Mary Hennell (23 May 1802 – 16 March 1843) was a 19th-century British reforming writer from a notable family of writers.

Life

Hennell was born in Manchester in 1802. She was the eldest daughter of the Unitarian family of James and Elizabeth Hennell (born Marshall). Her mother had been born in Loughborough in the East Midlands in 1778 and had the maiden name of Marshall. Her father was born in 1778 and he had become a partner in the Manchester merchants of Fazy & Co. Sara's younger sisters included the writers

Sara Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

and Caroline Hennell. The sisters are considered to be the basis for the fictional Meyrick family in George Eliot's 1876 novel ''

Daniel Deronda ''Daniel Deronda'' is a novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot, first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society ...

''. In 1836,

Charles Bray Charles Bray (31 January 1811 – 5 October 1884) was a prosperous British ribbon manufacturer, social reformer, philanthropist, philosopher, and phrenologist. Life Bray was born in 1811 and his education included time in the school run by ...

married her sister Caroline. After his sister's marriage to Bray, an enthusiastic sceptic, her brother

Charles Hennell Charles Christian Hennell (30 March 1809 – 2 September 1850) was an English merchant, known as a Unitarian apologist for his work ''An Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity''. Life Hennell was born in Manchester on 30 March 1809, the f ...

reviewed the evidences for Christian beliefs with the aim of parrying his brother-in-law's arguments. The result of the examination was that he became a sceptic himself, and in 1838 published an ''Enquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity'' in defence of his conclusions. Sara also increasingly became a sceptic too. In 1841 Charles Bray published ''The Philosophy of Necessity'' and this included as an appendix written by Mary. This was titled ''An outline of the various social systems and communities which have been founded on the principle of co-operation'' and this was later made into a publication in its right in 1844. The new version had a lengthy preface that described British social conditions.J. M. Scott, ‘Hennell, Mary (1802–1843)’, rev. C. A. Creffield, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 24 Jan 2015
/ref> Hennell also wrote an entry for ''Ribbons'' in the Penny Cyclopaedia. The entry drew on the expertise she had gained from her family's involvement in the manufacture of ribbons. Her uncle, Samuel Hennell, manufactured ribbons in Coventry as did the family of

. Hennell died in Hackney in 1843 from tuberculosis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennell, Mary 1802 births 1843 deaths Writers from Manchester 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers