Sophia Sturge

Sophia Sturge (17 August 1795 – 6 June 1845) was a British slavery abolitionist based in Birmingham. She was a founding member of the Birmingham Ladies Society for the Relief of Negro Slaves and devoted much of her life to supporting her brother who was one of the UK's leading abolitionists.

Life Sturge was born in Elberton in Gloucestershire in 1795. She became an invalid, a victim, she said "of disease and medicine". She was the fifth child in the family of twelve of Joseph Sturge, a farmer in Elberton, Gloucestershire, and his wife Mary Marshall, who belonged to the Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as Quakers).

Her brothers included John Sturge, who became a manufacturer in Birmingham, and Edmund Sturge. The abolitionist Joseph Sturge was her elder brother and Charles Gilpin was a nephew. She and her siblings were taught by tutors but their mother had to decide what could be afforded and Sophia's requests for drawing and French had to be refused. However the children taught themselves by correspondence. Sophia read well and would discuss ideas by letter. She attended a school in Wellington, but did not enjoy it.

Her idolised brother married again the following year and his first child was named Sophia Sturge. She would be a leading peace campaigner.