The Lives of Unitarian Women, 1760 — 1904
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Forgotten Prophets: The Lives of Unitarian Women, 1760 — 1904 Ann Peart SEPTEMBER 2005 A thesis submitted to the University of Newcastle for the degree of PhD in the School of Geography, Politics & Sociology NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 204 26861 9 L- 2- 5 1 CONTENTS Chapter One Page 6 Introduction Chapter Two Page 29 "The chief boast and ornament of her sect": Ann Laetitia Barbauld Introduction Page 29 "Persecuted with a good deal of odium": Page 29 Unitarianism in Barbauld's time "In what did it terminate?" Barbauld's changing reputation Page 33 "The cursed Barbauld crew": Barbauld, Priestley and a Dissenting Friendship Page 45 "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant": Page 69 Strategies for making women's voices heard Borderline negotiations Page 79 Barbauld, Unitarianism and woman: a conclusion Page 83 Chapter Three Page 92 "Intimacies of life in cultured circles": Helen Bourn/Martineau/Tagart and her Correspondence Network Introduction Page 92 "A body, far and away superior to any other in intellect, culture and Page 97 refinement of manners": Unitarianism and Unitarian lives in the 1820s "When my path of duty is clear before me, I am always happy": Page 115 Helen Bourn/Martineau/Tagart The Epistolary dimensions of Unitarianism in the letters of Helen Page 155 and her circle Epistolary Selves: Comments on the letters as a set Page 169 Chapter Four Page 178 Changing a "Perverse and Mischievous Tradition": Frances Power Cobbe and Nineteenth- Century Unitarianism Introduction Page 178 "Intuitive Morals and Religious Duty": Page 182 Frances Power Cobbe and the Boundaries of Unitarianism 2 Cross-currents in Unitarianism: Page 202 Frances Power Cobbe and Mary Carpenter Gertrude von Petzold and the 'Practical Work of Ministry' Page 205 Able Women: A Brief Chapter Conclusion Page 213 Conclusion Page 218 References Page 229 3 ABSTRACT Forgotten Prophets: the Lives of Unitarian Women 1760 — 1904 The thesis starts with the observation that although women have been active in English Unitarian congregations since their foundation, they are absent from the standard writings on Unitarian theology and history. In the first chapter I situate myself within the Unitarian movement and as a feminist theologian and then examine relevant work by others. Through three main case studies and drawing on their 'documents of life' as well as published writings, I explore how Unitarian women from the mid eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century understood and acted out their faith. The first study, of Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743-1825), shows how a woman could negotiate the various exclusions and use various opportunities to become a public Unitarian figure. The second study is based on the letters written to and by Helen Bourn/Martineau/Tagart in the 1820s and shows how a group of middle-class Unitarian women (including Harriet Martineau) related to their faith. In the third study I demonstrate how themes from these earlier times are developed in the second half of the nineteenth century, with particular reference to Frances Power Cobbe (journalist, theologian, and worker for animal and women's rights) and Gertrude von Petzold (the first women to be officially trained and fully recognised as a Unitarian minister). This provides a reworked story of Unitarianism in which gender issues are addressed and women are seen to have had an active presence. 4 Acknowledgments I wish to thank the many people who have helped in a variety of ways with this research. Firstly my thanks go to Liz Stanley, my supervisor, who not only encouraged me to consider enrolling on a PhD programme, but helped me to persevere through all the unforeseen life events along the way, and eventually to submit this thesis. My thanks too to Grace Jantzen and Elaine Graham for their encouragement in the initial stages of this research. Librarians and archivists in a variety of locations have been extremely helpful. These include the John Rylands University Library, Manchester; Dr Williams' s Library, London; the Huntington Library, San Marino, California; the Bancroft Library, Berkeley, California; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; and especially Sue Killoran and Joyce Meakin at Harris Manchester College Library, Oxford, and Rachel Eichhorn and Pat Anstis at Luther King House Library, Manchester. Several women helped with transcribing the hundreds of letters read in the course of this research; thanks go especially to Denia Athanasopoulou, Olive Powell and Helen Dampier. Many people gave practical and moral support. I wish to thank Unitarian historians, especially Alan Ruston, Andrew Hill and Geoffrey Head who provided all sorts of information. I am especially grateful for a supportive community, including colleagues in the Partnership for Theological Education, Manchester; the Committee of the Unitarian College; the members of the informal women's research group based at Luther King House and the `Chorlton Sisterhood' especially Rachel Jenkins and Alison Peacock and particularly Jan Berry, who encouraged me to keep on with it in spite of the demands of a full-time job. Thanks too, to Liz Shaw, administrator at Unitarian College, who provided invaluable help and support in the later stages of the work. 5 Chapter One Introduction The standard Unitarian literature, both in theology and denominational history, is almost entirely male dominated. Studies of the development of Unitarian thought concentrate on the writings of men, usually clergymen, and histories tell of significant meetings, acts of parliament, openings (and closings) of congregations and colleges as if all the participants were male. Yet since the foundation of congregations now calling themselves Unitarian, including those which originated from before the time when Unitarian theology emerged, women have been active in congregational life. The reasons for the exclusions of women from the Unitarian story vary over time and context, and are both social and theological. This thesis engages with the absence of women from the traditional story and in this introductory chapter explores the contexts of my work, while later chapters examine what it meant to be a Unitarian woman through three case studies spanning the last third of the eighteenth century and the whole of the nineteenth century. Once women's voices are heard, then a different narrative starts to emerge, and the conventionally told story of Unitarianism begins to appear distorted or at the least partial. First, I locate myself within the Unitarian movement and the broader religious feminist sphere. Then I explore briefly feminist theological concepts which undergird my work and also the issue of how to define a Unitarian woman, before documenting the absence of women from Unitarian writings. This is followed by a discussion of work done by others in uncovering women's history, and the omissions, exclusions and biases of conventional historical work. But who is trying to rewrite the story, and why? When I offered myself to train for the Unitarian ministry in the early 1980s, I did so as a woman with a feminist consciousness, knowing that in order to become a minister I would have to go through the 6 process as if I were a man, and be trained to minister as if I were a man. I had become convinced that women could, and did, minister in a manner different from men, but it did not seem advisable to explore this during the acceptance process. By that time I was already aware that a small number of women had been recognised as ministers since the early years of the twentieth century, and that women had been active as preachers and in congregations for over a hundred years. There was an overt commitment to equal rights, but little awareness that women might have different perspectives. One instance of the implications of conceptualising ministry in a masculinist manner was brought to my attention much later, in 1995. In preparation for seconding the motion that the Rev. Anne McClelland be elected President of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, I learned that her first application to train for the ministry (in the 1950s) was rejected on the grounds that she was too quiet a person, and did not have enough public 'presence' to be able to minister effectively. Her election as President, only the second woman minister to hold this post (the first was in 1940), and her distinguished career within Unitarianism, locally, nationally and internationally, demonstrated not only how wrong was the initial rejection but also the precepts it was based on. As my ministerial training progressed, it seemed that I was being inducted into a male culture; all the models of ministry - prophet, priest, scapegoat etc.- were male; all the literature was male-centred. I adapted enough to pass in two senses of the word, to become a minister, and apparently as though a man; but I longed for evidence of a tradition in which I, as a feminist woman, could place myself Although I was not the only woman ministry student during my training at Manchester College, Oxford, in 1983-6, I was often the only one to challenge male models or praxis. Feminist insights were not often appreciated by my teachers, so in order to achieve the goal of ministerial recognition, I 'toed the party line' more than I would have done in a more egalitarian and liberatory 7 atmosphere. Once I suggested that the role of 'mother' might be added to the models of ministry, only to have the idea instantly rejected by the college principal on the grounds that mothers are not powerful enough! I neither challenged this dismissal publicly, nor attempted to deconstruct what he might mean by powerful in this context. A second instance occurred during the sermon class. The students took it in turn to deliver a sermon, which was then discussed.