Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of the prominent 19th-century social reformer Annie Besant. Born in 1847, Annie Besant espoused a range of causes including secularism, women's rights, Socialism, Irish Home Rule, birth control and better conditions for workers. Described by Beatrice Webb as having "the voice of a beautiful soul", Besant became an eloquent public speaker as well as writing numerous campaigning articles and pamphlets. She is perhaps most famous for the key role she played in the successful strike by female workers at the Bryant and May match factory in East London in 1888, which brought the appalling working conditions of many factory workers to greater public attention.
Later in life she became a follower of theosophy, a belief system bringing together elements of Hinduism, Buddhism and other Eastern religions. She moved to India, its main base, and took on a leading role in the Indian self-rule movement, being appointed the first female president of the Indian National Congress in 1917.
With:
Lawrence Goldman Fellow in Modern History at St Peter's College, University of Oxford
David Stack Reader in History at the University of Reading
Yasmin Khan Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Producer: Victoria Brignell.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast. For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy the program. Hello in the summer of 1873 of vicar in Lincolnshire the Frank Besant, issued an ultimatum to his wife. |
| 0:55.7 | She must either take Holy Communion regularly at his church or leave him. |
| 1:00.0 | His wife would be gone to doubt her Christian faith later wrote, |
| 1:02.8 | hypocrisy or expulsion, I chose the latter. |
| 1:06.1 | The woman's name was Anibescent and she went on to become one of the most |
| 1:08.9 | prominent social reformers of the late 19th century. |
| 1:12.0 | The causes she fought for included not only secularism, of the for workers. She spearheaded the celebrated strike by Matchgores at the Bryan-Mai |
| 1:24.9 | Factory in Bowe, East London in 1888 and was put on trial for obscenity for daring to |
| 1:29.8 | publish a pamphlet on birth control. About midway through life she became a |
| 1:33.7 | theosivist and moved to India, establishing herself as a leading figure in the |
| 1:38.2 | nationalist movement there and being appointed the first woman president of the |
| 1:42.0 | Indian National Congress in 1917. |
| 1:44.6 | With me to discuss the life and work of an investment are |
| 1:47.2 | Lawrence Goldman, fellow in Modern History at St Peter's College University of Oxford, |
| 1:52.3 | David Stack, reader in history at the University of Redding, |
| 1:55.8 | and Yasmin Khan, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Royal Holloway University of London. |
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