Jane Harry
Jane Harry Thresher called Jane Harry and Jenny Harry (1755-1784) was a Jamaican abolitionist, artist and Quaker.[1] Her parents were free people, but her mother was of African heritage and her father's "housekeeper". Her father had made his money by buying and selling slaves. She and her sister were educated in England. She met Anne Seward and Samuel Johnson. The latter fell out with her because she decided to become a Quaker.
Jane Harry Thresher | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jane Harry 1755 |
| Died | 1784 |
| Other names | Jane Thresher |
| Education | in England |
| Spouse(s) | Dr Joseph Thresher |
| Children | one |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Hibbert and Charity Harry |
Life
Harry's father was Thomas Hibbert, a British plantation owner in Jamaica, and her mother was Charity Harry, who Hibbert called his housekeeper but was likely his partner.[1] She was born in about the year, 1855, that her father built Hibbert House.[2]
Harry moved to England for schooling, where she met Mary Knowles, who led her to embrace Quakerism.[3] She met Anne Seward and Samuel Johnson. The latter fell out with her because she decided to become a Quaker. He felt that she should accept the religion of those who had educated her.[1]
After Harry's father died, she discovered he had left his slaves to her mother, and she worked to help free them.[3] Her father left £2,000 which was the maximum amount allowed to be given to a woman of colour. She disputed the amount but her white cousins who had received more generous inheritances pointed out that Thomas Hibbert had avoided acknowledging her as his daughter. She was thwarted by the war with America from travelling to Jamaica to free her father's slaves.[1]
She married another Quaker, Dr Joseph Thresher, and three months after their first child was born, she died at the age of 28.[1] Her obituary appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine which noted that she had left instructions for money to be used to pay for the release of her father's slaves.
References
- Donington, Katie (2016). "Harry [married name Thresher], Jane (1755/6–1784), Quaker and artist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/107509. ISBN 9780198614128. Retrieved 2020-03-04. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- "Jamaica National Heritage Trust - Jamaica - Hibbert House Headquarters House". www.jnht.com. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
- Jennings, Judith (2005-04-01). "A trio of talented women: abolition, gender, and political participation, 1780–91". Slavery & Abolition. 26 (1): 55–0. doi:10.1080/01440390500058855. ISSN 0144-039X. S2CID 144486741.