Annie Besant (1847-1933)

Annie Besnant, prior to her adoption of Theosophy, was a strident supporter of and campaigner for secularism. She was one of the speakers at the opening of Secular Hall in 1881.

Annie Wood was born on 1 October 1847 in London, the daughter of William Burton Persse Wood and Emily Roche Morris. Her father was English with a medical degree and her mother was an Irish Catholic. In 1867, at age 20, Annie married the cleric Frank Besant (1840–1917), an evangelical Anglican.

Frank Besant was then an assistant master at Cheltenham College. In 1872, he became vicar of Sibsey in Lincolnshire and they moved there with their two children, Arthur and Mabel. The marriage was already under strain. Annie began to question her own faith, after her daughter Mabel was seriously ill in 1871.

The Besants made an effort to repair the marriage but in 1873 Annie left and went to London.The couple were legally separated and Annie took her daughter Mabel with her.

For fifteen years from 1879, Annie Besant was a public proponent in England of atheism and scientific materialism. Her goal was to provide employment, better living conditions, and proper education for the poor. She became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS), as well as a writer, and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. As a result of this in 1878 Frank Besant successfully argued her unfitness and had custody from then of both children. Later, Annie was reconciled with her son and daughter.

Thereafter, she became involved with union actions, including the Bloody Sunday demonstration and the London matchgirls strike of 1888. She was a leading speaker for both the Fabian Society and the Marxist Social Democratic Federation (SDF). She was also elected to the London School Board for Tower Hamlets, topping the poll, even though few women were qualified to vote at that time.

In 1893 Annie Besant took up with Theosophy and allowed her membership of the Fabian Society to lapse plus breaking her links with the Marxists. She moved to India, became head of the Theosophy movement and became the first President of the Indian Congress Party. She also renounced her advocacy of birth control and was a strong supporter of the caste system.

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