Anna Sewell, Victorian Lady
Champion of Horse Welfare
Black Beauty's story is a reflection of the Victorian way of life, a society far from renown for its kindness to kith and kin, where poverty was the scourge of the lower classes. Human life was cheap, and the lives of the animals that co-existed with them were even cheaper. Social work, though in its infancy, was carried out by the zeal of the Victorian well heeled, usually wives and daughters of the wealthy upper class with too much time on their hands. Yet, as with all periods of austerity, there was the occasional beacon of light. Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty was such a beacon.
Anna Sewell's Early Life
Anna was born on March 30th 1820 in the bedroom of a little terrace house in Yarmouth, Norfolk. Her parents, Isaac and Mary Sewell were Quakers. Yet, religious beliefs apart, it would be fair to say that the personalities of Anna's parents were like chalk and cheese. Isaac was a cheerful, humorous man, while his wife, Mary, adhered to the strict code of conduct observed by many Quakers of the time and expected everyone who lived under her roof to follow her example.
With the help of friends, Isaac opened a shop in Bishopsgate Street, London selling the plain clothes favoured by Quakers of the day. His lack of business acumen was all too obvious having opened his shop just doors away from an established business selling the same stock as him. Within a couple of years Isaac was bankrupt and forced to take a job selling lace in order to feed his family.
Having fallen on hard times the family were forced to move to cheaper accommodation on the outskirts of Hackney. Things started to look up a little with the publication of Mary Sewell's first book of verse. But as with so many things, Mary had strict views on the education of her children, choosing to teach Anna and her brother, Philip at home, and this remained the case until the family moved to Stoke Newington. Here, while walking home from school Anna stumbled, badly twisting her ankle. This was an injury which was to plague her for the rest of her life, eventually resulting in her becoming a house bound invalid.
In 1845 the Sewell family moved again, this time to Lancing, Sussex. By now finances had improved and Anna had the use of her own pony and trap as she was finding walking increasing difficult, suffering as she did from chronic pain in her chest, spine and head.
Anna Sewell's Growing Intolerance to Cruelty to Horses
It was around this time that her concern over the treatment of horses began to develop as she witnessed the cruelty they endured as she drove her father to Shoreham railway station each day. Yet, in spite of her disabilities, Anna threw herself more and more into the charitable works supported by her mother. Her introduction to the literary world came at an equally early age when she began to help edit the religious pamphlets and stories written by her mother.
In spite of throwing herself into her work, the plight of horses continued to torment Anna. It was especially hard for her to understand the cruelty displayed by the more affluent classes of society; in particular it angered her to see any horse wearing a bearing rein. This was an especially cruel piece of tack which forced the horse to carry its head and neck in an unnaturally arched position. It may have been fashionable to see carriage horses with their heads held high but it made breathing difficult, often leading to respiratory problems and sometimes death.
To a society which turned the preverbal blind eye to the poverty and squalor of the poor, the comfort of working animals was way down the list of priorities. It took the pen of a young woman to change all that. After reading an essay on animals by Horace Bushnell, a congregational minister and controversial theologian of the time, Anna stated that one of her goals through her writing was 'to introduce kindness, sympathy and an understanding of horses'.
The character of Black Beauty is believed to have been based on her brother, Philip's horse, Bessie while the cheeky character, Merrylegs was based on her own much loved grey pony.
Anna lived just long enough to see her book published in 1877 but unbeknown to her, this work was to become a literary classic. It was a fitting tribute to a young woman with strong Christian values, who through humble means during her short painful life did so much to improve the treatment of horses.
Anna Sewell's Funeral
Anna Sewell died in April 1878 and was laid to rest in the Quaker cemetery in Lamas, near Norwich. It was ironic that the horses pulling the carriages arrived for the funeral procession wearing bearing reins. Anna's mother went from driver to driver and asked that they be removed, a request that was immediately complied with. Thankfully use of this cruel piece of tack soon fell from fashion and horses were once again allowed to carry their heads in a more natural position.
Black Beauty's story quickly became one of the world's favourite animal stories. By 1894, 300,000 copies had been sold. To date that figure exceeds 40 million. It has been translated into dozens of languages and been made into several films, television series and cartoons, a remarkable feat for a very ordinary young woman.
Sources:
LiteraryNorfolk.com
Bibliomania.com
Princess Tina's Pony Book, published by Fleetway
RaraEquus.com
Summerhayes Encyclopedia for Horseman by R.H.Summerhays
Black Horse Galloping
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