Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner (31 March 1858 – 25 August 1935) was a British

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

, author,

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and

freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

, and the daughter of

Charles Bradlaugh Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851. In 1880, Brad ...

Early life and teaching

She was born Hypatia Bradlaugh, at 3 Hedger's Terrace,

Hackney, London Hackney is a district in East London, England, forming around two-thirds of the area of the modern London Borough of Hackney, to which it gives its name. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross and includes part of the Queen E ...

, the second daughter of

, the first openly atheist Member of Parliament and founder of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

, and Susannah Lamb Hooper. She was named after

Hypatia Hypatia, Koine pronunciation (born 350–370; died 415 AD) was a neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria wher ...

, the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

pagan philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and teacher, who was murdered by a mob of

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

monks under the authority of Christian archbishop

Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria ( grc, Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲩ ⲁ̅ also ⲡⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲓⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ; 376 – 444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444 ...

. Bradlaugh Bonner was educated in private schools in London and Paris, and qualified as a science teacher from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, which admitted women to "full privileges" (i.e. degrees) in 1878. She taught in the Hall of Science for the South Kensington Science and Art Examinations, and also acted as a secretary for her father after 1888. The Halls of Science were mainly for

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

and self-help, like those offered by Mechanics' Institutes and religious organisations at the time.Royle (1976), p.118 The South Kensington Hall of Science was started by

Edward Aveling Edward Bibbins Aveling (29 November 1849 – 2 August 1898) was an English comparative anatomist and popular spokesman for Darwinian evolution, atheism and socialism. He was also a playwright and actor. Aveling was the author of numer ...

, and other teachers included her sister Alice Bradlaugh (1856–1888) and

Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...

. The results from the South Kensington Hall of Science were very good, with students exceeding the national average on their examinations in all but one of their offered classes.Royle (1980), p.319. Bonner was also a lecturer for the

Royle (1980), p.151. and the

Rationalist Press Association The Rationalist Association, originally the Rationalist Press Association, is an organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1885 by a group of freethinkers who were unhappy with the increasingly political and decreasingly intellectual tenor ...

.Royle (1980), p.167.

Writing

Bonner is most remembered for being the author of her father's biography, ''Charles Bradlaugh: His Life and Work''. ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' considered the two volumes to be more memoirs than a biography: "That it is preposterously long is manifest at once. More than eight hundred closely printed pages are too much for Charles Bradlaugh, viewed in regard to his real importance in the world", but accepted, "A day will come when they will be found useful". From 1897 to 1904, she was editor of ''The Reformer'', the main purpose of which according to Bernard Porter was to "vindicate her father's career". However, she was an active contributor to many secularist periodicals including the ''

National Reformer The ''National Reformer'' was a secularist weekly publication in 19th-century Britain (1860-1893), noted for providing a longstanding "strong, radical voice" in its time, advocating atheism. Under the editorship of Charles Bradlaugh for the major ...

'' and author of many other books relating to secularism,

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

and freethinking. She often wrote in collaboration with her sister Alice under the signature 'A. and H. Bradlaugh', including a regular current affairs column in the ''National Reformer'' called 'Summary of News' during the 1880s. In ''Penalties upon Opinion'' she catalogues various trials and cases of blasphemy including the recent revival in blasphemy prosecutions in the first decades of the 20th century. In addition, she published a volume of short stories for children (''Princess Vera, and Other Stories'', 1886) as part of the Freethought Publishing Company's Young Folks' Library series.

Peace activism

In the lead up to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

most peace societies were Christian associations. In 1910, Bonner became the chairperson of the first secular peace society, the Rationalist Peace Society.Royle (1980), p.213. The aim of the society was to "protest against ideas and methods which are utterly opposed to reason and the interests of social progress". In her introduction to ''Essays towards peace'', Hypatia noted that there was a "growing public opinion in favour of arbitration as the alternative to war" and that it was reason that demonstrated "the futility, the brutality, the economic waste, the immorality of war". The Rationalist Peace Society remained active throughout the war, but fell into decline after peace was concluded.

Personal life

She married Arthur Bonner in 1885 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London. They had two children, Kenneth (June – September 1886) and Charles Bradlaugh Bonner (28 April 1890 – 2 September 1966). She died at home on 25 August 1935 at 23 Streathbourne Road,

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

, London, after an abdominal operation for

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. She was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

on 28 August, and her ashes were buried in her father's grave at

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

Publications

* ''Charles Bradlaugh: A Record of His Life and Work''
''Volume 1''''Volume 2''
1894)
''The Gallows and the Lash''
(1897)
''Penalties Upon Opinion''
(1912)
''The Christian Hell''
(1913)
''Christianity and Conduct''
(1919)

References

; Notes ; References *

Edward Royle Edward Royle (born 29 March 1944) is a British academic who is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of York and author of several books on the history of religious ideas, particularly in York and Yorkshire. Career Royle gained his Ph ...

, ''The Infidel Tradition from Paine to Bradlaugh'', MacMillan Press Ltd, London, 1976. . * Edward Royle, ''Radicals, Secularists and Republicans: Popular Freethought in Britain, 1866–1915'', Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1980. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Hypatia Bradlaugh 1858 births 1935 deaths 19th-century atheists 19th-century English non-fiction writers 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers Burials at Brookwood Cemetery British critics of Christianity English atheists English biographers English pacifists English women non-fiction writers Freethought writers Non-interventionism People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society People from Hackney Central Writers from London