Harriet Martineau

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Lore & Background

Harriet Martineau was born in Norwich, England, the sixth of eight children of Thomas, a textile manufacturer who served as deacon of the Octagon Chapel, Norwich from 1797, and Elizabeth (née Rankin), daughter of a sugar refiner and grocer. The Martineau family was of French Huguenot ancestry and professed Unitarian views. According to writer Diana Postlethwaite, Harriet's relationship with her mother was strained and lacking affection, which contributed to views expressed in her later writing. Martineau claimed her mother abandoned her to a wet nurse who could not produce sufficient milk, leaving Harriet starved for the first few weeks of her life, to which her mother attributed all of Harriet's future ailments. Martineau began losing her senses of taste and smell at a young age. She was deaf and having to use an ear trumpet at the age of 12. Her father died in 1826 and in 1829 the family's textile business failed. Martineau, then 27 years old, stepped out of the traditional roles of feminine propriety to earn a living for her family. Along with her needlework, she began selling her articles to the Monthly Repository. Her first commissioned book, Illustrations of Political Economy, was published in February 1832 in an edition of just 1500 copies, since the publisher assumed it would not sell well. Yet it quickly became highly successful and would steadily out-sell the work of Charles Dickens. The young Princess Victoria enjoyed her work and invited her to her coronation in 1838. The novelist Margaret Oliphant called her 'a born lecturer and politician... less distinctively affected by her sex than perhaps any other, male or female, of her generation.'

Reader's Guide

Harriet Martineau's significance lies in her pioneering role as a female social theorist and writer who earned her own living at a time when few women could. She advised a focus on all aspects of society, including the role of the home in domestic life as well as key political, religious, and social institutions. Her commitment to abolitionism led to her achievements being studied worldwide, especially at American institutions of higher education. When unveiling a statue of Martineau in December 1883 at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, Wendell Phillips referred to her as the 'greatest American abolitionist'. Her legacy includes her translations of Auguste Comte and her influence on sociological thought, as well as her demonstration that a woman could succeed as a professional writer. Martineau's first commissioned book, Illustrations of Political Economy, was a fictional tutorial intended to help the general public understand the ideas of Adam Smith, and its success served to spread free-market ideas throughout the British Empire.

Did You Know?

• Harriet Martineau's first commissioned book, Illustrations of Political Economy, was published in February 1832 in an edition of just 1500 copies but quickly outsold the work of Charles Dickens.
• The young Princess Victoria enjoyed Martineau's work and invited her to her coronation in 1838.
• When unveiling a statue of Martineau in December 1883 at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, Wendell Phillips referred to her as the 'greatest American abolitionist'.
• Martineau was deaf and began using an ear trumpet at age 12.
• Novelist Margaret Oliphant called Martineau 'a born lecturer and politician... less distinctively affected by her sex than perhaps any other, male or female, of her generation.'