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Hannah Snell

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Hannah Snell
Born23 April 1723
Worcester, Great Britain
Died8 February 1792(1792-02-08) (aged 68)
London, Great Britain
Resting placeOld Burial Ground, Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, Great Britain
OccupationSoldier
Years active1745-1750
Known forDisguising herself as a man to serve as a soldier

Hannah Snell (23 April 1723 – 8 February 1792) was a British woman who disguised herself as a man and became a soldier.

Hannah Snell was mentioned in James Woodforde's diary entry of 21 May 1778 selling buttons, garters, and laces.[1]

Early life

Hannah Snell was born in Worcester, England[2] on 23 April 1723. She was the youngest daughter of her family, with five sisters and three brothers. Snell’s father, Samuel Snell was a hosier and dyer. Due to Snell’s grandfather’s service in the military and the money they inherited from him, Samuel and his second wife, Mary Williams[3] were wealthy enough to live comfortably and provide adequate education for all their children.[4] Despite this, however, Snell never learned to write, but they could read very well.[5] Locals dubbed them as the ‘young Amazon Snell’ and they often played soldier as a child.[6]

In 1740, after the death of her parents, she moved to London to live with her sister. She married James Summes, a Dutch seaman,[7] on 18 January 1744. Towards the end of Snell's pregnancy with their daughter, her husband abandoned her, leaving her in debt.[8] Her daughter, Susannah, died a year later. Snell borrowed a man's suit from her brother-in-law James Gray, assumed his name, and began to search for Summes.[9] She later learned that her husband had been executed for murder. According to her account, following the death of her daughter, on 23 November 1745,[10] she joined John Guise's regiment, the 6th Regiment of Foot, in the army of the Duke of Cumberland against Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Military career

The military career of James Grey/ Hannah Snell started when they were 25 years old, they took on the name James Grey from their brother-in-law and set off to join the marines.[11] They joined the regiment of General Guise in 1757 where they received training in military exercises and greatly excelled. During this time, they had a falling out with a Sargent in their regiment named Davis who accused Grey of neglecting their duties. This incident was prompted due to Grey refusing to facilitate a sexual encounter between Sargent Davis and a local woman.[12] She deserted when her sergeant gave her 500 lashes and moved to Portsmouth and joined the Marines. She boarded the ship Swallow at Portsmouth and sailed to Lisbon. Her unit was about to invade Mauritius, but the attack was called off. Her unit then sailed to India.[citation needed]

In August 1748, her unit was sent to an expedition to capture the French colony of Pondicherry in India. Later, she also fought in the battle in Devicottail in June 1749. She was wounded in the legs eleven times.[citation needed]

She was also shot in her groin and, to avoid revealing her sex, she instructed a local woman to take out the bullet instead of being tended by the regimental surgeon.[13][14]

In 1750, her unit returned to Britain and traveled from Portsmouth to London, where she revealed her sex to her shipmates on 2 June. She petitioned the Duke of Cumberland, the head of the army, for her pension. She also sold her story to London publisher Robert Walker, who published her account, The Female Soldier, in two different editions.[10] She also began to appear on stage in her uniform presenting military drills and singing songs.[15] Three painters painted her portrait in her uniform and The Gentleman's Magazine reported her claims. She was honourably discharged and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea officially recognized Snell's military service in November, and granted her a pension in 1750 (increased in 1785), a rare thing in those days.[citation needed]

End of life

Hannah Snell, engraving, 1789.

Snell was shot and wounded in the marines; they were shot 12 times in the legs and once in the groin.[16] Snell decided to live with the pain, however horrible it was, hiding the wound they had in their groin and dealing with it themselves.[17] This led to them digging the bullet out themself while allowing the surgeon to operate on all their other wounds.[18] Snell feared that their sex would be discovered and would have negative repercussions.  

After Snell was shot, they returned to Britain. They continued to fear that their sex would be found out and they would not get their soldiers pay. The only people that knew of their sex were their brother-in-law, sister and the women they lived with.[19] In London, on the 9th of June, Snell and other marines went to Westminster to collect their pay and be discharged; they also sold some belongings to make money as they believed that once people knew of their sex, they would not get paid.[20] Following this interaction, they told their comrades about their sex. Instead of being met with disappointment from the marines, they praised Snell and applauded them for their courage as a soldier.[21]

After Snell’s close friends found out about their sex, they told Snell they should petition for pension to the Duke of Cumberland for their service and wounds that they had gotten received. Although, Snell received an allowance from the Chelsea College they started to appear on stage.[22] Snell's performances consisted of them singing military songs and performing military exercises while dressed in uniform.[23] Eventually their fame decreased, and they quit performing.  

Sources claim that after receiving their pension, Snell retired to Wapping and began to keep a pub named The Female Warrior[24] (or The Widow in Masquerade, accounts disagree) but it did not last long.[25] By the mid-1750s, she was living in Newbury in Berkshire. In 1759, she married Richard Eyles there, with whom she had two children. In 1772, she married Richard Habgood of Welford, also in Berkshire, and the two moved to the Midlands. In 1785, she was living with her son George Spence Eyles, a clerk, on Church Street, Stoke Newington.[26]

In 1791, her mental condition suddenly worsened. She was admitted to Bethlem Hospital on 20 August and died on 8 February 1792. She was buried at Chelsea Hospital (now the Old Burial Ground, Royal Hospital Chelsea).[7]

Legacy

Snell portrayed by H. J. Ford, 1913

Playwright Shirley Gee has written two fictional dramatisations of Snell's life: a radio play, Against the Wind (1988) and a stage play, Warrior (1989).[27]

Hannah Snell is mentioned in the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie as a woman who was prepared to "serve, suffer and sacrifice."[This quote needs a citation]

References

  1. ^ Barrow, Mandy (2013). "Understanding old British money - pounds, shillings and pence". Project Britain.[self-published source?]
  2. ^ Creighton, Margaret S.; Norling, Lisa (1996). Iron Men, Wooden Women: Gender and Seafaring in the Atlantic World, 1700-1920. JHU Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-8018-5160-5.
  3. ^ Anonymous (2011). "The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Female Soldier, by Anonymous". The Project Gutenberg eBook. p. 3.
  4. ^ Anonymous (2011). "The Project Gutenberg EBook, the Female Soldier, by Anonymous". The Project Gutenberg eBook. p. 3.
  5. ^ Anonymous (2011). "The Project Gutenberg EBook, the Female Soldier, by Anonymous". The Project Gutenberg eBook. p. 3.
  6. ^ Wheelwright, Julie (23 September 2004). "Snell, Hannah [alias James Gray] (1723–1792), sexual impostor". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Blue plaque: Britain's most famous female soldier Hannah Snell was a Worcester girl". Worcester News. 9 May 2018.
  8. ^ The female soldier; or, the surprising life and adventures of Hannah Snell, Born in the City of Worcester, who took upon herself the name of James Gray; and, being deserted by her husband, put on mens apparel, and travelled to Coventry in quest of him, where she enlisted in Col. Guise's Regiment of Foot, and marched with that Regiment to Carlisle, in the Time of the Rebellion in Scotland; shewing what happened to her in that City, and her Desertion from that Regiment. Also a full and true account of her enlisting afterwards into Fraser's Regiment of Marines, then at Portsmouth; and her being draughted out of that Regiment, and sent on board the Swallow Sloop of War, one of Admiral Boscawen's Squadron, then bound for the East-Indies. With the many Vicissitudes of Fortune she met with during that Expedition, particularly at the Siege of Pondicherry, where she received Twelve Wounds. Likewise, the surprising Accident by which she came to hear of the Death of her faithless Husband, whom she went in quest of. The Whole Containing The most surprising Incidents that have happened in any preceding Age; wherein is laid open all her Adventures, in Mens Cloaths, for near five Years, without her Sex being ever discovered. 1750. OCLC 642217841. Gale CW0104689797.
  9. ^ Creighton, Margaret S.; Norling, Lisa (1996). Iron Men, Wooden Women: Gender and Seafaring in the Atlantic World, 1700-1920. JHU Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8018-5160-5.
  10. ^ a b Snell, Hannah (1989). The Female Soldier: Or the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell. William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California. ISBN 978-0-404-70257-1.[page needed]
  11. ^ Anonymous (2011). "The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Female Soldier, by Anonymous". The Project Gutenberg eBook. p. 7.
  12. ^ "The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Female Soldier, by Anonymous". 2011. p. 8.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Pennington, Reina; Higham, Robin (2003). Amazons to Fighter Pilots: A-Q. Greenwood Press. p. 404. ISBN 978-0-313-32707-0.
  14. ^ Druett, Joan (2000). She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-684-85690-2.
  15. ^ "Hannah Snell, 1750 (c)". National Army Museum. London. NAM Accession Number 1963-05-63-1.
  16. ^ Anonymous (18 June 2011). "The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Female Soldier". The Project Gutenberg. p. 15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  17. ^ Anonymous (18 June 2011). "The Female Soldier Or, the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell". The Project Gutenberg. p. 36.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  18. ^ Anonymous (18 June 2011). "The Female Soldier Or, the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell". The Project Gutenberg. p. 36.
  19. ^ Anonymous (18 June 2011). "The Female Soldier; Or, The Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell". The Project Gutenberg. p. 36.
  20. ^ Anonymous (18 June 2011). "The Female Soldier; Or, The Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell". The Project Gutenberg. p. 38.
  21. ^ Anonymous (18 June 2011). "The Female Soldier; Or, The Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell". The Project Gutenberg. p. 39.
  22. ^ Anonymous (18 June 2011). "The Female Soldier; Or, The Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell". The Project Gutenberg. p. 30.
  23. ^ Women's Museum of California (31 January 2018). "Hannah Snell – The Female Solider". Women's Museum of California.
  24. ^ "Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Histories". Historic England.
  25. ^ Anonymous. "Hannah Snell: The Famous 'Woman in Men's Cloaths". JaneAusten.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  26. ^ Anonymous (26 March 2023). "Hannah Snell: The Famous "women In Men's Cloaths". Jane Austen Centre.
  27. ^ Bradley, B.G (16 November 2007). "'Warrior' a feast for senses and mind". The Mining Journal. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.

Further reading

  • Matthew Stephens - Hannah Snell: The Secret Life of a Female Marine, 1723–1792
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Snell, Hannah".
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