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Preaching religion, family and memory in nineteenth-century England

Preaching religion, family and memory in nineteenth-century England
Preaching religion, family and memory in nineteenth-century England
This article explores the religious selfhood of an exemplary Bible Christian woman, Mary Thorne (1807–1883). Founded in 1815 as a splinter group of Wesleyan Methodism, the Bible Christian denomination invoked an epistemology which stressed the correlation between religious and familial obligations. A close study of Mary Thorne's private writings suggests the tensions which existed within this ideal at the level of everyday life. Her writings open a window on a religious woman's negotiation of her public identity alongside her experiences of marriage, sexuality and motherhood. They show the impact of age, life cycle and memory in the process of self-imagining and commemoration. Critically, they also show how dependent Thorne's self-realisation and presentation were on material signs of her identity. In understanding the varying constructions of Mary Thorne's religious selfhood, I argue we might more fully understand the material cultures that underpinned evangelical religion and domesticity in nineteenth-century Britain.
0953-5233
38-54
Colpus, Eve
9bc68e3e-325f-40c8-893d-d302577c07e7
Colpus, Eve
9bc68e3e-325f-40c8-893d-d302577c07e7

Colpus, Eve (2010) Preaching religion, family and memory in nineteenth-century England. Gender & History, 22 (1), 38-54. (doi:10.1111/j.1468-0424.2009.01577.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article explores the religious selfhood of an exemplary Bible Christian woman, Mary Thorne (1807–1883). Founded in 1815 as a splinter group of Wesleyan Methodism, the Bible Christian denomination invoked an epistemology which stressed the correlation between religious and familial obligations. A close study of Mary Thorne's private writings suggests the tensions which existed within this ideal at the level of everyday life. Her writings open a window on a religious woman's negotiation of her public identity alongside her experiences of marriage, sexuality and motherhood. They show the impact of age, life cycle and memory in the process of self-imagining and commemoration. Critically, they also show how dependent Thorne's self-realisation and presentation were on material signs of her identity. In understanding the varying constructions of Mary Thorne's religious selfhood, I argue we might more fully understand the material cultures that underpinned evangelical religion and domesticity in nineteenth-century Britain.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 15 March 2010
Published date: April 2010
Organisations: History

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Local EPrints ID: 343233
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/343233
ISSN: 0953-5233
PURE UUID: f7ef3af9-f288-4c6f-a258-be3206d0244a

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Date deposited: 26 Sep 2012 16:38
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 12:01

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