Theodora Wilson Wilson (13 January 1865 – 8 November 1941) was a British writer and pacifist. She was a founding member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Her "quaint" reputation as a writer changed when she published her 1916 science fiction novel ''The Last Weapon, A Vision'', whose anti-war message led to its being banned.

Early life and education

Theodora Wilson Wilson was born in

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, the daughter of Isaac Whitwell Wilson and Anne Bagster Wilson. Her family were former Quakers; her grandfather Jonathan Bagster and great-grandfather Samuel Bagster were Bible publishers. Her older brother Horace Bagster Wilson was a noted physician. She attended Stramongate School and

Croydon High School Croydon High School is an Independent school (UK), independent day school for girls located near Croydon, London, England. It is one of the original schools founded by the Girls' Day School Trust. History The school was founded in 1874 in Welles ...

and studied music in Germany.

Career

Wilson ran a Sunday school as a young woman, and founded an evening school program for working girls. Her first book was a 1900 guide to poultry keeping for women. She moved to London in 1909, and became a Quaker before World War I. Her career as a fiction writer began with her first novel, ''T'bacca Queen'' (1901). She also wrote children's books, Bible study guides, and plays, including ''Champion North'' (1931), ''Across Yonder'' (1936) and ''Marya''. A 1905 review of Wilson's novel ''Langbarrow Hall'' declared that she was "striving neither to be clever or unusual, but merely to write out at length a story both quaint and natural". This "quaint" reputation soon changed, as her 1916 pacifist allegorical novel ''The Last Weapon, A Vision'' has science fiction and fantasy themes, as it imagines "Hellite", an ultimate doomsday device, and a messenger from Paradise called "the Child". The book was briefly banned as anti-war propaganda, and thousands of copies were seized by authorities. An American reviewer believed that "When the war is over it may be pointed out as one of the great books resulting from this crisis". Wilson was a founding member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and served on the general committee of the Fellowship of Reconciliation from 1915 to 1922. She was editor of ''The New Crusader'', a pacifist periodical, from 1917. She spoke at meetings in

Trecynon Trecynon is a village near Aberdare situated in the Cynon Valley, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It dates from the early nineteenth century and developed as a result of the opening of the Aberdare Ironworks at Llwydcoed in 1800. Etymology The se ...

and Merthyr in 1917, and at a peace rally in

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

in 1918; she also spoke at Society of Friends meetings in Manchester in 1914, 1933 and 1934, and in London in 1936.

Legacy

In 2019, the Greater Manchester & District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament crowdfunded a new edition of ''The Last Weapon, a Vision''. The launch of the new book was supported by a talk in Manchester and a video that featured Maxine Peake.

Selected books

Theodora Wilson Wilson The Last Weapon 1916 banned book

* ''Poultry Keeping for Women, for Pleasure and Profit'' (1900) * ''T'bacca Queen'' (1901) * ''Ursula Raven'' (1905) * ''Langbarrow Hall'' (1905) * ''Our Joshua'' (1905) * ''The Magic Jujubes'' (1906) * ''Sarah the Valiant'' (1907) * ''The Factory Queen'' (1908) * ''The Islanders'' (1910) * ''The Search of the Child'' (1910) * ''A Modern Affair'' (1912) * ''Jim's Children'' (1912) * ''Five of Them'' (1912) * ''A Modern Ahab'' (1912) * ''The Dauntless Three'' (1914) * ''What Happened to Kitty'' (1916) * ''Stories from the Bible'' (1916) * ''The Last Weapon, A Vision'' (1916) * ''The Weapon Unsheathed'' (1916) * ''Netherdale For Ever!'' * ''The Story of Odysseus'' (1921) * ''The Last Dividend'' (1922) * ''The Undaunted Trio'' (1923) * ''Father M. P''. (1923) * ''Cousins in Camp'' (1925) * ''Jerry Makes Good'' (1926) * ''The Cousins of Faulkland'' (1927) * ''The Strange Adventures of Billy'' (1927) * ''The Explorer's Son'' (1928) * ''The Laughing Band'' (1929) * ''Pat Joins the Laughing Band'' (1929) * ''The Parables of Our Lord'' (1929) * ''Founders of Wat End School'' (1932) * ''Once-upon-a-time Land'' (1932) * ''The Lost Cup of Walla'' (1933) * ''The Sole Survivor'' (1935) * ''A Tale of Two Secrets'' (1936) * ''Margot Fights Through'' (1936) * ''Those Strange Years'' (1937) * ''The St Berga Swimming Pool'' (1939) * ''The Grants and Jane'' (1940) * ''Into the Arena'' (1944)

Personal life

Wilson died in

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ro ...

in 1941, aged 76 years.

References

External links

A letter from Carrie Chapman Catt to Jane Addams, March 16, 1915
mentioning Wilson's peace work in England; at the Jane Addams Digital Edition {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Theodora Wilson 1865 births 1941 deaths British women writers British Quakers British Christian pacifists People from Cumbria 19th-century British women 20th-century British women