Hesba Stretton
Hesba Stretton, the pseudonym of Sarah Smith, was a notable English children's writer born on July 27, 1832, in Wellington, Shropshire. Growing up in a literary household influenced by her father's career in evangelical literature, Stretton received a robust education that fueled her writing career. She began publishing her stories in the journals of Charles Dickens and various evangelical periodicals, quickly establishing herself in the literary world. Stretton is best known for her novels that blend themes of innocence, faith, and social commentary, with her most popular work, *Jessica's First Prayer*, capturing the hearts of Victorian readers.
Her writing often addressed critical social issues such as poverty and child neglect, making her a spokesperson for the vulnerable. Beyond fiction, Stretton was integral to social reform, co-founding the London branch of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Throughout her life, Stretton published over fifty works, focusing primarily on children's literature that was both entertaining and morally uplifting. Despite her significant contributions, she remains an underappreciated figure in the realms of nineteenth-century British publishing and children's literature. Stretton passed away in 1911, leaving behind a legacy marked by her compassion for the abused and her dedication to social justice.
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Hesba Stretton
Writer
- Born: July 27, 1832
- Birthplace: Wellington, Shropshire, England
- Died: October 8, 1911
- Place of death: Richmond, England
Biography
Hesba Stretton is the pseudonym of children’s writer Sarah Smith, born July 27, 1832, in Wellington, Shropshire, England. Her father was a printer, bookseller, and publisher specializing in evangelical literature. Smith’s education at a local girls’ school was supplemented by the many books in the family home, which was a place where literary people and intellectuals gathered. She never married, and she earned her living as a writer from the time she was in her twenties.
Stretton’s early stories were published by Charles Dickens in his journals Household Words and All the Year Round, and in evangelical periodicals. Her novels for children unite themes of simple innocence and faith with social commentary. Her first three novels, Fern’s Hollow (1864), Enoch Roden’s Training (1865), and The Children of Cloverley (1865), all published by the Religious Tract Society of London, combine compelling young heroes who are moral and honorable with vividly descriptive writing.
Jessica’s First Prayer (1867) is Stretton’s most popular book, a best seller translated into many languages and well known and loved by Victorian readers. Jessica is a child of the urban streets, the neglected daughter of a drunken actress, whose simple, trusting piety teaches and inspires the adults in the story as well as readers. Late in her career, Stretton published a sequel, Jessica’s Mother (1898).
Stretton became the Religious Tract Society’s best- selling author and published over fifty books, including some fiction for adults, but principally evangelical works for children. Her themes were moral and uplifting, while her touching and entertaining writing, strong plotting and characterization, and details of urban and domestic life established her reputation as a stylist.
Little Meg’s Children (1868) and Alone in London (1869) are important for their messages of social reform. Her appealing child characters become the instruments that improve the adults and society around them. Detailed and accurate descriptions of life in the industrial urban slums of Victorian England and social issues of alcoholism, poverty, and neglected children are hallmarks of her fiction.
Stretton was a spokesperson for poor and abused children. She was also a founder of the London branch of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, serving on the executive board for ten years.
For over fifty years, she lived and traveled with her sister Elizabeth, who took the name Stretton as well. The sisters lived in Manchester, London, and finally in Richmond-on-Thames. The two sisters died within eight months of each other in 1911, when Hesba Stretton was seventy-nine years old.
Stretton is remembered as a popular and prolific writer, a hard-working businesswoman with a strong knowledge of the publishing industry of her time, and a social reformer whose successful career was based on solid, well-crafted writing. She is an underappreciated but significant figure in nineteenth century British publishing and children’s literature.