackman Prescod - Barbadian Journalist William Morgan from Birmingham William Forster - Quaker leader George Stacey - Quaker leader William Forster - Anti-Slavery ambassador John Burnet -Abolitionist Speaker William Knibb -Missionary to Jamaica Joseph Ketley from Guyana George Thompson - UK & US abolitionist J. Harfield Tredgold - British South African (secretary) Josiah Forster - Quaker leader Samuel Gurney - the Banker's Banker Dr Stephen Lushington - MP and Judge John Beaumont George Bradburn - Massachusetts politician George William Alexander - Banker and Treasurer B. Godwin Vice Admiral Moorson William Taylor William Taylor John Morrison GK Prince Josiah Conder Joseph Soul James Dean (abolitionist) John Keep - Ohio fund raiser Joseph Eaton Joseph Sturge - Organiser from Birmingham James Whitehorne George Bennett Richard Allen William Leatham, banker William Beaumont Sir Edward Baines - Journalist Samuel Lucas Louis Celeste Lecesne Samuel Bowly William Dawes - Ohio fund raiser Robert Kaye Greville - Botanist Joseph Pease, railway pioneer M.M. Isambert (sic) Mary Clarkson -Thomas Clarkson's daughter in law William Tatum Saxe Bannister - Pamphleteer Richard Davis Webb - Irish Nathaniel Colver - American not known John Cropper - Most generous Liverpudlian William James William Wilson Thomas Swan Edward Steane William Brock Edward Baldwin Jonathon Miller Capt. Charles Stuart from Jamaica Sir John Jeremie - Judge Charles Stovel - Baptist Richard Peek, ex-Sheriff of London John Sturge Elon Galusha Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor Rev. Isaac Bass Henry Sterry Peter Clare -; sec. of Literary & Phil. Soc. Manchester J.H. Johnson Thomas Price Joseph Reynolds Samuel Wheeler William Boultbee Daniel O'Connell - "The Liberator" William Fairbank John Woodmark William Smeal from Glasgow James Carlile - Irish Minister and educationalist Rev. Dr. Thomas Binney John Howard Hinton - Baptist minister John Angell James - clergyman Joseph Cooper Dr. Richard Robert Madden - Irish Thomas Bulley Isaac Hodgson Edward Smith Sir John Bowring - diplomat and linguist John Ellis C. Edwards Lester - American writer Tapper Cadbury - Businessman not known Thomas Pinches Edward Adey Richard Barrett John Steer Henry Tuckett James Mott - American on honeymoon Robert Forster (brother of William and Josiah) Richard Rathbone John Birt Wendell Phillips - American M. L'Instant from Haiti Mrs Elizabeth Tredgold - British South African T.M. McDonnell Mrs John Beaumont Anne Knight - Feminist Elizabeth Pease - Suffragist Jacob Post - Religious writer Amelia Opie - Novelist and poet Mrs Rawson - Sheffield campaigner Thomas Clarkson's grandson Thomas Clarkson Thomas Morgan Thomas Clarkson - main speaker George Head Head - Banker from Carlisle William Allen John Scoble Henry Beckford - emancipated slave and abolitionist Use your cursor to explore (or Click "i" to enlarge)
Pease is on the right edge in this painting which is of the 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention.[1] Move your cursor to identify her or click icon to enlarge


Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

By 1837, Pease was leading the Darlington Ladies Anti-Slavery Society. Charles Stuart, an Anti-Slavery abolitionist and lecturer, encouraged her to send a female delegate or attend a national society being formed by Joseph Sturge. Pease resisted more public involvement, as she did not seek the limelight but wanted to work locally for the causes she held to be important.[4]

In 1840, Pease travelled to London to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention beginning on 12 June. Before the conference started, she met American activists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.[5] These women were amongst the otherwise all-male American delegates at the conference.

Before the convention opened, the British organiser Joseph Sturge told the six women delegates they would not be allowed to participate. Leading English Anti-Slavery members had rebuked him for thinking this "insane innovation, this woman-intruding delusion," should be allowed.[citation needed] At the time, women did not generally participate in such public political and civic activities, and many people found it socially unacceptable. In addition, women attendees were required to sit in segregated areas out of sight of the male delegates.

Supporting the women's participation were some of the male delegates from the United States, including George Bradburn, Wendell Phillips, James Mott, William Adam, Isaac Winslow, J. P. Miller and Henry B. Stanton. William Lloyd Garrison, who did not arrive until the 17th,[6] refused to take his seat until women had equality in seating.[7] Unlike his fellow countrymen, Baptist Henry Grew spoke in favour of the men's right to exclude women, despite his daughter's being one of the excluded.[8] The American women had to join British women observers, such as Lady Byron, Anne Knight and Pease, in a segregated area.

The picture above shows Pease in a painting commemorating the international event. It attracted delegates from the United States, France, Haiti, Australia, Ireland, Jamaica and Barbados, as well as Great Britain.[1] With the exception of Mary Clarkson, the women are portrayed to the far right, with none in the foreground.

Pease attended with Anne Knight and several other friends, but it was only Knight and Pease of their circle who were among the women notables chosen for the painting. Other women included were Amelia Opie, Baroness Byron, Mary Anne Rawson, Mrs John Beaumont, Elizabeth Tredgold, Mary Clarkson and, at the back, Lucretia Mott.[1]

Marriage and family

In 1853 Pease married Dr. John Pringle Nichol (1804–1859), Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. Her family opposed the marriage, as Nicholl was a Presbyterian. According to the endogamous rules of the Quakers, Pease had to leave the Society of Friends.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840, Benjamin Robert Haydon, accessed 19 July 2008
  2. ↑ Clare Midgley, Women Against Slavery, p. 152
  3. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  4. ↑ Clare Midgley, Women Against Slavery, p. 51
  5. ↑ Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement, p. 462, accessed 4 August 2008
  6. ↑ Frances H. Bradburn, A Memorial of George Bradburn, 1883
  7. ↑ Harriet H. Robinson, Massachusetts in the woman suffrage movement. A general, political, legal and legislative history from 1774, to 1881, accessed 19 July 2006
  8. ↑ Reforming Men and Women: Gender in the Antebellum City, Bruce Dorsey, p.179, 2002, ISBN 0-8014-3897-7 accessed 21 July 2008
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.