Laura Ormiston Chant

Laura Ormiston Chant (; 9 October 1848 – 16 February 1923) was an English social reformer, women's rights activist, and writer.

Life Chant was born Laura Ormiston Dibbin on 9 October 1848, in Woolaston, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Francis William Dibbin (1811–1874), a civil engineer and Sophia Ormiston (1815–1894), who managed a girls institution. In 1871, she was a governess and eventually went on to pursue a career in nursing. Her father did not approve of this profession and disowned her. She worked as a nursing sister in the Sophia Wards in the London Hospital.

At work Chant met and later married Thomas Chant, M.R.C.S., L.S.A., of Bridgwater on 13 September 1877 in Capel, Surrey, England. They had four children: Thomas, Emmeline, Olive and Ethel Chant. Her contemporaries called her "a helper of many." Her published works include pamphlets, hymns, a novel and a book of poetry and are described as reflecting "many of the tensions characterizing feminism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries".

Chant died in Banbury, Oxfordshire, 16 February 1923 from a cerebral hemorrhage and heart failure. She was also an assistant manager of a private lunatic asylum. On 8 April 1897 Chant and six other English nurses went to Crete to give aid and supplies during the Greco-Turkish War. She went to Bulgaria to give aid to Armenian refugees from the 1894–1896 Hamidian massacres.

Social reform

The Empire Theatre One of the most prominent causes Chant was involved in was her protest of the Empire Theatre of Varieties in Leicester Square. Chant shared in her pamphlet Why We Attacked the Empire that she was astonished by the immorality taking place in this theatre during their performances. She went to visit the theatre and observed many women who came to the promenade (an open space for people to walk around but still view the performance) to prostitute. She also believed that the clothing and the themes in these performances were immoral.

Chant attended the 10 October 1894 licensing meeting of the London County Council for the renewal of the Empire Theatre and explained the immorality occurring in the theatre. Social Purity Alliance Founding member of the National Vigilance Association which focused enforcement of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 which outlawed brothels and prostitution. She was the editor of the journal The Vigilance Record which was published by the NVA. Vice-president of the Peace Society

Public speaker and author Chant traveled around the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America and many other countries to give speeches about temperance and other moral causes. She was known for making her audience laugh or be brought tears with her moving words about the various topics she spoke about.

Chant was also known for her speeches as a nondenominational Christian preacher. In 1893 Chant addressed the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions, held in Chicago in conjunction with the Columbian Exposition. Her speech was titled, "The Real Religion of Today." In this sermon she shared the importance of appreciating and respecting the many religions that were created to worship God.

She also wrote the words and music for Action Songs for Children and several more volumes of music in the same vein, consisting of simple ditties embodying physical exercises for small children.

Selected works Verona and Other Poems (1877) Why We Attacked the Empire (1894) Women and the Streets Sellcuts' Manager (1899)