Sarah Smith, more widely known by her pen name\u202fHesba Stretton, was a prominent and bestselling Victorian author of evangelical children\u2019s literature. She was born on\u202f27 July 1823 at Church Stretton, Shropshire, the third daughter and fourth of eight children of\u202fBenjamin and Anne Smith. Her father was a bookseller, while her mother\u2019s strong evangelical convictions profoundly influenced Sarah\u2019s moral and religious themes in writing. In 1859, she struck up a friendship with Charles Dickens when her first story \u2018The Lucky Leg\u2019 was published in Household Words (<\/em>‘Hesba Stretton’ 1911) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jessica\u2019s First Prayer<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stretton achieved critical acclaim with her first major work,\u202f Jessica\u2019s First Prayer<\/em>, which was published in\u202f1866\u202fas a serialized story in the London religious magazine\u202fSunday at Home<\/em>\u202f and later released as a book in\u202f1867. The work became immensely popular, selling over\u202fhalf a million copies by the end of the nineteenth century (<\/em>‘Hesba Stretton’ 1911), surpassing the sales of\u202fAlice in Wonderland<\/em>, and firmly establishing Stretton\u2019s reputation as a leading figure in Victorian children\u2019s fiction (Alderson, 1974).\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n Copies of Jessica’s First Prayer<\/em> from the library at Canterbury Christ Church University<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translated into other languages<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside its popularity in the UK, Jessica\u2019s First Prayer<\/em> achieved international acclaim and was translated into every European language, and most African and Asiatic languages. The touching tale follows the story of a poor girl who is cared for by a coffee stall owner, who throughout the narrative learns of the importance of faith. It was met with immediate and long-lasting popularity, particularly in Russia, where the reading of this text was made compulsory in schools by Tsar Alexander II (Although this was revoked by his successor Alexander III who ordered the books to be burned) (<\/em>‘Hesba Stretton’ 1911). Stretton\u2019s heart-warming story instilled amongst Russian children a strong sense of Christian faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Depth of Christian Feeling<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n In both Russia and other parts of the world, Stretton was deeply beloved and hailed as an almost saintly figure. The Earl of Shaftesbury, in 1867, described Stretton\u2019s work as \u2018a beautiful story\u2019 that would \u2018hardly find a rival\u2019 in its \u2018nature, simplicity, pathos, and depth of Christian feeling.\u2019 Although Jessica\u2019s First Praye<\/em>r was not Stretton\u2019s personal favourite, it perfectly encapsulated her strong faith, background, and the charitable work she did to help those less fortunate than herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Illustrations from Jessica’s First Prayer<\/em> showing the coffee stall owner leading Jessica into church for the first time and later in the book when she has been adopted and attends a service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Passionate philanthropist<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside her successful writing career, Hesba Stretton was a passionate philanthropist. Her concern for poor children in particular was evident in many of her books, such as Alone in London<\/em> (1869). In January 1884, Stretton wrote to The Times<\/em> calling for the establishment of a society to prevent the \u2018tyranny, oppression and neglect, suffered by helpless children’ and in another letter, written after visiting a children\u2019s shelter in Liverpool, she begged that \u2018the inarticulate cry of London children ought to be listened to; and will be listened to sooner or later\u2019 adding the stark warning, \u2018Only while we linger they perish.\u201d (Stretton, 1884) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stretton continued her letter writing campaign using strong emotive language influenced by her Christian upbringing: \u2018The child Lazarus lies at our gate full of sores, seeking to be fed from the crumbs which fall from the rich man\u2019s table. Shall we be less merciful to him than the dogs are? God forbid.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n Illustration from Alone in London<\/em> where Tony and Dolly go to buy a broom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Formation of the NSPCC<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hesba Stretton\u2019s persistence, and that of other leading philanthropists such as Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1814-1906]<\/a>, paid off. In July 1884, the Reverend Benjamin Waugh founded the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Five years later, the organisation changed its name to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Front](\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/638\/2025\/10\/IMG_7438.jpg\")
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