After rejecting a life of conformity, Annie Besant [née Wood] stepped out on her own to pursue the supreme desire of her life: the truth. This venture was the driving force that fashioned Annie’s long and full life taking her on a thoroughly diverse excursion through the realms of Christianity, Atheism, Socialism and Theosophy - to name but a few; and in so doing has cemented her importance in not only the history of the East End, but also those of distant shores.

Annie Besant, Wellcome Library Digital Resources

EARLY YEARS

Born on 1 October 1847 in London, Annie Wood entered the world to experience a somewhat serious childhood. Brought up by her mother and tutored by a Miss Marryat, Annie received a staunchly evangelical education leading to a tidy marriage with the Reverend Frank Besant in 1867, and two children: Arthur Digby and Mabel, born in 1869 and 1870 respectively.

In her autobiography Annie reflects upon her engagement and marriage with the following words:

‘Looking back over twenty-five years, I feel a profound pity for the girl standing at that critical point of life, so utterly, hopelessly ignorant of all that marriage meant, so filled with impossible dreams, so unfitted for the role of wife.’

Here Annie lays the foundation for her future rejection of this predetermined path as well as intimating a sense of sadness for her innocent younger self, as well as a note of resentment to those who failed her so completely (as was common for women) in preparation for the rawness of the expected life beyond the classroom. Furthermore, Annie’s emphasis on the ‘role’ of wife, is indicative of her perception, and perhaps experience, of marriage as a performative arrangement rather than something wholesome and fulfilling.

As a clergyman’s wife, Annie made her first forays into philanthropy through carrying out practical parish work such as nursing the sick in her local town, which at this time was Sibsey, Lincolnshire. Annie later states that she was ‘filled with the passionate desire for the bettering of the world’ - a desire that perhaps evolved through her experiences at this time in her life.

QUEST FOR TRUTH

It was during her marriage, in 1868, that Annie started writing short stories to supplement the family income. In addition to this, Annie also began to study, investigate and challenge the Bible in her self-professed ‘quest for truth’; the endeavour that facilitated her extraordinary life. These seemingly small acts demonstrate that, although outwardly conforming to the expectations of middle-class Victorian society, Annie was discreetly challenging society’s demands on her as a mid-19th-century woman. She chose not to ‘blindly obey’ but to question, and earn independent income rather than rely on her husband.

And then,
’In 1873 my marriage tie was broken’.

After refusing to attend church, Annie’s marriage to Frank dissolved and she returned to London with her daughter Mabel. In the immediate aftermath Annie sought employment as a governess whilst actively continuing upon her path of questioning. The subsequent stage of her quest saw Annie begin to share her ideas and discover her ‘gift of speech’, which she soon employed in earnest.

On 25 August 1874 Annie delivered her first lecture at the Cooperative institute, 55 Castle Street, London – On the Political Status of Women.

Following the success of this initial speech, Annie continued to lecture on a variety of moral and political subjects both across London and the rest of the country. She was based in Norwood, South-East London. In connection, Annie began writing for the National Reformer in 1874 and became Vice President of the National Secular Society (NSS) in 1875; through which Annie met and forged a strong friendship with Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891), future Liberal MP and founder of the NSS.

A sketch of ‘Mrs Besant’ in the Penny Illustrated Paper, ‘Mr Bradlaugh in Court’, London, Saturday 14 April 1877, p227

THE OBSCENITY TRIAL

On 24 March 1877 Annie worked with Bradlaugh to republish Dr Charles Knowlton’s Fruits of Philosophy [1832] (a pamphlet that advocated the use of contraceptive practice); an act that led to the arrest of Besant and Bradlaugh on 6 April 1877 for transgressing the Obscene Publications Act 1857. The following ‘Obscenity trial’ was held on 18 June at the Old Bailey when both parties were tried. Alongside Bradlaugh, Annie insisted on representing herself at the trial and both were proclaimed guilty. However, the sentence was overturned on a technicality so Besant and Bradlaugh were able to walk free. The arrest and trial were widely publicised across the country and while Annie lost her ‘good name’ in the process, the associated press coverage succeeded in propelling the pamphlet’s informative advice far beyond their initial reach.

In 1878 Frank Besant applied to the High Court of Chancery to remove Mabel from Annie’s custody and in 1879 mother and daughter were forcibly separated. Held against her was her involvement in the obscenity trial, her Malthusian publication The Law of Population, and her atheism.

SOCIALISM AND THE END OF THE QUEST

Throughout the early 1880s Annie supported Charles Bradlaugh in his campaigns to win a seat in the Commons, remained active within the NSS, took up her pen against governmental wrongdoing in Ireland, and had her attention ‘called’ to the Socialist movement. Annie acknowledged in 1886 that ‘I had long since given up my social reputation’ and spent the remainder of the decade openly professing socialism and dedicating her efforts to the unemployed and downtrodden. This endeavour led her to the plight of the Bryant and May ‘match girls’ working in the Bow factory in 1888 for whom she commanded a strike, successfully leading to the establishment of the Matchmakers Union and better wages – the event for which she has become most famous.

English Heritage Blue Plaque in honour of Annie Besant and her leadership of the Matchgirls’ Strike of 1888 © David Anstiss

Through her involvement with the NSS and the Fabian Society, Annie had formed a strong friendship with W T Stead, editor of the Pall Mall Gazette. In 1889 Stead asked Annie to review a two-volume work, The Secret Doctrine by Madame H P Blavatsky who had founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 - a religious and philosophical movement combining mysticism and spiritualism with metaphysics. The Society was fashioned as a 'brotherhood' promoting unity; and was also concerned with preparing the world for the coming of the 'World Teacher' when he arrived on Earth. Captivated by its contents, Annie met with Blavatsky and became her pupil, having finally found, on her quest for truth, ‘the glory of my life’. Annie officially joined the Theosophical movement on 21 May 1889.

Madame Blavatsky also founded the Working Women’s Club on Bow Road in 1890.

INDIA

1891 saw the death of Charles Bradlaugh who had become one of Annie’s closest and longest friends. Perhaps in recognition of this, this is the year in which Annie chose to bring her autobiography to an end when she was writing it in 1893, aged 46.

Beyond the autobiography, Annie’s Theosophical beliefs then led her to India where she acted as a missionary for Theosophy, campaigned for the rights of women, and advocated for Indian Home Rule. Her commitment to India’s education system was rewarded with the Doctor of Letters in 1921 and she held the position of International President of the Theosophical Society from 1907 until her death in 1933. In 1910 Annie assumed the guardianship of a young boy, J. Krishnamurti, who she believed to be the world’s next messiah. Alongside this long career of activism Annie wrote prolifically and contributed to public discourse in both Britain and India on a vast array of topics (a list of works can be found below).

Annie Besant died on 20 September 1933 in Tamil Nadu, India (formerly Madras), aged 84. Despite leading a determinedly independent life, Annie suffered heavily for her choices, like so many other trailblazing women of her time and in her own words, ‘[…]with a great price I had obtained my freedom’. Annie explicitly demonstrated again and again that her life was one spent in an effort to better the world as best she could. In her autobiography Annie describes her life as ‘an average one’. I think we can agree that through her quest for truth that trumped all conventions of Victorian and Edwardian society, Annie led a life that was far from average.

Sources and further reading

List of published and unpublished works by Annie Besant

Besant, Annie. Annie Besant: an autobiography, 2nd edn. [London, 1893] Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/anniebesantautob00besaiala/page/n7/mode/2up

Besant, Annie. Annie Besant: an autobiography [1893] [London, 2009]

Besant, Annie. The Law of Population [London, 1878] https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Law_of_Population.html?id=D1nVAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y

Knowlton, Charles. Fruits of Philosophy: A Treatise on the Population Question. Eds. Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. San Francisco: The Reader’s Library, 1891. https://archive.org/details/fruitsphilosoph00knogoog

National Secular Society, https://www.secularism.org.uk/the-fruits-of-philosophy-trial.html

Theosophical Society, https://www.ts-adyar.org/content/annie-besant-1847-1933

British Newspaper Archive. The Penny Illustrated Paper, ‘Mr Bradlaugh in Court’, London, Saturday 14 April 1877, p227

Author

Chloe Wilson works and volunteers in the heritage sector in London with historical interests primarily in gender and political history. Twitter: @chloevwilson