Editing Anna Sewell (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Sewell was born on March 30, 1820, in [[Great Yarmouth]], [[Norfolk]], into a devout [[Quaker]] family.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/Norwich/anna_sewell.htm|title=Anna Sewell|last=Cameron|website=www.literarynorfolk.co.uk|access-date=2017-04-22}}</ref> Her father was Isaac Phillip Sewell (1793–1879), and her mother, [[Mary Wright Sewell]] (1798–1884), was a successful author of children's books. She had one sibling, a younger brother named Philip. The children were largely educated at home by their mother due to a lack of money for schooling.<ref name=":2" />

In 1822, Isaac's business, a small shop, failed and the family moved to [[Dalston]], London.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions: the Autobiography of a Horse|last=Guest|first=Kristen|publisher=Cambridge Scholars publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4438-3382-0}}</ref> Life was difficult for the family, and Isaac and Mary frequently sent Philip and Anna to stay with Mary's parents in <!-- Not the better known town in Derbyshire -->[[Buxton, Norfolk]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oldcatton.com/archive/featured_articles/anna_sewell.pdf|title=Anna Sewell, Black Beauty and Old Catton|website=oldcatton.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818140130/http://www.oldcatton.com/archive/featured_articles/anna_sewell.pdf|archive-date=18 August 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=22 April 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 1832, when she was twelve, the family moved to [[Stoke Newington]] and Sewell attended school for the first time.<ref>''The maker of the omnibus'' by Jack Hodges. p. 85. [[Sinclair-Stevenson]] (1992) {{ISBN|1-85619-211-3}}.</ref> At fourteen, Sewell slipped and severely injured her ankles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/anna-sewell/4838/|title=Anna Sewell|website=www.penguin.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-04-22|archive-date=4 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904021435/https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/anna-sewell/4838/|url-status=dead}}</ref> For the rest of her life, she could not stand without a crutch or walk for any length of time. For greater mobility, she frequently used horse-drawn carriages, which contributed to her love of [[horse]]s and concern for the Humane treatment of animals.<ref name=":0"/>

=== Adult life ===
In 1836, Sewell's father took a job in [[Brighton]], in the hope that the climate there would help cure her. At about the same time, both Sewell and her mother left the [[Society of Friends]] to join the [[Church of England]],<ref name=":2" /> though both remained active in evangelical circles. Her mother expressed her religious faith most noticeably by writing a series of evangelical children's books, which Sewell helped to edit, though all the Sewells, and Mary Sewell's family, the Wrights, engaged in many other good works. Sewell assisted her mother, for example, to establish a [[working men's club]], and worked with her on temperance and abolitionist campaigns.<ref name=":2" />

In 1845, the family moved to [[Lancing, West Sussex|Lancing]], and Sewell's health began to deteriorate. She travelled to Europe the following year to seek treatment. On her return, the family continued to relocate – to [[Abson|Abson near Wick]] in 1858 and to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] in 1864.<ref name=":2" />

In 1866, Sewell's brother Philip's wife died, leaving him with seven young children to care for, and the following year the Sewells moved to [[Old Catton]], a village outside the city of [[Norwich]] in Norfolk, to support him.<ref name=":3" />

==='' Black Beauty''===
While living in Old Catton, Sewell wrote the manuscript of ''Black Beauty'' – in the period between 1871 and 1877.<ref name=":2" />  During this time her health was declining; she was often so weak that she was confined to her bed. Writing was a challenge. She dictated the text to her mother and from 1876 began to write on slips of paper which her mother then transcribed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

The book is considered to be one of the first English novels to be written from the perspective of an animal, in this case a horse. Although it is considered a children's classic, Sewell originally wrote it for those who worked with horses. She said "a special aim was to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses".<ref>''Victorian fiction and the cult of the horse'' by Gina M. Dorré. p. 95. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. (2006). {{ISBN|0-7546-5515-6}}.</ref> In many respects the book can be read as a guide to horse husbandry, stable management and humane training practices for colts.<ref name=":2" /> It is considered to have had an effect on reducing cruelty to horses; for example, the use of [[Overcheck|bearing reins]], which are particularly painful for a horse, was one of the practices highlighted in the novel. In the years after the book's publication, they eventually fell out of favour.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

Sewell sold the novel to Norwich publisher [[Jarrolds]] on 24 November 1877, when she was 57 years old.<ref name=":2" /> She received a single payment of £40 (£3,456 or US$4,630 in 2017) and the book was published the same year.<ref name=":3" />

===Death===
After the publication of her only novel, ''Black Beauty'', Sewell fell seriously ill. She was in extreme pain, discomfort and completely bedridden for the following months, and she died on April 25, 1878, aged 58 of [[hepatitis]] or [[tuberculosis]], only five months after the publication of ''Black Beauty''.<ref name="test">'' Dark Horse: The Life of Anna Sewell'' by Adrienne E. Gavin. p. 165. Sutton Publishing (2004). {{ISBN|0-7509-2838-7}}.</ref> She was buried on 30 April 1878 at Quaker burial ground in [[Lamas, Norfolk|Lamas]] near [[Buxton, Norfolk]], not far from Norwich.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sole.org.uk/annagrav.htm|title=Anna Sewell Memorial|website=www.sole.org.uk|access-date=2017-04-22|archive-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422213712/http://www.sole.org.uk/annagrav.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>