Martha Gurney (1733–1816) was an English printer, bookseller and publisher, known as an
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
activist.
Life
The daughter of
Thomas Gurney, she had
Joseph Gurney as brother, and it was the memoirs of Joseph's son
William Brodie Gurney
William Brodie Gurney (1777–1855) was an English shorthand writer and philanthropist of the 19th century.
Biography
Gurney was the younger son of Joseph Gurney, shorthand writer, who died at Walworth, Surrey, in 1815, by a daughter of William ...
that preserved details of Martha Gurney's life. In 1785 she joined the Maze Pond
Particular 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 ...
congregation.
Publications
One type of publication with which Martha Gurney made a success was transcripts of trials. Her brother Joseph being a
shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...
writer, she in partnership with him, from 1773, produced a long series of trial books. Her business was in the
Temple Bar area of London, moving later to
Holborn
Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
The area has its roots ...
. She also published sermons, for example those of James Dore, her minister at Maze Pond. In the years 1788 to 1794 she was at her most active in producing pamphlets.
In 1794, Gurney joined other radical publishers (
Daniel Isaac Eaton
Daniel Isaac Eaton (1753–1814) was an English radical author, publisher and activist. He was tried eight times for selling radical literature and convicted in 1812 for selling ''The Age of Reason''.
Eaton was the publisher of the popular p ...
,
Joseph Johnson Joseph Johnson may refer to:
Entertainment
*Joseph McMillan Johnson (1912–1990), American film art director
*Smokey Johnson (1936–2015), New Orleans jazz musician
* N.O. Joe (Joseph Johnson, born 1975), American musician, producer and songwrit ...
,
James Ridgway and
Robert Westley) in producing a new edition of
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
's ''Information to Those who would Remove to America''. This pamphlet from 1784, encouraging British emigration to the new
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, was still in the 1790s considered subversive by the British authorities, and more generally.
In Baptist abolitionist publishing, Gurney's collaboration with
William Fox was prominent, with the productions of other figures such as William Button, and John Marsom. Fox's pamphlet of the early 1790s against sugar and
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...
from the
triangular trade
Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset t ...
was published and promoted by Gurney, and sold eventually hundreds of thousands of copies, in 26 editions.
See also
*
List of women printers and publishers before 1800
The list of women printers and publishers before 1800 include women active as printers or publishers prior to the 19th century. Before the printing press was invented, books were made from pages written by scribes, and it could take up to a year ...
References
*Timothy Whelan, ''Martha Gurney and the Anti-Slave Trade Movement, 1788–94'', in
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney, Martha
1733 births
1816 deaths
18th-century publishers (people)
19th-century publishers (people)
Baptist abolitionists
English abolitionists
English Baptists
Publishers (people) from London