DidyouknowtherearemanypeopleconnectedtoSunderlandwhohavehelped
socially just causes? Below are some examples of the courageous people who
stoodupforwhattheybelievedtoberight.
JamesFieldStanfield
James Field Stanfield (1749-1824) was the first ‘ordinary’ sailor to become
involvedintransportingAfricanslaves.Jameswashorrifiedbywhathesawon
theslaveshipsandhebegantowriteabouthisexperiences.Thedescriptionsof
whathewitnessedonboardthoseshipswererecordedinpamphletsthatwere
publishedforotherstoread.Asthewordspreadabouthowawfultheconditions
were for slaves aboard those ships, there arose a political movement to ban
slavery and the slave trade. Those who supported it were called abolitionists.
James’swritingshelpedtoinformthepublicabouttheplightofcapturedslaves
and contributed considerably to the abolition movement. James lived in
Sunderlandbetween1789and1796.
BaronessAnneIsabellaByron
BorninElemoreHall,CountyDurhamLadyByron(1792-1860)wascommitted
tosocialjusticeissues.Shewasveryconcernedabouttheneedforprisonreform
and education; she herself was a talented poet and mathematician. Lady Byron
livedatatimewhenwomen’svoicesweren’talwaysheard,butdespitethisshe
founded the first Infants School and Co-Operative School in England. She also
supported the abolitionist movement, and was one of only a few women to be
commemoratedinapaintedoftheWorldAnti-SlaveryConvention1840.
NormanGaudie
Norman Gaudie was an accounts clerk on the North-Eastern Railway and a
reserve footballer for SAFC (Sunderland Association Football Club). He was
called up to serve as a soldier in the First World War. Norman was a
ConscientiousObjector-againstwarfighting,whichmeanthewasexemptfrom
combat.Herefusedtotakemilitaryordersbasedonhisreligiousconscienceand
becameknownasoneofthe‘RichmondSixteen’.Theywereagroupofmenwho
objected to fighting on religious, political or social grounds who were tried in
military court and sentenced to death. At the last moment the sentence was
overturnedandinsteadtheSixteenfacedtenyearsimprisonment.Theirheroic
and courageous actions have had lasting impacts on the British Army and the
globalpeacemovement.