Elizabeth Pease Nichol

Elizabeth Pease Nichol

Elizabeth Pease Nichol (born January 5, 1807 , Darlington , England - died February 3, 1897 , Edinburgh ) was an abolitionist , racist, women's suffrage, chartist and anti- vivisectionist in 19th century Great Britain. She was active in the "Peace Society", the abstinence movement, and founded the "Darlington Ladies Anti-Slavery Society". In 1853 she married Dr. John Pringle Nichol (1804-1859), Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow . She was one of around six women depicted in the painting of the “World Anti-Slavery Convention” from 1840.

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 was the founder of the "Peace Society". The Quakers held strong views on the value of education, both for girls and boys. Elizabeth attended school with her brother and cousins, as one of only two girls in the school. When the school closed, her home education continued, where she was interrupted because of her mother's poor health. Elizabeth cared for her mother from an early age.

Public appearance

Around 1837 Pease took over the chairmanship of the "Darlington Ladies Anti-Slavery Society". Charles Stuart, an opponent of slavery, who gave lectures, encouraged her to send a delegate or to be part of the national society founded by Joseph Sturge . Pease didn't want any additional public appearances as she didn't appreciate the limelight. She wanted to work in her home country for the problem areas that she considered important. In 1838, together with Jane Smeal, she published an important martial arts pamphlet entitled Address to the Women of Great Britain . This document was a call to action for British women to speak publicly and to set up their own anti-slavery organizations.

The 1840 Convention

Pease traveled to London in 1840 to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention, which began on June 12th. Her friend Eliza Wigham, who was the secretary of the Edinburgh Ladies Anti-Slavery Society, did likewise. Before the convention began, she met with American activists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton . Before the convention opened, UK organizer Sturge informed the six female delegates that they would not be allowed to attend. Leading English members of the "anti-slavery movement" had reprimanded him for allowing this "insane innovation, this woman-intruding delusion" (German: that this sick innovation, this delusion of the intrusion of women ) should be allowed. At that time, female participants were required to sit in separate areas out of the view of the male delegates. The situation came to a head as some of the male delegates from the United States supported the admission of women to the convention. These included George Bradburn, Wendell Phillips, James Mott, William Adam, Isaac Winslow, JP Miller and Henry B. Stanton. William Lloyd Garrison , who arrived late on June 17th, refused to take his place unless the women had equal rights to attend.

Detail from the painting: Elizabeth Pease is one of the women depicted

Henry Grew, an American Baptist , advocated, although his daughter was one of those concerned, that men have the right to exclude women. The result was that American women had to join the British observers in a demarcated area; they included Lady Byron, Anne Knight, and Pease.

A painting that captures this international event for posterity shows Pease at the edge of the picture. This "event" drew delegates from the United States, France, Haiti, Australia, Ireland, Jamaica and Barbados, and of course the UK. With the exception of Mary Clarkson, the women are portrayed on the far right, no woman's head is in the foreground. Pease attended along with Anne Knight and several other friends, but only Knight and Pease were selected from among their circle for the painting. Other selected women were Amelia Opie, Baroness Byron, Mary Anne Rawson, Mrs. John Beaumont, Elizabeth Tredgold, Mary Clarkson and, at the very end, Lucretia Mott .

Women's suffrage movement

After moving to Edinburgh, Elizabeth became the treasurer of the Edinburgh branch of the National Society for Women's Suffrage. A group that included Eliza and Jane Wigham had started this branch in Edinburgh, Eliza and her friend Agnes McLaren became the secretaries, and Priscilla Bright McLaren was the president.

Marriage and family

Grave of Elizabeth Pease Nichol, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh

In 1853, Elizabeth married Dr. John Pringle Nichol (1804-1859), Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow . She moved to Glasgow to live with him. Her family was against the marriage because Nichol was a "Presbyterian". According to the endogamous rules of the Quakers, Pease had to leave the Society of Friends.

After his death, she moved to Edinburgh and lived at Huntly Lodge in the Merchiston borough . Elizabeth Pease Nichol died at the age of 90 on February 3, 1897 at home in the Huntly Lodge. She was buried at the side of her husband in Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Remembrance after death

Pease was one of four women considered closely associated with Edinburgh and the subject of a campaign by local historians in 2015. The group of historians tried to give the "forgotten heroines" of the city, namely Elizabeth Pease Nichol, Priscilla Bright McLaren , Eliza Wigham and Jane Smeal the necessary recognition.

literature

• Anna M. Stoddart: Elizabeth Pease Nichol. London, JM Dent & Co. 1899. (Digitized: [1] Retrieved April 22, 2019)
• Clare Midgely: Nichol, Elizabeth Pease. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Clare Midgley: Women Against Slavery: The British Campaigns, 1780-1870. Taylor & Francis 1995. p. 220. ISBN 9780203645314
• Elizabeth Crawford: The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866-1928. Psychology Press 2001, p. 463. ISBN 9780415239264
• Bruce Dorsey: Reforming Men and Women: Gender in the Antebellum City. Cornell University Press, 2002, p. 179. ISBN 9780801438974

Web links

Commons : Elizabeth Pease Nichol  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Clare Midgley: Women Against Slavery , p. 152
2. ↑ Clare Midgely: Nichol, Elizabeth Pease In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
3. ↑ Clare Midgely: Nichol, Elizabeth Pease In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
4. ↑ Anna M. Stoddart: Elizabeth Pease Nichol. London, JM Dent & Co. 1899
5. ^ Clare Midgley: Women Against Slavery , p. 220
6. ↑ editors, Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, Siân Reynolds; co-ordinating editor Rose Pipes: The biographical dictionary of Scottish women from the earliest times to 2004 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2006, ISBN 0748626603 , p. 376.
7. ↑ Elizabeth Crawford: The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866-1928. Psychology Press 2001. p. 463. ISBN 9780415239264
8. ^ Frances H. Bradburn, A Memorial of George Bradburn , 1883
9. ^ Massachusetts in the woman suffrage movement. A general, political, legal and legislative history from 1774. to 1881. Retrieved April 22, 2019
10. ^ Bruce Dorsey: Reforming Men and Women: Gender in the Antebellum City. Cornell University Press 2002, p. 179. ISBN 9780801438974
11. ^ National Society of Women's Suffrage. Examiner; January 14, 1871; 3285; British Periodicals pg 55
12. ↑ Eliza Wigham ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Scottish Suffragists, retrieved 30 May 2015 
13. ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1861
14. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=151059302
15. ↑ Herald Scotland, June 2, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2019