Clara Lucas Balfour
Encyclopedia
Clara Lucas Balfour was an English temperance campaigner, lecturer and author.
, Hampshire
, on 21 December 1808. Her parents' name was Lucas; her mother Sarah left Hampshire and took up residence in London with Clara in 1818. Clara in September 1824 became the wife of James Balfour, of the Ways and Means Office in the House of Commons, her new home being in Chelsea
.
, Clara then contacted Jabez Burns
in 1840, and became a Baptist
convert.
In the period 1837 to 1840, Balfour wrote Common Sense versus Socialism, a tract directed at a local Owenite group. Jane Carlyle called to thank her, and began a friendship. Importantly in practical terms, around this time Balfour also met the campaigner John Dunlop of Gairbraid. He gave her paid editorial work on the Temperance Journal in 1841.
In 1841 (after moving to Maida Hill), Balfour began a career as a temperance lecturer at the Greenwich Literary Institution. She continued the public advocacy of her principles for nearly thirty years. Her lectures were not confined to the temperance topic. She lectured on the influence of woman on society, and kindred subjects; and she held the post for some years of lecturer on belles lettres at a leading ladies' school.
preaching her memorial discourse (later published) in the Church Street Chapel, Edgware Road.
Besides these, 'Lilian's Trial' was being published at the time of Balfour's death in The Fireside; 'Job Tufton' appeared in 1882 in the National Temperance publications; and 'The Burmish Family,' and 'The Manor Mystery,' were other tales brought out posthumously. Of these works several were often reprinted, and the 'Whisper to the Newly Married' reached 23 editions. Balfour contributed many of these shorter tales, in the first instance to the British Workman, Day of Days, Hand and Heart, Animal World, Meliora, Family Visitor, Home Words, The Fireside, Band of Hope Review, and the Onward series. Others were issued as Social Science Tracts, and some published by the Scottish and the British Temperance Leagues.
, Liberal M.P. for Tamworth
, was her son. Dawson Burns, son of Jabez Burns, married Cecile Balfour, Clara's daughter.
Attribution
Early life
Balfour was born in the New ForestNew Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, on 21 December 1808. Her parents' name was Lucas; her mother Sarah left Hampshire and took up residence in London with Clara in 1818. Clara in September 1824 became the wife of James Balfour, of the Ways and Means Office in the House of Commons, her new home being in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
.
Activist
In October 1837, James Balfour, an alcoholic, took a temperance pledge. Clara then herself took the pledge, a week or so later; this was at the Bible Christians' chapel, a meeting-place close by her house. Having adopted teetotalismTeetotalism
Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
, Clara then contacted Jabez Burns
Jabez Burns
Jabez Burns was an English nonconformist divine and Christian philosophical writer.He was one of the first clergymen of any denomination to preach teetotalism from the pulpit.-Biography:...
in 1840, and became a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
convert.
In the period 1837 to 1840, Balfour wrote Common Sense versus Socialism, a tract directed at a local Owenite group. Jane Carlyle called to thank her, and began a friendship. Importantly in practical terms, around this time Balfour also met the campaigner John Dunlop of Gairbraid. He gave her paid editorial work on the Temperance Journal in 1841.
In 1841 (after moving to Maida Hill), Balfour began a career as a temperance lecturer at the Greenwich Literary Institution. She continued the public advocacy of her principles for nearly thirty years. Her lectures were not confined to the temperance topic. She lectured on the influence of woman on society, and kindred subjects; and she held the post for some years of lecturer on belles lettres at a leading ladies' school.
Later life
Mrs. Balfour's last public appearance was at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, in May 1877, when she was elected president of the British Women's Temperance League. She died at Croydon 3 July 1878, and was buried at the Paddington Cemetery, the Rev. Dawson BurnsDawson Burns
-Life:Born at Southwark on 22 January 1828, was he was a younger son of Jabez Burns, Baptist minister of New Church Street Chapel on Edgware Road, a temperance advocate from 1836. His mother was Jane, daughter of George Dawson of Keighley...
preaching her memorial discourse (later published) in the Church Street Chapel, Edgware Road.
Works
Her publications, mostly to advocate temperance, but also with a theological aim, and covering varied topics, had an immense sale, and were very numerous. They were as follows:- 'Moral Heroism,' 1846.
- 'Women of Scripture,' 1847.
- 'Women and the Temperance Movement,' 1849.
- 'A Whisper to the Newly Married,' 1850. Editor of a 1824 work by Margaret G. Derenzy.
- 'Happy Evenings,' 1851.
- 'Sketches of English Literature,' 1852.
- 'Two Christmas Days,' 1852.
- 'Morning Dew Drops,' with preface by Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
, 1853. - 'Working Women,' and several short sketches, as 'Instructors,' of Anna Barbauld, Mrs. Trimmer, Mrs. Sherman, Hannah MoreHannah MoreHannah More was an English religious writer, and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical...
and others, 1854. - 'Introductory Essay to Ann Taylor's Maternal Solicitude,' 1855.
- 'Bands of Hope,' 1857.
- 'Dr. Lignum's Sliding Scale,' 1858.
- 'Frank's Sunday Coat,' 1860.
- 'Scrub,' 1860.
- 'Toil and Trust,' 1860.
- 'The Victim,' 1860.
- 'The Warning,' 1860.
- 'The Two Homes,' 1860.
- 'Sunbeams for all Seasons,' 1861.
- 'Drift,' 1861.
- 'Uphill Work,' 1861.
- 'Confessions of a Decanter,' 1862.
- 'History of a Shilling,' 1862.
- 'Wanderings of a Bible,' 1862.
- 'A Mother's Sermon,' 1862.
- 'Our Old October,' 1863.
- 'Cousin Bessie,' 1863.
- 'Hope for Number Two,' 1863.
- 'A Little Voice,' 1863.
- 'A Peep out of the Window,' 1863.
- 'Club Night,' 1864.
- 'Troubled Waters,' 1864.
- 'Cruelty and Cowardice,' 1866.
- 'Bible Patterns of Good Women,' 1867.
- 'Ways and Means,' 1868.
- 'Harry Wilson,' 1870.
- 'One by Herself,' 1872.
- 'All but Lost,' 1873.
- 'Ethel's Strange Lodger,' 1873.
- 'Lame Dick's Lantern,' 1874.
- 'Light at last,' 1874.
- 'Women worth Emulating,' 1877.
- 'Home Makers,' 1878.
Besides these, 'Lilian's Trial' was being published at the time of Balfour's death in The Fireside; 'Job Tufton' appeared in 1882 in the National Temperance publications; and 'The Burmish Family,' and 'The Manor Mystery,' were other tales brought out posthumously. Of these works several were often reprinted, and the 'Whisper to the Newly Married' reached 23 editions. Balfour contributed many of these shorter tales, in the first instance to the British Workman, Day of Days, Hand and Heart, Animal World, Meliora, Family Visitor, Home Words, The Fireside, Band of Hope Review, and the Onward series. Others were issued as Social Science Tracts, and some published by the Scottish and the British Temperance Leagues.
Family
Jabez BalfourJabez Balfour
Jabez Spencer Balfour was a businessman, British Liberal Party politician and fraudster.-Life:He was the son of James Balfour and Clara Lucas Balfour....
, Liberal M.P. for Tamworth
Tamworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Tamworth is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...
, was her son. Dawson Burns, son of Jabez Burns, married Cecile Balfour, Clara's daughter.
External links
Attribution