Harriet Teresa Law (née Frost, 5 November 1831 – 19 July 1897) was a leading British

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 ...

in 19th-century London. The daughter of a small farmer, she was raised as a "Strict Baptist" but later converted to atheism. She became a salaried speaker for the

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

movement and addressed many often hostile audiences around the country. She was invited to sit on the general council of the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and tra ...

, the only woman to do so, where she engaged in debate with prominent communists including

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Ongar on 5 November 1831. She was brought up as a

Strict Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith w ...

. Her father was a small farmer, but when his business failed he moved with his family to London's East End. Law taught in a Sunday school to bring some income to the family. In the 1850s she began debating with Owenites such as

George Holyoake George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and " jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the ''Reasoner'', from 1846 to ...

and

Charles Southwell Charles Southwell (1814 – 7 August 1860) was a radical English journalist, freethinker and colonial advocate. Early life Charles Southwell was born in London, the youngest of 33 children in a poor family. His father, William, was a piano mak ...

who were giving lectures in East London. In the process she lost her religious beliefs. She "saw the light of reason" in 1855 and became a strong supporter of Holyoake. She embraced atheism, feminism, and "Owenite co-operation" after these discussions. Harriet married Edward Law on 11 January 1855. They lived at 38 Boyson Road in

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

and had four children. Her husband was also a free thinker.

Public figure

Secularist speaker

From 1859 Harriet Law was paid a salary for lecturing for the secular movement. She spoke out against Christianity at meetings around the country in the 1860s and 1870s. Often it was difficult to find premises that could be hired for such meetings, and often the audience was hostile and at times even violent. When giving a series of lectures in

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of B ...

, Yorkshire, in September 1866 she had to compete with

Henry Grattan Guinness Henry Grattan Guinness (11 August 1835 – 21 June 1910) was an Irish Protestant Christian preacher, evangelist and author. He was the great evangelist of the Third Evangelical awakening and preached during the Ulster Revival of 1859 which d ...

, of the brewing family, a nonconformist evangelist who held meetings at the same time to try to counteract her influence. Writing in 1893,

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 ...

said of her, "Mrs. Harriet Law, a woman of much courage and of strong natural ability, had many a rough meeting in her lecturing days." Mainstream feminist groups excluded Law due to her Marxist and atheist beliefs. Other opponents dismissed Law's views as worthless since she was from the lower classes, poorly educated and a woman. A member of the Bible Defence Association said he "could not debate in the streets with a woman, and especially one of Mrs Law's class." A lecture that Law gave in Woolwich on "How I became a freethinker and why I remain one" was attacked in the press as "the infidel lecture." Some of the lectures Law gave at Cleveland Hall in

Fitzroy Square Fitzroy Square is a Georgian square in London. It is the only one in the central London area known as Fitzrovia. The square is one of the area's main features, this once led to the surrounding district to be known as Fitzroy Square or Fitzr ...

in London in the 1860s were titled "The Teachings and Philosophy of J.S. Mill, Esq.", "The Late Robert Owen: a Tribute to His Memory" and "Appeal to Women to Consider their Interests in Connexion with the Social, Political, and Theological Aspects of the Times." In June 1867 she shared the stage at a suffrage meeting in Cleveland Hall with the American physician and woman's rights activist Mary Edwards Walker. Law talked of

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

's proposal for Woman's suffrage, which was being debated by the House of Commons, while Walker spoke of reform to the marriage laws. In 1876 Law was engaged by the Lancashire Secular Union to give ten special lectures, each attended by about 5,000 people. On her lecture tours in the provinces Harriet Law did not represent the leadership of the movement, but served as a freelance speaker at the meetings of the local secularist societies. Although prominent in the movement, Law did not join the leadership 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 ...

(NSS). This may have been due to difficulty working with its leader,

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 ...

. At the 1866 NSS conference in Leeds she backed George William Foote in his attempt to oust Bradlaugh, which did not succeed. Soon after, Foote was expelled from the NSS. She was offered a vice-presidency of the NSS in 1867 and again in 1876, but refused both times. In the mid-1870s

threatened to eclipse Law as the leading woman free thought lecturer. A biographer of Bradlaugh said "Mrs Besant had come on the scene, and there was not room for two ladies as Secularist advocates." Law fell out with Bradlaugh and Besant and left the NSS in 1877. George Holyoake, Charles Watts and Harriet Law then founded the British Secular Union, which remained active until 1884.

Communist leader

At first the

International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and tr ...

(IWA), now known as the First International, had mostly male membership, although in 1865 it was agreed that women could become members. The initial leadership was exclusively male. At the IWA General Council meeting on 16 April 1867 a letter from Harriet Law about Women's Rights was read, and it was agreed to ask her if she would be willing to attend council meetings. On 25 June 1867 she was admitted to the General Council, and for the next five years was the only woman representative. Mostly she remained silent, but she is recorded as intervening in a number of discussions. In 1868 Marx said that the "well-known orator Mrs. Harriet Law" represented the atheist popular movement in the General Council. It may have been due to her influence that Marx began to talk of Working Women as well as Working Men in declarations and addresses. Law did not attend the IWA General Council meetings between August 1870 and October 1871. In response to a question on her absence

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...

and his supporters. After leaving the General Council, Law was elected to represent the Central Society of Working Women of Geneva at the IWA's Hague Congress in 1872, but for some unexplained reason was unable to attend. The Internationalist women of Geneva were against the "family wage" concept that was being advocated in America by Marxists such as Friedrich Adolph Sorge, and wanted the IWA to demand clauses requiring "equal advantages" for women in labour agreements.

Last years

Harriet Law bought the ''Secular Chronicle'' after the founder, George Reddalls, died of typhoid in October 1875. She was editor of the journal from 1876 to 1879, assisted by her daughter. She gave the paper a broader scope, with sections that covered atheism, women's rights, Owenite co-operation and republicanism. She published a short biography of

, with a portrait, and in the next issue published an article by Marx in which he pointed out the errors in George Howell's ''History of the International''. She published profiles of women such as the freethinker and women's rights activist

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

. In 1877 she published ''An Hour with

Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoreti ...

''. Law continued to speak in public. In July 1877 it was reported that she had engaged Cleveland Hall for another 12 months, and that she and others would talk on "The Recent Trial in Relation to Secularism." On 29 July 1877 she was scheduled to speak in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

on "The Freethought of the Future, as Foreshadowed in the Writings of Moncure D. Conway." However, illness forced her to cancel the talk. On 23 December 1877 she spoke in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, and a week later in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. On 6 and 13 January 1878 she spoke in

Newcastle-on-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the la ...

. Harriet Law handed the ''Secular Chronicle'' to new owners at the end on 1878. During her three years running the paper she had lost £1,000, a significant amount at the time. Law's health forced her to cut back her activities after 1879. However, she continued to speak at times. A hostile account of a meeting in 1880 was given in ''The Shield of faith'', which called her a "secular lady lecturer". The writer said "A long course of Woman's Rights may have satisfied Mrs. Law that every married woman should rule her husband..." but pointed out that "In law the husband is held responsible for what his wife says; the law holds that the husband rules the wife." On 6 March 1881 she spoke at the opening of Leicester Secular Society's new Secular Hall in Humberstone Gate, Leicester. The other speakers were

George Jacob Holyoake George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and "jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the ''Reasoner'', from 1846 to J ...

and

. Harriet Law died of a heart attack on 19 July 1897, having been ill with bronchitis. At that time, she lived at 24 Somerville Road in

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vill ...

Beliefs

On 27 August 1868 Law argued against

, who opposed turning the IWA into what he called a "debating club". She was in favour of debates. On 28 July 1868 she again appeared to oppose Marx, praising the positive effect of factory automation in reducing the dependence of women on men. On education, she said that "The property of the Church must be secularised and devoted to schools. We want fewer parsons and more schoolmasters". Law was against imperialism during an era when many of the elite in Britain were proud of the continued expansion of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. She felt that a competitive economy did not let the worker get full value for his work. She was in favour of a communist system where a directing power distributed labour according to requirements. This was the only way to ensure the right to work and to obtain value for that work. Harriet Law has been called "a florid middle-aged farmer's daughter" who "had what some devotees of 'culchaw' do not possess—a great deal of natural ability. According to Bradlaugh she was "earnest, brusquely honest". William Stewart Ross said "She was a plain, blunt, honest woman, utterly free from all suspicion of humbug."

Eleanor Marx Jenny Julia Eleanor Marx (16 January 1855 – 31 March 1898), sometimes called Eleanor Aveling and known to her family as Tussy, was the English-born youngest daughter of Karl Marx. She was herself a socialist activist who sometimes worked as a ...

said she was one of the first women to recognise, "the importance of a woman's organisation from the

proletarian The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

point of view", and went on to say "When the history of the labour movement in England is written, the name of Harriet Law will be entered into the golden book of the proletariat."

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * * * A publication about birth control. View original copy. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Harriet 1831 births 1897 deaths English atheists English feminists English socialists Freethought writers People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society English socialist feminists Writers from Essex Owenites