Wednesday 27th May 2026
Venue: Online
7pm BST
Visit our digital living room for the second online event connected to HomeMade Histories, with Dr Susan Manly
“Maria Edgeworth and Jamaica: Finding a Documentary Trail”
“We have just read a very small pamphlet of about ten pages … an account of the facts stated to the House of Commons – I wish you could see it – tho’ indeed the cruelties are so extremely shocking, that it cannot do the mind good to hear of them, only so far as it tends to excite universal indignation against slave-captains & the slave-trade …”
-Maria Edgeworth to her cousin Sophy Ruxton, March 1792
Chawton House Library has two letters in its manuscript archives that throw new light on the Irish Romantic-period author Maria Edgeworth’s relationship to Caribbean slavery. One of these, from November 1823, is written by an Anglo-Irish lawyer and active supporter of slavery whose family were connected by marriage to Margaret Ruxton, Edgeworth’s beloved aunt. The letter mentions the sale of enslaved people in terms which seem to implicate Edgeworth personally in the transaction. The other, dated October 1826, is from Edgeworth to a Quaker philanthropist and leading abolitionist, hailing his work as an anti-slavery campaigner.
How do we reconcile these two letters, which associate Edgeworth with pro-slavery figures on the one hand, and on the other, link her to those who worked tirelessly to change the law in order to end slavery for good? In this talk, Susan Manly uncovers the previously untold story behind the letters and investigates how they reveal Edgeworth’s contradictory loyalties and convictions.
About the Speaker
Susan Manly is a Reader in the School of English at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. She is currently completing a biography, Maria Edgeworth: A Radical Life, and is the author of numerous book chapters and articles about Edgeworth’s works. She has also edited Edgeworth’s novel about anti-semitism, Harrington, available in paperback from Broadview Press. Her radio documentary about Edgeworth’s life can be found here: https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/clips/21776295/
Tickets: £6
This is an online event. It takes place 7-8pm BST. The Zoom link should be visible on your ticket, but ticket holders will be also emailed the Zoom link on the day of the event. If you do not receive joining details by midday (UK time) on the day of the event, please email info@chawtonhouse.org with your order number. The talk will be recorded and emailed out to those who cannot join synchronously within 7 days. Access to working internet is required. Please note this event will take place live.