James Montgomery, hymn-writer, poet and editor, was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, on 4 November 1771, the son of Moravian missionaries. In 1792 he was appointed clerk and bookkeeper in the office of the Sheffield Register. Editor Joseph Gales used the paper to promote radical reformist ideas and fled to America to escape prosecution in 1794. The paper was taken over by Montgomery and relaunched as the Sheffield Iris, taking a less radical approach; this did not protect him from prosecution however, and he was imprisoned twice in York Prison in the 1790s.

After selling the paper in 1825, he dedicated the rest of his life to his writing, correspondence and friendships, as well as many philanthropic causes in Sheffield. His poetry includes The Wanderer of Switzerland of 1806, which attracted public attention and brought him a commission to write a poem on the abolition of the slave trade - The West Indies (1809), which gained great popularity. Later poems included The World before the Flood (1812), Greenland (1819) and The Pelican Island (1826). Handwritten and published versions of his poetry are in the collection, as well as many letters. He also produced numerous hymns. Montgomery lived in Sheffield for 62 of his 83 years, and in later years was considered a local hero, as well as being respected nationally. He died on 30th April 1854, and was honoured with a public funeral on 11th May.

Mary Anne Rawson (née Read), philanthropist and slavery abolitionist, was born in Sheffield on 22 November 1801. Poet James Montgomery was a longstanding friend of her father Joseph Read and his family; Read and his brother had contributed towards Montgomery’s legal expenses during his 1795 trial. Mary Anne recalls her earliest memories of Montgomery in her ‘Reminiscences’ are of him visiting their house to see her father.

Her family were involved in numerous philanthropic activities in the Sheffield area and beyond. Mary Anne Read and her mother Elizabeth were founding members of the Sheffield Female Anti-Slavery Society, whose scrapbook is in the collection, in 1825.

Mary Anne Rawson continued her philanthropic work for the rest of her life after the death of her husband in 1829, which included supporting education by funding local day schools, hosting a boarding school at Wincobank for the daughters of non-conformist families, and with her daughter, she also raised funds for a Free Bible school for girls in Turin. Mary Anne continued a friendship with Montgomery after her father’s death and also supported his charitable interests. After Montgomery’s death in 1854, her daughter Elizabeth encouraged her to record her memories of him, and this scrapbook is in the collection. Mary Anne Rawson died at Wincobank Hall on 11 August 1887 and was buried at the Zion Congregational Chapel, Attercliffe.

Sources: ODNB Entry for James Montgomery, ODNB Entry for Joseph Gales, ODNB Entry for Mary Anne Rawson.