Anne Knight

Anne Knight (2 November 1786 – 4 November 1862) was a social reformer noted as a pioneer of feminism.

Anne Knight was the daughter of William Knight (1756–1814), a Chelmsford grocer, and his wife Priscilla Allen. The families were both Quakers and several of their members took an active part in the temperance and anti-slavery movements.

Knight founded a branch of the Women's Anti-Slavery Society in Chelmsford and worked closely with Thomas Clarkson.

When women were prevented from participating in the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, Knight was outraged, and started to campaign for women's rights. A few women were included in the painting of the convention with Knight; these were Elizabeth Pease, Amelia Opie, Baroness Byron, Mary Anne Rawson, Mrs John Beaumont, Elizabeth Tredgold, Thomas Clarkson's daughter-in-law and niece Mary and right at the back Lucretia Mott.

In 1847 Knight produced what is considered the first leaflet for women's suffrage. Her efforts to impress the importance of women's suffrage on such reform leaders as Henry Brougham and Richard Cobden proved of little use, as did her efforts with the Chartist leadership.

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