Editing Jonas Hanway

{{short description|English traveller and philanthropist (1712–1786)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Jonas Hanway
| honorific_suffix   = FRSA
| image              = Jonas Hanway by James Northcote.jpg
| caption            = Portrait of Jonas Hanway by [[James Northcote (painter)|James Northcote]], {{circa|1785}}
| birth_date         = 12 August 1712
| birth_place        = [[Portsmouth]]
| death_date         = {{death-date and age|5 September 1786|12 August 1712}}
| death_place        = [[London]]
| occupation         = Philanthropist, traveller
}}

'''Jonas Hanway''' [[Royal Society of Arts|FRSA]] (12 August 1712 – 5 September 1786), was a British [[philanthropist]], polemicist, merchant and [[Explorer|traveller]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trueman Wood |first=Henry |title=A History of the Royal Society of Arts |publisher=John Murray |year=1913 |location=London}}</ref> He was the first male Londoner to carry an [[umbrella]] and was a noted opponent of [[tea]] drinking.

Hanway created seventy-four printed works, mostly pamphlets, on a wide variety of subjects. Of literary importance is the ''Historical Account of British Trade over the Caspian Sea, with a Journal of Travels, etc.'' (London, 1753).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He is also cited frequently for his work with the [[Foundling Hospital]] in London, particularly his pamphlets detailing the earliest comparative "histories" of the foundation versus similar institutions abroad.<ref>{{Cite book|title = A Candid Historical Account of the Hospital For the Reception of Exposed and Deserted Young Children; representing The present Plan of it as productive of many Evils, and not adapted to the Genius and Happiness of this Nation|last = Hanway|first = Jonas|year = 1759|location = London}}</ref>

==Life==
Hanway was born in [[Portsmouth]], on the south coast of England. While still a child, his father, who had been a [[victualler]], died, and the family subsequently moved to [[London]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1729, Jonas was apprenticed to a merchant in [[Lisbon]]. In 1743, after he had been in business for himself for some time in London, he became a partner with Mr Dingley, a merchant in [[St Petersburg]], and in this way was led to travel in [[Russia]] and [[Persia]]. Leaving St Petersburg on 10 September 1743, and passing south by [[Moscow]], [[Tsaritsyn]] and [[Astrakhan]], he embarked on the [[Caspian Sea]] on 22 November and arrived at [[Astrabad]] on 18 December. Here his goods were seized by [[Mohammed Hassan Beg]], and it was only after great privations that he reached the camp of [[Nadir Shah]], under whose protection he recovered most (85%) of his property.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His return journey was embarrassed by sickness (at [[Resht]]), attacks from pirates, and six weeks' quarantine; he only arrived at St Petersburg on 1 January 1745. He again left the Russian capital on 9 July 1750 and travelled through [[Germany]] and the [[Netherlands]] to England (28 October). The rest of his life was mostly spent in London, where the narrative of his travels (published in 1753) soon made him a man of note, and where he devoted himself to philanthropy and good citizenship.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
[[File:Portrait of Jonas Hanway, seated at a table beside a surveyor's theodolite and a classical urn, overlooking a landscape (by Arthur Devis).jpg|thumb|Hanway by [[Arthur Devis]]]]

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:JonasHanway.jpg|thumb|left|Advertising cartouche of Jonas Hanway, used by [[Kendall & Sons Ltd]] umbrella manufacturers{{puic|1=JonasHanway.jpg|log=2009 March 26}}]] -->
In 1756, Hanway founded [[The Marine Society]], to keep up the supply of British seamen; in 1758, he became a governor of the [[Foundling Hospital]], a position which was upgraded to vice president in 1772; he was instrumental in the establishment the [[Magdalen Hospital]]; in 1761 he procured a better system of parochial birth registration in London; and in 1762 he was appointed a commissioner for victualling the navy (10 July); this office he held until October 1783.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He died, unmarried, on 5 September 1786 aged 74 and was buried in the crypt at [[St. Mary's Church, Hanwell]]. A monument to his memory, sculpted by [[John Francis Moore (sculptor)|John Francis Moore]] was erected in the north transept<ref>[[Arthur Penrhyn Stanley|Stanley, A.P.]], ''Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey'' ([[London]]; [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]; [[1882]]), p. 248.</ref> at [[Westminster Abbey]] in 1786.<ref>Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851</ref>

Hanway was the first male Londoner, it is said, to carry an umbrella, (following women who had been using umbrellas since 1705) <ref>{{Cite book|title=Britain Etc.: The way we live and how we got there|last=Easton|first=M|publisher=Simon and Schuster UK Ltd.|year=2013|isbn=978-1-47112-918-6|location=London|pages=224}}</ref> and he lived to triumph over all the [[hackney carriage|hackney coachmen]] who tried to hoot and hustle him down.<ref>[[William John Thoms]], [[John Doran (writer)|John Doran]], [[Henry Frederick Turle]], [[Joseph Knight (critic)|Joseph Knight]], Vernon Horace Rendall, Florence Hayllar (1850) [https://books.google.com/books?id=clsCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA25 Notes and Queries: Umbrellas]. [[Oxford University Press]], pp.25. Retrieved 2006-10-30.</ref> He attacked vail-giving, or tipping, with some temporary success; by his onslaught upon tea drinking he became involved in controversy with [[Samuel Johnson]] and [[Oliver Goldsmith]]. His last efforts were on behalf of child [[chimney sweep|chimney-sweeps]]. He also advocated [[solitary confinement]] for prisoners and opposed naturalisation of non-British Jews.<ref>Hanway, Jonas (1776) [https://books.google.com/books?id=8VNtvyCNiRYC&dq=%22jonas+Hanway%22&pg=PA4 Solitude in Imprisonment: With Proper Profitable Labour and a Spare Diet, the Most Humane and...] J. Bew. Retrieved 2006-10-30.</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Opposition to tea==
[[File:J. Hanway, An essay on tea; effects of tea Wellcome L0016394.jpg|thumb|The frontispiece to the ''Essay on Tea'' with a scene of "picturesque beggars drinking tea" outdoors.  Behind, Chinese tea chests are unloaded from a boat, passing a pub in ruins.<ref>Hillier, 77, illustrated as figure 33.</ref>]]

Hanway was a staunch opponent of tea drinking.<ref name="Hsia 1998">Hsia, Adrian. (1998). ''The Vision of China in the English Literature of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries''. Chinese University Press. pp. 276-277. {{ISBN|962-201-608-1}}</ref> In 1756, he authored ''An Essay on Tea'' which argued that tea was "pernicious to health, obstructing industry and impoverishing the nation". Hanway stated that tea drinking caused bad breath, ugliness and weakened the nerves. Hanway was concerned about the nation's economic loss from the tea trade with China. He believed that Britain's national wealth was being given to other countries instead of being used in preparing the nation's defence and that excessive tea drinking was weakening the British population.<ref>[https://www.johnsonsocietyoflondon.org/resources/New%20Ramblers/NR%201987-8.pdf ''Jonas Hanway: Philanthropist and Founder of the Marine Society'']. Journal of the Johnson Society of London, 1987.</ref>

The ''Essay'' said: "To what a ''height'' of folly must a nation be arrived, when the ''common people'' are not satisfied with ''wholesome food'' at ''home'', but must go to the remotest regions to satisfy a ''vicious palate''! There is a certain lane near ''Richmond'' where beggars are often seen, in the summer season, drinking their ''tea''. You may see ''labourers'' who are ''mending the roads'' drinking their tea; it is even drank in ''cinder-carts''; and what is no less absurd, sold out of cups to ''Hay-makers''.<ref>Quoted in Hillier, 77</ref>  

The frontispiece to the ''Essay'' showed a scene of "picturesque beggars drinking tea" outdoors.<ref>Hillier, 77, illustrated as figure 33.</ref>

In 1757, Samuel Johnson, a tea drinker, wrote an anonymous negative review of Hanway's essay for the ''Literary Magazine''.<ref>Murphy, Arthur. (1824). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89002228823&view=1up&seq=343 ''The Works of Samuel Johnson'']. London: Thomas Tegg. pp. 333-348</ref> This led to a heated dispute between them.<ref name="Hsia 1998"/> Johnson's review was controversial as it criticised the [[Foundling Hospital]]. The governors of the hospital considered taking legal action against the publisher of the ''Literary Magazine''.<ref>Taylor, James Stephen. (1985). ''Jonas Hanway: Founder of the Marine Society''. Ashgate Publishing. p. 54. {{ISBN|978-0859677004}}</ref> However, the publishers of the magazine did not apologise or reveal Johnson's name but decided it was time for him to hand in his resignation as a reviewer.<ref>Hanley, Brian. (2001). ''Samuel Johnson as Book Reviewer''. University of Delaware Press. pp. 144-145. {{ISBN|0-87413-736-5}}</ref>

Johnson did not dispute some of Hanway's attack, saying: "I... shall therefore readily admit, that tea is a liquor not proper for the lower classes of the people, as it supplies no strength to labour, or relief to disease, but gratifies the taste without nourishing the body."<ref>Quoted in Hillier, 77</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Based on {{EB1911|wstitle=Hanway, Jonas |volume=12 |page=932}}
*[[Bevis Hillier|Hillier, Bevis]], ''Pottery and Porcelain 1700-1914: England, Europe and North America'' (series ''The Social History of the Decorative Arts''), 1968, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0297176684
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=4d9kAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Jonas+Hanway%22+1712&pg=PA301 ''The Lives of Celebrated Travellers'', Volume 2]

==Further reading==
{{commonscat}}
* [[Roland Everett Jayne]], ''Jonas Hanway: Philanthropist, Politician, and Author (1712–1786)'', London: Epworth Press, J. Alfred Sharp, 1929.
*On his life, see also John Pugh, ''Remarkable Occurrences in the Life of Jonas Hanway'' (London, 1787); ''Gentleman's Magazine'', vol. xxxii. p.&nbsp;342; vol. lvi. pt. ii. pp.&nbsp;812814, 1090, 1143-1144; vol. lxv. pt. ii. pp.&nbsp;72 1722, 834-835; ''Notes and Queries'', 1st series, i. 436, ii. 25; 3rd series, vii. 311; 4th series, viii. 416.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanway, Jonas}}
[[Category:1712 births]]
[[Category:1786 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century British philanthropists]]
[[Category:People from Portsmouth]]
[[Category:English travel writers]]
[[Category:English philanthropists]]
[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Historians of Iran]]
[[Category:Opponents of tea drinking]]
[[Category:Writers about Russia]]