Elizabeth Heyrick

Elizabeth Coltman was born in Leicester in 1769. Her father, John Coltman, a committed Unitarian, was a successful worsted manufacturer. Coltman held progressive political views and as a young women was introduced to the ideas of Tom Paine.

In 1787 Elizabeth married John Heyrick, a Methodist lawyer. Elizabeth Heyrick was still childless when her husband died of a heart-attack eight years later. After the death of her husband Elizabeth moved back into her parents home. Elizabeth, now a member of the Society of Friends, renounced all worldly pleasures and devoted herself to social reform. She campaigned against bull-baiting and became a prison visitor. Elizabeth also wrote eighteen political pamphlets on a wide variety of subjects including, the Corn Laws and the harsh treatment of vagrants.

Heyrick's main concern was the campaign against slavery. Elizabeth organised a sugar boycott in Leicester and with the help of Lucy Townsend, Mary Lloyd, Sarah Wedgwood and Sophia Sturge helped to form the Birmingham Ladies Society for the Relief of Negro Slaves. (later the group changed its name to the Female Society for Birmingham).

In 1824 Elizabeth Heyrick published her pamphlet Immediate not Gradual Abolition. In her pamphlet Heyrick argued passionately in favour of the immediate emancipation of the slaves in the British colonies. This differed from the official policy of the Anti-Slavery Society that believed in gradual abolition. The leadership of the organisation attempted to suppress information about the existence of this pamphlet and William Wilberforce gave out instructions for leaders of the movement not to speak at women's anti-slavery societies.

Most of the Women's Anti-Slavery groups in Britain supported Heyrick's call for the immediate emancipation of slaves. In 1830, Heyrick who was the leader of the Leicester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society and treasurer of the Female Society for Birmingham, had helped to establish a network of women's anti-slavery groups and her pamphlet, Immediate not Gradual Abolition, was distributed and discussed at meetings all over the country.

In 1830, the Female Society for Birmingham submitted a resolution to the National Conference of the Anti-Slavery Society calling for the organisation to campaign for an immediate end to slavery in the British colonies. Heyrick, who was treasurer of the organisation suggested a new strategy to persuade the male leadership to change its mind on this issue. She suggested that the society should threaten to withdraw its funding of the Anti-Slavery Society if it did not support this resolution. This was a serious threat as it was one of the largest local society donors to central funds, and also had great influence over the network of ladies associations which supplied over a fifth of all donations.

At the conference in May 1830, the Anti-Slavery Society agreed to drop the words "gradual abolition" from its title. It also agreed to support Female Society's plan for a new campaign to bring about immediate abolition. Elizabeth Heyrick died in 1831 and therefore did not live to see the passing of the 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act.

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