About Hannah More
When William Wilberforce campaigned against slavery in the British Empire, Hannah More was the influential journalist at his side. She had been a successful playwright and friend to elite literary figures of England. Converted to Christ through the ministry of former slave-trader John Newton, she started writing popular pamphlets and stories calling for an end to British slavery and cultural renewal of British society. She is credited by one biographer for a key pamphlet, Village Politics, that saved England from the bloody and unsuccessful French Revolution.
She and her sisters also launched an extensive ministry to the poor in a rural part of England, with the support of Wilberforce and his friends. It started as an all-day Sunday School and grew into several schools and discipleship work that would seem like rescue mission work today.
She is a role model for offering her talents and gifts to a nation afflicted by drunkenness, the slave trade, gambling addiction, poverty and broken families. Her mind was enlightened by the Bible. Her heart was inflamed by a passion for England’s, Jeremiah 29:7 (Seek the welfare of the land). She sought transformation for England at a turning point in western history.
To apply for this scholarship, please read about Hannah More and write a 500-word essay on her life. The best recent biography is Fierce Convictions, by Karen Swallow Prior. A shorter story of her life is in 7 Women by Eric Metaxas.
