Anna Maria Priestman (23 March 1828 – 9 October 1914), was a British social reformer and women's rights activist.

Early life

Anna Maria Priestman was born on 23 March 1828, the seventh of nine children of Jonathan Priestman (d. 1863), a wealthy

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

tanner from

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

, and Rachel Bragg (1791–1854), a travelling minister in the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

, and the daughter of Margaret Wilson Bragg, also a Quaker minister. They lived in the Summerhill district of Newcastle.

Career

Priestman, along with members of hers and the Bright family, were important in the creation of some of the first women's suffrage societies, founded in London, Bristol, and Bath. Priestman sisters

She was also a supporter of the

Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts The Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts was established in 1869 by Elizabeth Wolstenholme and Josephine Butler in response to the Contagious Diseases Acts that were passed by the British Parliament in 1864. T ...

, which was formed in 1870 by

Josephine Butler Josephine Elizabeth Butler (' Grey; 13 April 1828 – 30 December 1906) was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of coverture ...

to protest against legislation which undermined the civil rights of those who had been designated prostitutes by the authorities in specified naval and military towns. Her sister Mary Priestman was the secretary of this organization and her sister Margaret Tanner was its treasurer. All three sisters supported international campaigns against the government regulation of prostitution, and continued their family's close association with the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

Legacy

Priestman's photographs, papers related to her speeches, diaries, and her correspondence including letters to

Margaret Clark Gillett Margaret Clark Gillett (1878–1962) was a British botanist and social reformer who is noted for advocating for women and children held in concentration camps following the Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 O ...

Alice Clark Alice Clark may refer to: * Alice Clark (historian), British feminist and historian * Alice Clark (singer), American soul singer See also * Alice Clarke, English cricketer {{hndis, Clark, Alice ...

Helen Priestman Bright Helen Bright Clark (1840–1927) was a British women's rights activist and suffragist. The daughter of a radical Member of Parliament, Clark was a prominent speaker for women's voting rights and at times a political realist who served as a mains ...

Priscilla Bright McLaren Priscilla Bright McLaren (8 September 1815 – 5 November 1906) was a British activist who served and linked the anti-slavery movement with the women's suffrage movement in the nineteenth century. She was a member of the Edinburgh Ladies' Emanci ...

and Margaret Tanner, covering the period from 1837 to 1913 are held by the National Archives.

Personal life

Priestman chose to remain single, and discussed her views on marriage in correspondence with her cousin and lifelong friend Jane Pease, who also never married.

Later life

Priestman died at their Bristol home, 37 Durdham Park, which she shared with her sister Mary Priestman, on 9 October 1914, five days after her sister died. "The outbreak of the First World War was said to have been too much for either herself or Mary Priestman to bear."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Priestman, Anna 1828 births 1914 deaths British women's rights activists British women activists People from Newcastle upon Tyne British Quakers