Maria Hack facts for kids

Maria Hack (born February 16, 1777 – died January 4, 1844) was an English author. She wrote many helpful educational books for children. People liked her books because they were very clear and easy to understand. Maria was a Quaker, but she later joined the Anglican Church due to a religious disagreement. Her books often shared her belief that the world was created by God, like how a watch needs a watchmaker.

Maria's Early Life and Family

Maria Hack was born in Carlisle, England, on February 16, 1777. Her parents, John Barton and Maria Done, were both Quakers. Her family moved to London before her mother passed away. After her father also died, Maria lived with the family of her stepmother, Elizabeth Horne, in Tottenham.

On November 17, 1800, Maria married Stephen Hack (1775–1823) in Tottenham. Stephen was a currier, someone who prepares leather.

Maria's Children and Their Paths

Maria and Stephen Hack had ten children: four sons and six daughters. The family later moved from Chichester to Gloucester.

Some of her children became notable:

• Her oldest son, John Barton Hack, moved to South Australia.
• Her youngest son, Stephen, also moved to South Australia.
• Her daughter, Margaret Emily, followed in her mother's footsteps and wrote educational books. She married Thomas Gates Darton, whose family published some of Maria's books.
• Another son, Thomas Sandon Hack, became an architect. He designed several buildings in Southampton, including the Royal Southern Yacht Club.

Religious Changes

Maria Hack was a Quaker for most of her life. However, she became involved in a religious discussion among Quakers. She believed that the Bible should be the main guide for faith, not just a person's "Inner Light." She also felt that important ceremonies like Baptism and Communion should be practiced.

Because of these beliefs, Maria left the Quakers in 1837. She soon joined the Anglican Church, following her sister and three of her children who had already made the same change. She wrote a paper called The Christian Ordinances and the Lord's Supper... about her views.

Maria moved to Southampton around 1842 and passed away there on January 4, 1844.

Maria's Educational Books

Maria Hack's younger brother, the poet Bernard Barton, said she was like a wise guide to him when he was young. Maria's interest in teaching started with her own children. Soon, she began writing books for other young people.

Her first book is thought to be First Lessons in English Grammar (1812). She wrote many other books that helped children learn. For example, Winter Evenings (1818) taught geography through exciting stories of travelers. She used a similar storytelling style for history books like Grecian Stories (1819) and English Stories (1820–25). She also wrote textbooks about subjects like geology and optics (the study of light). Some of her books were so popular that they were still being printed many years later, even in the 1870s!

Harry Beaufoy and the "Watchmaker" Idea

Maria Hack's most famous book was Harry Beaufoy, or, The Pupil of Nature (1821). In this book, a boy named Harry is encouraged by his parents to look closely at the natural world. They want him to see how everything is designed so perfectly that it must have a Creator. Maria used a famous idea to explain this: "A watch must have a watchmaker." This means that just as a complex watch needs someone to build it, the complex world must have a Creator.

The book gave examples like how blood moves through the human body or how a beehive works. These examples showed how amazing and well-designed nature is. A review in the Journal of Education in 1831 said that the book explained the human body so clearly that even ten-year-olds could understand it and find it interesting.

Other Notable Works

Maria Hack wrote many other books, including:

• Winter Evenings; or Tales of Travellers (1818)
• Grecian Stories, taken from the Works of Eminent Historians (1819)
• English Stories (three series, 1820–1825)
• Geological Sketches and Glimpses of the ancient Earth (1832)
• Lectures at Home (1834) – about glass, lenses, mirrors, and the eye.
• Stories of Animals (1839)