Susanna Watts facts for kids
Susanna Watts (1768–1842) was an important English writer, artist, and translator. She was also a strong supporter of ending slavery, known as an abolitionist.
Susanna Watts' Life and Work
Susanna Watts was born in 1768 in Danet's Hall, Leicester, England. She was the youngest of three sisters. Sadly, she was the only one of her parents' children to live past childhood. Her father died when she was just 15 months old. When she was 15, her uncle, who had been helping her family, also passed away. This left Susanna and her mother without much money.
To support herself and her mother, Susanna started writing. Her poems often spoke out against slavery.
Susanna even wrote a poem to William Wilberforce, a famous leader in the anti-slavery movement. She disagreed with his ideas about women not being involved in the fight against slavery. Despite his views, Susanna and her friend Elizabeth Heyrick kept working hard to end slavery. They even started The Humming Bird, which was the first newspaper or magazine focused on stopping slavery.
Heyrick and Watts would visit shops like greengrocers. They encouraged business owners not to buy sugar or other products that were made by enslaved people in the Caribbean.
Watts wrote many different kinds of books. She published translations of other works, collections of her own poems, and travel stories. After her friend Elizabeth Heyrick died in 1834, Susanna wrote a poem called To the Memory of Elizabeth Heyrick.
Susanna also wrote a guidebook about her hometown called A Walk Through Leicester. She published it without her name on it and even used "he" to refer to herself in the introduction.
Besides her writing, Watts also started a charity called the Society of the Relief of Indigent Old Age. This group helped older people who were struggling financially. She also wrote books about how to treat animals kindly.
Her personal scrapbook is now kept at the Leicestershire Records Office, showing more about her life and interests.
Susanna Watts' Published Works
Here are some of the books and poems Susanna Watts published:
- Chinese maxims, translated from The oeconomy of human life, into heroic verse (1784) – This was a translation.
- The Wonderful Travels of Prince Fan-Feredin, in the Country of Arcadia (1799) – Another translation.
- Original Poems and Translations (1802) – A collection of her own poems and some translations.
- A Walk Through Leicester (1804) – Her guidebook about Leicester.
- The Insects in Council, Addressed to Entomologists, with Other Poems (1828) – A book of poems.
- The Animals’ Friend: a Collection of Observations and Facts Tending to Restrain Cruelty, and to Inculcate Kindness towards Animals (1831) – A book about being kind to animals.
