Anna Sewell

Born in Great Yarmouth, England, in 1820, Anna Sewell grew up in a Quaker family that valued compassion and moral purpose. Her mother, Mary Wright Sewell, was a successful writer of books for children, and that thoughtful, reform-minded atmosphere shaped Anna’s own outlook.

After an injury in her teens left her with lasting mobility problems, horses became an important part of her daily life, especially when she relied on horse-drawn travel. Those experiences helped inspire her deep concern for the treatment of animals. She spent her later years writing Black Beauty, a book meant to encourage gentleness and understanding toward horses and the people who worked with them.

Published in 1877, Black Beauty was the only book she completed, and Anna Sewell died in 1878, only a few months after its release. Even so, her one novel had an enormous afterlife, winning generations of readers and helping to change how many people thought about animal welfare.