On this day in vegan history · March 30, 1820
The Woman Who Gave a Horse a Voice Is Born
Anna Sewell never rode again after a childhood accident, but decades later, from a sofa, she wrote the horse's side of the story and Victorian England finally listened.
The facts
- Born
- 30 March 1820, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
- Wrote Black Beauty
- 1871 to 1877, much of it dictated from her sofa
- Published
- 24 November 1877, by Jarrold & Sons
- Died
- 25 April 1878, aged 58, in Old Catton, Norfolk, five months after publication
Anna Sewell was born on 30 March 1820 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, into a Quaker family. At fourteen she badly injured her ankle, and the injury never properly healed, leaving her with lifelong mobility problems and, from 1839 on, a chronic illness that confined her increasingly to home. Between 1871 and 1877, largely housebound, she wrote her only book, dictating parts of it to her mother in her final years as her health worsened. Black Beauty was published in November 1877, telling a working horse's life story in his own voice, and Sewell died the following spring, just months after it reached readers.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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I have for six years been confined to the house and to my sofa, and have from time to time, as I was able, been writing what I think will turn out a little book, its special aim being to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses
Anna Sewell, on why she wrote Black Beauty
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
Black Beauty's account of the bearing rein, the strap that forced carriage horses to hold their heads unnaturally high, is credited with helping get the practice abolished in Britain, and the book is still cited as one of the works that helped launch the modern animal welfare movement.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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