Jane
Smeal, the daughter of William Smeal, a Quaker
tea merchant from Glasgow, was one of the leading figures in female
the anti-slavery movement. Jane joined with Elizabeth
Pease to help women form their own anti-slavery societies. Jane
established the Glasgow Ladies Emancipation Society whereas Elizabeth
created the Darlington Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. By 1837
there were eight of these women's groups.
In
March 1838, Jane joined with Elizabeth Pease,
to publish a pamphlet, Address
to the Women of Great Britain,
where they urged women to form female anti-slavery associations to
speak at public meetings.
In the 1840s, Jane, along with her close friends, Elizabeth Pease
and Anne Knight, were supporters of the
Moral Force Chartist movement.
(1)
Elizabeth Pease
attempted to persuade working-class women in Darlington to join the
campaign against slavery. Her friend, Jane Smeal, from Glasgow, wrote
to her about this matter in 1836.
The females in this city who have much
leisure for philanthropic objects are I believe very numerous - but
unhappily that is not the class who take an active part in the cause
here - neither the noble, the rich, nor the learned are to be found
advocating our cause. Our subscribers and most efficient members are
all in the middling and working classes but they have great zeal and
labour very harmoniously together.
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