Elizabeth Heyrick Society

05/06/2026

New Guest Blog: Voices Against Slavery in America 🖊️

We're delighted to share a brilliant new guest blog by Enya La Spina, exploring how Elizabeth Heyrick's radical abolitionist writing resonated across the Atlantic — and how her voice connects with two other remarkable women: Harriet Martineau and Frances Anne Kemble.

From Elizabeth's fierce call for immediate abolition in 1824, to Martineau's analytical scrutiny of American democracy, to Kemble's intimate diary of plantation life — these three writers show us that women's voices were central to dismantling slavery, even when society tried to silence them.

Read the full blog on our website below.

✍️ Do you have a story, research, or perspective to share about Elizabeth Heyrick, abolitionism, or women's history?

We welcome guest blog contributions from writers, researchers, students, and heritage enthusiasts.
Get in touch at 📩 [email protected] or visit elizabethheyrick.org/contact-us — we'd love to hear from you.

Elizabeth Heyrick urged immediate abolition mobilising women through writing and boycotts.

02/06/2026

It's — and we're proud to be a fully volunteer-led charity. 💚

Every event we run, every piece of history we share, and every step forward in our campaign to commemorate Elizabeth Heyrick is driven by the passion and time of our incredible volunteers.

This week, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who gives their time to support our mission. And we'd love to grow our team.

📢 We're currently recruiting a Treasurer Trustee — someone with financial skills who wants to help shape the future of the Society. It's a meaningful role with real impact, and the deadline is this Friday, 5th June.

Find out more and apply here 👇
https://reachvolunteering.org.uk/opp/treasurer-1509

Could you be our next Treasurer? Tag someone who'd be perfect, or share this post to help spread the word!

02/06/2026

On 22 March, our Chair Joshua Thorpe gave a talk on Elizabeth Heyrick at Leicester's historic Secular Hall — and we're sharing the full write-up now so everyone can catch up on what was a wonderful evening. 🏛️

The talk covered Elizabeth's extraordinary life: her campaign to boycott West Indian sugar, her founding of Ladies' Anti-Slavery Societies, her work alongside Elizabeth Fry on prison reform, and her tireless advocacy for the most vulnerable in society.

There was also a thought-provoking Q&A — including questions about modern slavery and what Elizabeth's organising methods might teach us today.

Read the full blog post at the link below, and if you'd like to help bring Elizabeth's legacy to life with a permanent statue in Leicester, please do share this post. Every share helps more people discover her story. 💜

👉

Secular Hall Elizabeth Heyrick Society event highlighting Elizabeth Heyrick’s legacy and impact

29/05/2026

Hello again. 👋

It has been a little while since we have been active here, and we are glad to be back.

If you are new to this page, welcome. The Elizabeth Heyrick Society is a Leicester-based charity with a simple but urgent mission: to ensure that Elizabeth Heyrick is never forgotten again.

Elizabeth was born in Leicester in 1769. She became one of the most radical voices in the British abolitionist movement, demanding the immediate end of slavery at a time when even the most prominent campaigners were calling for patience. She helped build the world's first women's anti-slavery society. She organised a sugar boycott that persuaded roughly a quarter of Leicester's population to stop buying slave-produced goods. She published, she campaigned, and she refused to wait.

And yet there is still no public statue of her anywhere in the United Kingdom.

We are working to change that. And in the weeks and months ahead, we will be sharing more of her story, marking key dates in the history of abolition, and keeping you updated on the progress of our statue campaign.

We are glad you are here. If you know someone who would love to discover Elizabeth's story, please do share this page with them. 💙

elizabethheyrick.org

Discover the enduring legacy of Elizabeth Heyrick, an abolitionist, philanthropist and campaigner. Join the Elizabeth Heyrick Society's campaign to build a memorial in Leicester. Help us inspire future generations to fight for justice and equality. Donate now.

04/05/2026

We love this — a thoughtful celebration of Elizabeth Heyrick’s legacy, and a daily reminder that ordinary people can spark extraordinary change!

This is the amazing Elizabeth Heyrick (1769 – 1831), an English philanthropist and campaigner against the slave trade. She supported immediate, rather than gradual, abolition. Never heard of her? Read on to find out more!

In the early 19th century, the prominent leaders of the British abolitionist movement, William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, believed that when the slave trade was abolished 1807, slavery itself would gradually die out. However, this proved to be not the case as without legislation, planters refused to relinquish their enslaved property. Campaigners such as Heyrick wanted complete and immediate abolition of slavery as an institution. A decade after the abolition of the trade, it became clear to the movement that slavery itself would not die out gradually. As a strong supporter of complete emancipation, she decided to address the leaders of the abolitionist movement. In 1823 or 1824, Heyrick published a pamphlet entitled “Immediate, not Gradual Abolition”, criticising leading anti-slavery campaigners such as Wilberforce for their assumptions that the institution of slavery would gradually die out and for focusing too much on the slave trade: “The West Indian planters have occupied much too prominent a place in the discussion of this great question. The abolitionists have shown a great deal too much politeness and accommodation towards these gentlemen.” However, “this pamphlet changed their view”, and “they now attacked slavery as a sin to be forsaken immediately”.

Heyrick encouraged a social movement to boycott sugar from the West Indies. Heyrick believed that women should be involved in these issues as they were qualified “not only to sympathise with suffering, but also to plead for the oppressed.” Our new Elizabeth Heyrick design is out now on our website! And you can also find out more !

12/04/2026

Read more about Elizabeth Heyrick in our Leicestershire History Issue 2 article.

🪏 This lead handle from a to***co jar lid was discovered in Cadeby, Leicestershire in 2020. It is cast in the form of an African man’s head, with short curly hair and a raised (possibly slave) collar around the neck. The import of slave-grown to***co was a major part of the transatlantic trade, with this object likely to date from the late 18th or very early 19th century.

📰 The object features in an article on Elizabeth Heyrick in issue 2, available at www.leicestershirehistorymag.com As a social reformer, Leicester-born Elizabeth fought against the evils of slavery and was a significant voice in the abolitionist movement.

Image © Roger Thomas
The Portable Antiquities Scheme ID: PUBLIC-A5E9C2

See more at the Elizabeth Heyrick Society

25/03/2026

Today is the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

This year's theme, Justice in Action, resonates deeply with everything the Elizabeth Heyrick Society stands for.

Today also marks the anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, passed in the United Kingdom on 25 March 1807. But Elizabeth Heyrick knew that abolishing the trade was not enough. Enslaved people were still enslaved. Justice had not yet been done.

So she wrote. She campaigned. She organised. She published her landmark pamphlet, "Immediate, Not Gradual Abolition," and refused to accept the patience her male counterparts demanded of her. She helped build a national network of women's anti-slavery societies. She called on ordinary people, shoppers, grocers and neighbours alike, to stop buying slave-produced sugar and to take justice into their own hands.

She understood that remembrance without action is not enough.

On this day, we remember the millions of men, women and children who were enslaved, transported, and denied their humanity through the transatlantic slave trade. We honour their resistance and their resilience.

And we recommit to the work Elizabeth began: making sure that her voice, and the voices of all those who fought for freedom, are never forgotten.

Learn more about Elizabeth Heyrick's legacy: elizabethheyrick.org

08/03/2026

This year’s International Women’s Day theme, , reminds us that when we give our support — through knowledge, advocacy, time, and opportunity — we help create a more equal world.

At the Elizabeth Heyrick Society, we’re inspired by the legacy of Elizabeth Heyrick, who used her voice and determination to challenge injustice and campaign for the immediate abolition of slavery.

Her example shows that change often begins with people willing to speak up and share what they know.

Today, we celebrate the women who have shaped history, and those continuing to shape the future.

20/02/2026

Today, the world marks World Day of Social Justice, focusing on "Empowering Inclusion" and bridging the social and economic gaps that marginalise so many.

For the Elizabeth Heyrick Society, social justice isn't a passive ideal; it’s an active pursuit of systemic change. Elizabeth’s work taught us that economic power is one of the most effective tools for justice. When we demand corporate accountability, we aren't just asking for "better" business; we are dismantling the structures that profit from exclusion.

How do we move from performative gestures to real structural reform?

📖 Have a read of our blog post here:

https://www.elizabethheyrick.org/news/social-justice-and-systemic-change-why-corporate-accountability-matters

Let's use today to recommit to a justice that is immediate, not gradual.

How businesses can take action to create fairer supply chains, wages and working conditions.

16/02/2026

We often think of abolition as being decided in London's Parliament, but the real power was rooted in places like Leicester.

Elizabeth Heyrick's radical message and the local Leicester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society were based right here. They were the engine of the sugar boycott in the Midlands, collecting thousands of signatures and distributing pamphlets from places you walk past every day.

Their actions prove that change starts where you are. It shows the immense power of local, dedicated community action to influence national policy.

Do you know a local social justice hero working in Leicester today? Tag them below!