Hannah Allen (, Archer; after first marriage, Allen, after second marriage, Hatt; c.1638 – ?), was a 17th-century British nonconformist writer, who suffered from religious

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

Biography

Hannah Archer, the daughter of John Archer of

Snelston Snelston is a village and civil parish three miles south-west of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, England. It includes Anacrehill. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 202. A tributary of the River Dove flows through its centr ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, was born about 1638. At the age of two, her father died. Her maternal grandfather was William Hart of

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Staffordshire borough of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. The town is from Burton upon Trent via the A50 and the A38, from Stafford via the A51 ...

Woodland,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. While living with a paternal aunt, Allen attended school in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

when she was 12, after which she returned to her widowed mother, and it was then that her depression was first recorded. Snelston5

While suffering from depression, she married, c. 1655, the merchant, Hannibal Allen (died 1663), and they had a son. After the husband's death, she expressed a form of insanity in religious form, characterized in her case by depression, self-doubt, and low appetite. The minister John Shorthose aided in her mental improvement which occurred between April 1666 and the spring of 1668, at which time she married Charles Hatt, a widower of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, having joined a Presbyterian congregation in London beforehand. Allen's rhapsodical work, ''Satan, his methods and malice baffled : a narrative of God's gracious dealings with Mrs. Hannah Allen, (afterwards married to Mr. Hatt) reciting the great advantages the devil made of her deep melancholy, and the triumphant victories, rich and sovereign graces, God gave her over all his stratagems and devices'', was published by John Wallis, in London, in 1683.

Selected works

* 1683, ''Satan, his methods and malice baffled : a narrative of God's gracious dealings with Mrs. Hannah Allen, (afterwards married to Mr. Hatt) reciting the great advantages the devil made of her deep melancholy, and the triumphant victories, rich and sovereign graces, God gave her over all his stratagems and devices''

References

Attribution

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Hannah 1638 births 17th-century English writers English women writers English religious writers Nonconformism People from Derbyshire Dales (district) 1660s deaths