Priscilla Hannah Peckover
| Priscilla Hannah Peckover | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
27 October 1833 Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Died | 8 September 1931 (aged 97) Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Philanthropist |
| Known for | Local Peace Associations |
Priscilla Hannah Peckover (27 October 1833 – 8 September 1931) was an English Quaker, pacifist and linguist from a prosperous banking family. After helping to raise the three daughters of her widowed brother, in her forties she became involved in the pacifist movement. She founded the Wisbech Local Peace Association, which grew to have 6,000 members. She was active at a national level with the Peace Society and worked with pacifist groups in several other countries. She funded and edited the journal Peace and Goodwill: a Sequel to the Olive Leaf for almost fifty years, and funded publication of an Esperanto version of the Bible. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on four occasions.
Priscilla Hannah Peckover was born on 27 October 1833 in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. She was the third of eight children of Algernon Peckover (1803–1893) and Priscilla Alexander (c. 1803–1883). Her brother was Alexander Peckover, 1st Baron Peckover (1830–1919). Her family were wealthy Quaker bankers and philanthropists. She was privately educated, although for a short period she went to school in Brighton. She devoted herself to raising her three nieces after her brother Alexander's wife died in 1862. On 20 November 1877 Peckover was recorded a minister of the Society of Friends.
When Priscilla Peckover was in her forties she began to actively participate in the peace and reform movements. After the girls had grown up, she moved to Wisteria House in Wisbech, to be her home for the rest of her life. In 1878 she learned of E.M. Southey's work with the Women's Peace and Arbitration Auxiliary of the Peace Society. Peckover was indignant when she learned that only 200 women belonged to the organization. The Auxiliary approved her proposal for a short declaration, "I believe all war to be contrary to the mind of Christ ... and am desirous to do what I can to further the cause of Peace", to be signed by "women of all ranks". She began a door-to-door campaign asking for signatories to the declaration, with a one penny subscription. Peckover's declaration was later translated into French, German, Polish and Russian.
Peckover founded the Wisbech Local Peace Association (WLPA) in 1879 to encourage women to campaign for peace through arbitration and disarmament. Christian beliefs were the justification for condemning war. Peckover proved to be an extremely effective organizer at the grass roots level. Her background led her to use collaborative and conciliatory methods, in contrast to the more defensive and less cooperative approach of the Peace Society. The WLPA had 6,000 members after ten years. In 1888 Peckover converted her group into a "Local Peace Association Auxiliary". The implication was that the Peace Society was not providing the national leadership needed to support local peace activism.
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