Hannah Chapman Backhouse

Hannah Chapman Gurney was born in Norwich on 2 February 1787 to Joseph and Jane Gurney (née Chapman).[1] By birth, and later by marriage, she was connected to a financially powerful Quaker network which included the Barclay, Fox, Fry and Pease families.[3][4] One cousin was Elizabeth Fry.[3]

In 1811, she married Jonathan Backhouse, a banker and financier,[5][6] and the couple settled at Darlington.[1] They had three children who survived into adulthood: two daughters and a son.[6]

In 1820, Hannah Chapman Backhouse first spoke as a minister.[1][3] In 1826, she visited Friends in Darlington, with Quaker minister[7] Isaac Stephenson.[1] She travelled with him to Manchester, Lancaster, and Leeds, and from this period onwards advanced rapidly in ministry, holding numerous public meetings.[1] In 1827, Hannah and her husband spent two months visiting Devon, Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles.[1] In 1829, they visited Ireland.[1]

In 1830, she travelled to America, accompanied by her husband.[1] She spent five years there, visiting many meetings of Friends.[1] In 1933, Jonathan wrote:

I do think my wife's labours in these parts, have been of essential service; - helped some sunken ones out of a pit, strengthened some weak hands, and confirmed some wavering ones, as well as comforted the mourners. She has no cause to be discouraged about her labours, they have been blessed.[1]

Aside from religious teaching, the Backhouses also focused on schooling and slavery.[3] In Indiana, Hannah was “remembered... for her advocacy of First Day Scripture Schools,[2] many of which were established with her encouragement”.[3] Backhouse also recorded some resistance to her ministry, noting that "In a few places they refuse women’s preaching".[3]

When Jonathan Backhouse returned to England, Hannah's companion became Eliza P. Kirkbride.[1][8] She described Kirkbride as "a gay, animated young person, who, through a succession of afflictions, had become quite serious."[9] Kirkbride and Backhouse travelled the southern states of the US, where Backhouse wrote about the evils of slavery.[3]

In 1835, they returned to England, and for the next ten years, Hannah continued to travel across England and Scotland.[1] During this time, her eldest surviving son, aged 17, her husband, and a daughter all died.[1]

During late 1849, her health began to decline.[1] She died on 6 May 1850 at Polam Hall in Darlington.[1][3]

• Extracts from the journal and letters of Hannah Chapman Backhouse at the Internet Archive