But as with so many Chartists, their involvement with the
movement represented just one episode of their lives.
Neither was previously known to have had any political
involvement, and both disappeared back into obscurity after no more than two
years in the spotlight. So where did they come from, and what happened to them
in later life?
I am thrilled to be able to say that the life of Susanna Inge is no longer a mystery.
A photograph of her in later life has come to light, she has
been identified in baptismal, census and death records. And, excitingly, a
cache of letters, poems and short stories has been found.
The story of Susanna Inge’s life now appears on ChartistAncestors, so I won’t repeat it here. Suffice to say it includes lowly origins
and a struggle to learn to write, the birth of a son (most likely outside
marriage), emigration and a long if hard life which took her into the early
years of the 20th century.
I am enormously grateful to Lorna P Cowan, a family historian
who though not a direct descendent of Susanna Inge is related to her and has
kindly shared her research with me.
Among her family papers, Lorna has a number of letters and
other documents written by Susanna and sent to her nieces in London from the
1870s onwards. She also did all the hard work of identifying and tracking
Susanna through the official records.
And it is thanks to her contact with Susanna’s direct
descendants that the photograph has been found.
Read about the life of Susanna Inge.
- Until now, the little known about Susanna Inge and Mary Ann Walker has been included in a single page on the City of London Female Charter Association. That page can be found here - but I will reorganise the material into a more coherent set of pages in due course.
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