Susannah Wright
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Susannah Wright ( Godber; 1792 – unknown) was an English woman imprisoned on charges of
Blasphemous libel Blasphemous libel was originally an offence under the common law of England. Today, it is an offence under the common law of Northern Ireland, but has been abolished in England and Wales, and repealed in Canada and New Zealand. It is a form of ...
for selling works from the shop of radical publisher
Richard Carlile Richard Carlile (8 December 1790 – 10 February 1843) was an English radical publisher and writer. He was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom. Early life and career ...
. In total, Wright served two years in
Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...
and Coldbath Fields prisons, gaining a level of notoriety as the "She-Champion of Impiety".


Life

Susannah Godber was born in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
in 1792, and made her living as a lace worker. By 1815, she was living 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 ...
, where she married William Wright on 25 December. Before her arrest in July 1821, Wright was already active in radical politics, publishing a number of inflammatory works with her husband, in his name, and associating with a wide circle of radicals. When
Richard Carlile Richard Carlile (8 December 1790 – 10 February 1843) was an English radical publisher and writer. He was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom. Early life and career ...
, his wife Jane, and subsequently his sister Mary-Ann, were imprisoned for selling blasphemous works from his shop, Susannah Wright took over its management. Arrested and acquitted once, she was prosecuted successfully following her second arrest, and joined the Carliles in Dorchester prison. Wright appeared in court on 8 July 1822, where she conducted her own defence. Despite a lengthy and carefully prepared speech, Wright was ordered to spend (along with her infant child) an initial ten weeks in Newgate jail. Newspapers castigated her as 'wretched and shameless', accusing Wright of having 'shunned all the distinctive shame and fear and decency of her sex'. At sentencing, on 6 February 1823, the Judge ordered Wright to 18 months in Coldbath Fields prison, Clerkenwell. Carlile published a report of Wright's trial from Dorchester Prison, dedicating it:
To the Women of the Island of Great Britain; this Specimen of Female Patriotism, Love of Liberty, Bold and Honest Daring, to Tyrants and Hypocrisy, and Virtuous Disinterestedness for All but Virtue, and Human Amelioration; For their example, consideration, approbation, and remuneration, is respectfully inscribed by the advocate of their emancipation from these worst of slaveries, ignorance and idolatry, R. Carlile.
Susannah Wright was released from Coldbath Fields in July 1824, having lost the sight in one of her eyes, and with various other ailments. William Wright died eighteen months later. In 1826, she established her own radical bookshop in her native Nottingham, 'trading in politically extreme and heretical publications'. Wright also "made strong demands for educational rights for women and full participation in the cultural benefits society could offer", writing in the radical newspaper ''The Republican.''


Legacy

In a biography of her father, Theophila Carlile Campbell described Susannah Wright as a "plucky little woman" to whom
Richard Carlile Richard Carlile (8 December 1790 – 10 February 1843) was an English radical publisher and writer. He was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom. Early life and career ...
"paid... the highest tribute for her enthusiasm, perseverance, coolness, and dauntlessness." In a letter printed in the work, Carlile wrote that "there is scarce another woman in England who would have done for me what that woman has done, and from my knowledge of her in 1817-1819, I know that a love of principle has been her ruling motive." Wright's date of death is unknown.


References


External links

*
Report of the Trial of Mrs. Susannah Wright
' at
HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

'The ‘She-Champion of Impiety’: female radicalism and political crime in early nineteenth-century England'
in ''Radical Spaces'' by Christina Parolin 1792 births 19th-century English women Atheist feminists People convicted of blasphemy English prisoners and detainees People from Nottingham Year of death missing {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Susannah