England: Anna Doyle Wheeler

Anna Doyle Wheeler (1785 – 1848)

Anna Doyle was born in the year 1785 and was the daughter of a prebendary. Anna did not have any formal education, but did learn to read and write which in fact would help her out in the future. At the very young age of 15 Anna met and married Francis Massey Wheeler, but the marriage only lasted 12 years. While married she sot out books from her husband even the work of philosophers. After she left her husband she went to Guernsey to stay with her uncle. Anna didn’t stay there long she left Guernsey to enroll her two daughters in the school of London.
When her ex husband died in 1820 Anna was left with no means of support, leaving her dependent upon herself she later asked her family for money through her writing she supported herself. Also, she had to translate works of French Owenites and Charles Fourier. Anna was the first to translate these writings from French to English before she could sell them. This was a pretty amazing thing to do where having to translate from one language to another. She also had many friends for support where she sometimes stayed with when she travelled from town to town spreading her feminist views; cities she visited were London, Caen, Dublin and Paris.
While returning to London she met a man by the name of William Thompson. The two became close friends and were part of a social circle that included James Mill, Jeremy Bentham and other operators. Sometime later, Anna moved to France where she began to work on a translation of work with Charles Fourier who she met in France.
In 1825 William Thompson was so inspired by Wheeler and for her being a strong woman he wrote an appeal for women to have equal civil and political rights even voting as a need for women. Thompson later left Wheeler an annuity of 100 lbs in his will when he had died.
The first women to mount a rally in England gave a speech a public speech in London. When Wheeler was 55 years old her health began to decline, she wanted no visitors in her home. In 1848 Wheeler was invited to go to the French Revolution, but was too very sick to attend and later that year she died.

By: Danny C.