Elizabeth Horsell (née Gillett; baptised 27 June 1798 – 12 June 1874) was an English activist and writer. She was known for her work in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

and

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

advocacy. Horsell authored ''The Penny Domestic Assistant and Guide to Vegetarian Cookery'' (1850), an early

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

cookbook. Alongside her husband, publisher and reformer

William Horsell William Horsell (31 March 1807 – 23 December 1863) was an English hydrotherapist, publisher, and temperance and vegetarianism activist. Horsell published the first vegan cookbook in 1849. Biography William Horsell was born in Brinkworth, W ...

, she operated a

hydropathic Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The ter ...

infirmary in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

and contributed to numerous public lectures and reform initiatives.

Biography

Elizabeth Gillett was born in 1798 in

Bromyard Bromyard is a town in the parish of Bromyard and Winslow, in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome, Herefordshire, River Frome. It is near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 road, A44 between Leominster and Worc ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, the daughter of John and Anne Gillett. She was baptised on 27 June 1798. She married

Vowchurch Vowchurch is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated in the Golden Valley, on the River Dore. The village is about southwest of Hereford. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 163, increasing to 1 ...

on 30 June 1834. From the 1840s, Horsell became active in the

and was invited to speak at Dr John Lee's Peace and Temperance Festival. Alongside her husband, she also participated in vegetarian meetings in London, giving lectures at venues including the Talfourd Hotel, as well as further afield. In 1846, the couple moved to

, where they intended to establish a

boarding house. While the establishment was being set up, Horsell ran a family school for the "moral, intellectual and physical improvement" of children. In 1850, she published the

cookbook ''The Penny Domestic Assistant'', through her husband's press. It offered recipes free from

animal products Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hol ...

and salt. It includes guidance on domestic economy, industry, and hygiene, along with statistical tables and moral reflections. The work was intended to support the physical and social improvement of those adopting a vegetarian lifestyle. Following her husband's death in 1863, Horsell continued to contribute to the vegetarian movement and ran a girls' boarding school that accommodated vegetarian pupils. She also wrote several letters to the '' Vegetarian Messenger'', in which she reaffirmed her commitment to dietary reform and abstinence from tea, coffee, and cocoa. In one letter, she expressed her hope that readers would "work while it is called to-day, for the social, physical, and spiritual improvement of your day and generation." In another, she described herself as "a new creature in Christ Jesus" and framed her advocacy of vegetarianism and teetotalism in explicitly Christian terms. In the same correspondence, she expressed grief over the loss of her husband, writing in 1865 that she felt "more and more the loss of my dear husband." Horsell remained active in the movement from her home in

Lee, Kent Lee, also known as Lee Green, is an area of South East London, England, straddling the border of the London Borough of Lewisham and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located northwest of Eltham and southeast of Lewisham. It was in Kent bef ...

, which at the time was a developing village on the outskirts of London, and continued her advocacy until her death. She died on 12 June 1874 at Sydenham Cottage in

, aged 76. She was buried in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

on 18 June.

Publications

* ''The Penny Domestic Assistant; Being a Guide to Vegetarian Cookery, Without the Use of Animal Products or Salt'' (London: W. Horsell, 1850) * ''Divine Ordinance in Reference to Blood Eating'' () * ''First Principles of Vegetarianism''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsell, Elizabeth 1798 births 1874 deaths 19th-century English non-fiction writers 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers Christian vegetarians English activists English cookbook writers English food writers English lecturers English temperance activists English vegetarianism activists English women activists English women food writers Hydrotherapists People from Bromyard Vegan cookbook writers Vegetarianism writers Writers from Herefordshire