Anna Haslam
| Anna Maria Haslam | |
|---|---|
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1829 Youghal, Co.Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 1922 Dublin, Ireland. |
| Spouse(s) | Thomas Haslam |
| Religion | Quaker |
Anna Haslam (1829 - 1922) was a suffragist and a major figure in the 19th and early 20th century women's movement in Ireland.
Anna Maria Haslam (née Fisher) was born in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland in 1829. She was born the 16th of 17 children to Jane and Abraham Fisher. The Fishers were a Quaker family with a business in Youghal. They were noted for their charitable works, especially during the Great Famine. Anna helped in soup kitchens and became involved in setting up cottage industries for local girls in lace-making, crocheting and knitting.
Anna was brought up believing in equality for men and women and also supporting the campaign against slavery and for temperance and pacifism. She attended Quaker boarding schools, Newtown School in County Waterford and Castlegate School in York. She then became a teaching assistant in Ackworth School, Yorkshire. Anna met Thomas Haslam who was teaching there and who was from Mountmellick, County Laois.
Anna and Thomas Haslam married on 20 March 1854 in Cork Registry Office. Their marriage was mainly celibate as a result of them not wanting to have children. In later writings Thomas argued in favour of chastity for men.
Anna and Thomas Haslam shared a belief of equality for men and women and he supported her campaigns. Thomas Joseph Haslam was born in 1825 to a Quaker family. Thomas was a feminist theorist and from 1868 he wrote about many topics concerning female rights and issues such as prostitution, birth control and women's suffrage.
Both Anna and Thomas were expelled from the Society of Friends due to their interests in social reform but both still maintained links with the community. Thomas was said to have been disowned for harbouring ideas contrary to Quaker teachings. In 1868 Thomas published a pamphlet called "The Marriage Problem", in which he raised and supported the idea of family limitation and outlined a number of contraceptive methods including the safe period.
Thomas Haslam died on 30 January 1917, in his ninety-second year. He and Anna were both buried together in the Quaker burying ground at Temple Hill, Dublin.
Anna Haslam is best remembered today for her work for votes for women. Anna was a pioneer in every 19th century Irish feminist campaign and she fought for votes for women from the year 1866. Anna and Thomas Haslam were founding members of the Dublin Women's Suffrage Association in 1876. This marked the start of a remarkable campaign in Dublin for votes for women. Anna, along with the writing of her husband, continued the campaign and in 1896 women in Ireland won the right to be elected as Poor Law Guardians, members of the official bodies which administered the Poor Law.
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