Harriet Martineau, British novelist, lecturer, abolitionist and theological thinker was born on this day in 1802. Deaf from childhood, Marineau became one of the singular figures of her generation. Her earliest writings were concerned with Unitarian theological subjects. (Her brother James occupies a place in English Unitarianism similar to William Ellery Channing’s in America.) She expanded her interests into social and political realms achieving fame with her Illustrations of Political Economy. Her acerbic comments on the American nation including Society in America and Retrospect of Western Travel did not endear her on this side of the Atlantic. Later she embraced the positivist philosophy of Auguste Compte, pushing her theological boundaries, and leading her to an early Unitarian non-theist stance.
An enormously interesting thinker and an important influence in the evolution of Unitarian thought.
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