…different, rights-respecting and radical.

Here are some of the characters that I bring to life in my History for Tomorrow and Walking in the Shoes workshops, to inspire our ideas for the future.

Julian (1343 – c.1416) or Juliana, of Norwich, was an anchoress who lived in permanent seclusion in a cell in St Julian’s Church. She wrote her mystical visions in the Revelations of Divine Love, the first published writings in English by a woman. She lived through the Black Death killing off half the Norwich population, the Peasant’s Revolt that saw Norwich taken over by rebels, and the burning at the stake of some followers of Wycliffe at Lollards Pit. Norwich may have been one of the most religious cities in Europe at that time.

Johannes Elison, 1581-1631, was a minister of the Dutch church congregation. Dutch & Flemish people were invited to Norwich to escape Spanish persecution of Protestants. Many were expert weavers, contributing to Norwich’s wealth. Several became mayors and sheriffs of the city. He and his wife are the only English residents to have been painted by Rembrandt, commissioned by Elison’s son who was a wealthy merchant.

Thomas Browne, 1605-1682, was a doctor, scientist, archaeological collector, medical gardener, and writer. He invented 100s of words in common usage today. He had lived in London & Oxford but settled in Norwich in 1637, and lived in a big house near Norwich market. He wrote against false beliefs, and about medicine, funeral customs and burial urns, words, numbers and ancient symbols. He experimented with succession planting in his meadow of medicinal plants (near the Cathedral).

Mark Wilks (1748-1819) was a radical Baptist preacher and politician who served at St Clement’s Chapel off Colegate. His sermon on the stability of the French Revolution was published in 1792. He supported the Norwich radicals against the Government’s suspension of the Habeas Corpus law that protected citizens from arbitrary arrest. Norwich had up to 4000 members of radical societies, many of them being independent textile workers.

Robert Marsham, (1708-1797), was a landowner who observed how climate affected biodiversity and crops, and started the science of ‘phenology’, which is the study of weather patterns through the seasons. He was interested to capture data over years of how weather changes the growth and breeding of different species.

Elizabeth Fry (1780 to 1845) was born into the Gurney family, who were Quakers. Her father established the bank that became Barclays. After marrying Joseph Fry, she moved to London. On top of parenting 11 children, she was an active slavery abolitionist and campaigned for better conditions for children & women in prisons and in penal transportation.

Amelia Opie – born Alderson (1769-1853). Her novels and writings expressed radical ideas, including opposition to slavery. Through her friend Mary Wollstonecraft she was part of the Bluestocking Society. She became a Quaker and organised the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society in Norwich, with Anna Gurney.

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) was the first female sociologist. Her work (journals, books, 1,600 articles and translations) helped shape Victorian attitudes towards women’s rights and social justice. Writing allowed her to support her family after her father’s textile business collapsed. She travelled widely and was vocal in her criticisms of slavery and the treatment of women. Friendly with Darwin, she promoted secular ideas of the origins of life. She supported female reproductive rights to limit population growth and improve women’s lives.

Jeremiah James Colman (1830-1898), owned and ran the Colman’s mustard factory, and lived in Carrow House in Bracondale. He was a Liberal MP, representing the needs of Norwich’s working people as well as its employers. He said ‘Men should go into municipal affairs to see what they could do for the town, instead of seeing what the town could do for them’. He supported non-conformism, or religious freedom.

Emma Turner (1867-1940) was a photographer who spent months each year on a houseboat on Norfolk rivers observing birds. Her photograph of a bittern helped efforts to reintroduce this species, after its local extinction. She was interested in nesting and breeding habits.

Ethel Colman (1863-1948). She was the first woman in the UK to serve her City as a Lord Mayor, and one of the first women to be a deacon in the Congregational Church. Her families were local non-conformist philanthropists, the Colmans (mustard) and the Cozens-Hardy family. She grew up in Carrow House. She travelled to Egypt & had a wherry boat built with Egyptian-style decor. (These shoes in the Norwich Museum reflect egyptomania in the 1920s). She and her sister erected a block of 22 flats to house those displaced by the 1912 floods.

Dorothy Jewson (1884-1964) was a Labour MP and Norwich City Councillor. Initially a teacher, she believed women should be educated to be able to work, to be politically active, and to be in control of their reproductive rights. She was responsible for the creation of several parks in Norwich. She also instigated road building, as it was seen as a way to create jobs.

Please send me more people from the past of Norwich who can inspire our future (to bridget.mckenzie@flowassociates.com)