‘“Hunger is not a postponable want”: Hannah More’s charity reconsidered’

Hannah More’s attitudes towards the poor have, over the past thirty years, attracted sustained criticism. She has been seen as an ambassador for a paternalistic upper class concerned about the consequences for a French-style revolution at home, labelled a stringent disciplinarian and as a woman determined to control potential social disorder (Kowaleski-Wallace 1991) by directing the behaviour of the poor. However, critics have conflated More’s deeply-held fears of social unrest with disdain for those who might have cause to become unruly. Nothing could be further from the case. While it is certainly fair to say that More’s charity was in part motivated by a desire to diffuse the anger of the poor, that charity was rooted in a genuine sense of compassion, and a profound feeling of personal moral obligation. The evidence of More’s charitable activities has, unfortunately, been difficult to come by, not because it does not exist but because it is contained within some of the 1,800 surviving letters written by More which are now scattered across more than a hundred archives around the world. More’s intimate writing demonstrates that she was merciless in utilising the resources and influence of her numerous friends. As well as shrewdly employing her extensive influential network, More dug deep into her own pockets, frequently pushing her significant resources close to their limit. This chapter uses More’s letters, in tandem with a careful consideration of the historical contexts in which More’s views of poverty and philanthropy were shaped, to demonstrate that present-day disparagement of More’s conduct towards the poor is misconceived.