Mary Estlin

Mary Anne Estlin (31 July 1820 – 14 November 1902) was a British abolitionist and leading figure in anti-slavery and anti-prostitution campaigns in Britain.

Life Mary Anne Estlin was the daughter of John Bishop Estlin, a leading ophthalmologist in Bristol and his wife Margaret née Bagehot. Her mother died when she was a small child, and she took her father's religion as well as his opposition to slavery. Estlin lived in the family home and never married.

In 1832 she followed her father to the West Indies where she saw the colonial slave system.

In 1867 she helped establish the Bristol Women's Suffrage Society in which she acted as a treasurer.

During 1870-1886 she was a member of the executive committee of the Ladies' National Association. This organization co-ordinated the feminist campaign for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts.

Estlin was among the signatories of a supportive letter sent to the first meeting of the International Council of Women, which was held in 1888 in America. Other signers included Margaret Tanner, Helen Priestman Bright Clark, Emily Sturge, Maria Colby and Louisa Swann, all under the title "In the Fellowship of Womanhood."

Mary Anne Estelin died aged 82 on 14 November 1902 in her residence, 36 Upper Belgrave Road, Clifton, Bristol.