Jonas Hanway (12 August 1712 – 5 September 1786), was a British philanthropist and

traveller Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel *Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources *Nomad, a member of a community withou ...

. He was the first male Londoner to carry an

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally u ...

and was a noted opponent of tea drinking.

Life

Hanway was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, on the south coast of England. Whilst still a child, his father, who had been a victualler, died, and the family subsequently moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In 1729, Jonas was apprenticed to a merchant in Lisbon. In 1743, after he had been in business for himself for some time in London, he became a partner with Mr Dingley, a merchant in St Petersburg, and in this way was led to travel in

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and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...

. Leaving St Petersburg on 10 September 1743, and passing south by

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, Tsaritsyn and

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, he embarked on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad s ...

on 22 November and arrived at Astrabad on 18 December. Here his goods were seized by Mohammed Hassan Beg, and it was only after great privations that he reached the camp of Nadir Shah, under whose protection he recovered most (85%) of his property. His return journey was embarrassed by sickness (at Resht), attacks from pirates, and six weeks' quarantine; he only arrived at St Petersburg on 1 January 1745. He again left the Russian capital on 9 July 1750 and travelled through

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and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to England (28 October). The rest of his life was mostly spent in London, where the narrative of his travels (published in 1753) soon made him a man of note, and where he devoted himself to philanthropy and good citizenship. In 1756, Hanway founded

The Marine Society The Marine Society is a British charity, the world's first established for seafarers. In 1756, at the beginning of the Seven Years' War against France, Austria, and Saxony (and subsequently the Mughal Empire, Spain, Russia and Sweden) Britain u ...

, to keep up the supply of British seamen; in 1758, he became a governor of the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word " hospita ...

, a position which was upgraded to vice president in 1772; he was instrumental in the establishment the

Magdalen Hospital Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house "fallen women". The term referred to femal ...

; in 1761 he procured a better system of parochial birth registration in London; and in 1762 he was appointed a commissioner for victualling the navy (10 July); this office he held till October 1783. He died, unmarried, on 5 September 1786 aged 74 and was buried in the crypt at

St. Mary's Church, Hanwell St Mary's Parish Church is a Church of England church situated at the western end of Church Road in Hanwell, West London. It dates back to (at least) the 12th century. History Built upon the highest point in Hanwell and providing a commanding v ...

. A monument to his memory, sculpted by John Francis Moore was erected in the north transept at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

in 1786. Hanway was the first male Londoner, it is said, to carry an umbrella, (following women who had been using umbrellas since 1705) and he lived to triumph over all the hackney coachmen who tried to hoot and hustle him down. He attacked vail-giving, or tipping, with some temporary success; by his onslaught upon tea drinking he became involved in controversy with Johnson and

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. His last efforts were on behalf of child chimney-sweeps. He also advocated solitary confinement for prisoners and opposed naturalization of non-British Jews.

Opposition to tea

Hanway was a staunch opponent of tea drinking.Hsia, Adrian. (1998). ''The Vision of China in the English Literature of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries''. Chinese University Press. pp. 276-277. In 1756, he authored ''An Essay on Tea'' which argued that tea was "pernicious to health, obstructing industry and impoverishing the nation". Hanway stated that tea drinking caused bad breath, ugliness and weakened the nerves. Hanway was concerned about the nation's economic loss from the tea trade with China. He believed that Britain's national wealth was being given to other countries instead of being used in preparing the nation's defence and that excessive tea drinking was weakening the British population. In 1757, Samuel Johnson, a tea drinker, wrote an anonymous negative review of Hanway's essay for the ''Literary Magazine''. This led to a heated dispute between them. Johnson's review was controversial as it criticised the

. The governors of the hospital considered taking legal action against the publisher of the ''Literary Magazine''. However, the publishers of the magazine did not apologise or reveal Johnson's name but decided it was time for him to hand in his resignation as a reviewer.

Publications

Hanway created seventy-four printed works, mostly pamphlets. Of literary importance is the ''Historical Account of British Trade over the Caspian Sea, with a Journal of Travels, etc.'' (London, 1753). He's also cited frequently for his work with the Foundling Hospital, particularly his pamphlets detailing the earliest comparative "histories" of the foundation versus similar institutions abroad. On his life, see also John Pugh, ''Remarkable Occurrences in the Life of Jonas Hanway'' (London, 1787); ''Gentleman's Magazine'', vol. xxxii. p. 342; vol. lvi. pt. ii. pp. 812814, 1090, 1143-1144; vol. lxv. pt. ii. pp. 72 1722, 834-835; ''Notes and Queries'', 1st series, i. 436, ii. 25; 3rd series, vii. 311; 4th series, viii. 416.

Sources

''The Lives of Celebrated Travellers'', Volume 2

References

;Attribution *

External links