Newington Green Unitarian Church 2009
The Unitarian Church on Newington Green - August 2009
Mary Wollstonecraft and the Birthplace of Feminism
Newington Green's Unitarian Church is on the north, Hackney side of Newington Green N16.
You can still find, and sit in, Mary Wollstonecraft's pew amongst the lovely old box pews inside the Church. This photo shows the banner that honours her memory 250 years after her birth, which proclaims that the Church is 'The Birthplace of Feminism'.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 - 1797) was born in Spitalfields in London and her family moved many times before she arrived in Newington Green in 1784, where she ran a girls' school for a while. Wollstonecraft was much influenced by Dr Richard Price and the radical ideas of the poets and philosophers that attended the Church. She also met Joseph Johnson, who became her publisher and she wrote her first publication, an educational pamphlet 'Thoughts on the Education of Daughters', 1876.
Wollstonecraft's writing included 'Original Stories from True Life' (1791) which was illustrated by William Blake (1757-1827) who was influenced by her writing. Wollstonecraft produced her most famous work 'A Vindication of the Rights of Women' in 1792, in which she argued that women were rational beings but lacked education and were not inferior to men, as was believed at that time. Wollstonecraft stated that 'I do not want (women) to have power over men; but power over themselves'.
Mary Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin and was the mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797- 1851) the author of 'Frankenstein'. Wollstonecraft died just 11 days after giving birth to her daughter.
Mary on the Green - Mary Wollstonecraft Memorial
Newington Green Action Group are aiming to erect a memorial sculpture to Mary Wollstonecraft on Newington Green and would very much like anyone who is interested in helping us to put Mary on the Green to contact us here.
A new website was launched by NGAG in 2011, which is dedicated to the Mary on the Green project and it is now possible to donate online to help bring the memorial about:
Donate Securely Online: www.maryonthegreen.org
You may also contribute to the fundraising for Mary on the Green by Cheque / Postal Order:
- Made payable to:' M W Memorial '
- Address: Mary on the Green, Newington Green Action Group, 73 B Leconfield Road, London N5 2RZ, UK
You may read more about both the Church and Mary Wollstonecraft in Alex Allardyce's award-winning booklet, which is now in its second edition:
'The Village That Changed the World. A History of Newington Green'
