Mary Morris Knowles
She spoke out in favour of choosing her own spouse, argued on behalf of scientific education for women, helped develop a new form of needle painting, confronted Samuel Johnson, defied James Boswell, and supported abolition of the slave trade and slavery.
She learned to write poetry, cite the classics, employ Latin phrases and analyze current scientific theories.
Accomplished in the arts, she wrote a ‘fine hand’, learned to paint and draw, held a good understanding of botany and was apparently fluent in French.
It was during her teens that she formed a lasting friendship with the younger Anna Seward, the daughter of an Anglican cleric in nearby Lichfield.
This led to a fiery dispute between Mary and John Kendal, a Quaker disciplinarian, and to Mary writing "Memoirs of M.M., Spinster of the Parish", a letter to Kendall but also a social text showing how opinions differed concerning the education and conduct of women, the preparations for domestic life and particularly a woman's freedom to choose her spouse.
In 1767, at the age 34, Mary Morris married Thomas Knowles, a Quaker apothecary from Yorkshire, but she resolved not to become ‘a poor passive machine ... a mere smiling Wife.’ Despite her earlier resistance to marriage, she wed happily.
After her recovery from the childbirth, Mary and Thomas moved to Birmingham, which was closer to her mother as well as offering an expanding array of economic, social, and cultural opportunities.
While the king favored the high minded historical paintings of Benjamin West, an American born artist, the queen took a special interest in art made by women.
This required a very high level of skill for the needle painter, who aspired to outstanding achievement through the execution of their stitches, instead of the originality of the design.
[4] Via connections either through West or simply by hearing of her "perfection in needlework", the queen in 1771 asked Mary to render a needle painting of a recent portrait of the King.
The painting was completed in 1771 and pictured the King at age 33, with a steady gaze, a ruddy healthy face, and a calm assured demeanor.
Working on the same scale as Zoffany, Mary used worsted wool, making large stitches for the background and smaller ones of flesh tones for the face and hands.
After submitting his thesis in Latin he obtained his degree and the couple toured Europe before settling in London, where he became a successful physician, and she became a sought-after participant in the dynamic cultural life of the capital.
[10] With the Knowles' move to the capital, Mary expanded her connections to include influential men, such as the Dilly brothers and a religious scholar, Dr. John Calder.
Through influential friendships and social interactions, Mary entered into the cultural transformations that were changing public life in late Eighteenth Century London.
While Thomas worked to raise his position in the medical profession, Mary continued to establish connections with important literary and political men and women.
This particular selection in reading material indicated her support for the Americans during a time when their revolution was testing the loyalties of English radicals and the pacifist principles of Quakers.
Thomas had done quite well for himself as a plantation owner in Jamaica, He acquired three estates, became a Judge of the Grand Court and a member of the local governing assembly.
The Sprigg's lived in an ancient manor house named, Barn Elms where they frequently entertained distinguished visitors from London, including Samuel Johnson and Mary Knowles.
In tears Jane asked Mary to plead her case to Johnson at the dinner party they were both attending in early April, 1778.
He left behind his medical practice, his home and his position in the Eastern Dispensary in Alie Street, Whitechapel; which was known for treating poor patients.
Now a wealthy widow, Mary Morris Knowles subscribed to the London Abolition Committee, now larger and more religiously diverse.
The Committee decided to focus on ending the slave trade, and in 1787 it assumed leadership for involving the public to support parliamentary action.
When an unnamed friend asked her to write a poetic inscription for a tobacco box, Knowles penned the following couplets, not intended for publication: Tho various tints the human face adorn To glorious Liberty Mankind are born; O, May the hands which rais'd this fav'rite weed Be loos'd in mercy and the slave be freed!
Individual British and American Quakers in the 1760s and 1770s, like John Woolman, had taken the lead in ‘moralizing consumption’ and suggesting abstention from slave products as a way to diminish the profits of slavery.
After her husband's death, Mary sought solace in her strong religious faith and found comfort by exchanging letters with several female friends.
This was due to her remorse over her past actions as well as her inability to, "feel the presence of Him, whom she sought ability to pray to and to worship; and upon whom she very frequently called for forgiveness.
After her death her friends and acquaintances remembered her as many things, including a literary lady, a patriot, a politician, artist, and devoted Quaker.
As a radical, Mary Morris Knowles defended liberty for women and Africans and reminded consumers about the connection between tobacco and slavery.
Knowles’s seemingly private manuscripts expressing her political views were circulated and carefully preserved, bearing evidence to the importance of female participation during this formative period of the abolitionist anti-slave-trade campaign.
