Fanny E. Lacy

The Honourable Fanny E. Lacy
First page of "The Vegetarian; or, a Visit to Aunt Primitive"
Born	Fanny Elizabeth Lacy c. 1786
Died	1869 (aged 83) Fulham, London, England
Resting place	Brompton Cemetery
Pen name	Fanny Eliza Lacy
Occupation	Writer poet composer activist
Language	English
Genre	Fiction poetry children's literature songs
Years active	1832–1859
Notable works	"The Vegetarian; or, a Visit to Aunt Primitive" (1847)

Fanny Elizabeth Lacy (c. 1786–1869), who wrote under the names Fanny E. Lacy and Fanny Eliza Lacy, was a British writer, poet, composer, and advocate of vegetarianism and women's rights. Active during the mid-19th century, she contributed to the early vegetarian movement in London and was associated with reformist circles linked to the Concordium at Alcott House. Lacy published poetry, short stories, and novels in a range of periodicals and volumes, often addressing themes of social reform, moral education, exotic or historical fiction, and occasionally reworking traditional fairy tales. Her 1847 short story "The Vegetarian; or, a Visit to Aunt Primitive" has been cited in scholarship as an early example of feminist-vegetarian literature envisioning utopian transformation. In addition to her literary work, she wrote and composed songs, including settings of nursery rhymes such as "Jack and Jill" and "Little Jack Horner", and original pieces such as "The World of Flowers". Lacy's contributions have been noted in historical studies of vegetarianism, Victorian women's writing, and 19th-century cultural reform.

Fanny Elizabeth Lacy was born around 1786.^[1] She was a member of the aristocracy.^[2]: 31 From an early age, she expressed discomfort with eating meat.^[3]

Lacy has been described as an early vegetarian feminist.^[4] She became a vegetarian from 1832.^[3] Active in the early London vegetarian movement, she is recorded as having attended some of its meetings.^[2]: 47

In a letter to Joshua Jacob and Abigail Beale of the White Quakers, reformer Goodwyn Barmby wrote that he had stayed with Lacy at Garden Cottage in Walham Green after distributing tracts and books. He quoted her as describing herself as "a friend to progress, and one much desirous of understanding your work."^[3]

In 1847, Lacy was recorded as living in Hounslow in a list of correspondents mentioned in the published report of the Vegetarian Society's adjourned conference at Ramsgate. Her name appeared among individuals who had sent letters expressing support for the society's aims but were unable to attend in person.^[5]

Lacy contributed poetry to publications associated with the Concordium, a social reform community based at Alcott House, which was known for its interest in vegetarianism and utopian ideals. One of her poems, titled "The Star and the Spring Flower", appeared in the January 1844 issue of the New Age. In correspondence with William Horsell, editor of the Truth-Tester, she mentioned a vegetarian acquaintance named Marshall, who adopted the diet after visiting Alcott House.^[3] Her work also appeared in the Truth-Tester, including an 1848 poem titled "Invitation to the Physiological Festival",^[6] referencing the "Physiological Conference" held at Alcott House.^[3] This was a significant event in the founding of the Vegetarian Society.^[6]

In April 1847, Lacy published a short story titled "The Vegetarian; or, a Visit to Aunt Primitive" in the Metropolitan Magazine,^[2]: 277 intended as a companion piece to "A Sketch of Character", which had appeared the previous year.^[7] The story may have been published through the influence of editor Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who was known to support vegetarianism.^[3] It includes a quotation from Dr. Reece's Medical Guide stating that "a vegetable diet affords the same support as animal food, with the important advantage of preventing plethora."^[8]: 151

Although written by a woman, the narrative focuses on male characters who adopt vegetarianism and experience improved health. Suzanne Samples observes that, in the Victorian period, dietary restraint was often associated with women, and male vegetarians could be seen as deviating from prevailing gender norms. The story has been interpreted as engaging with these views by portraying vegetarianism as consistent with male vitality and well-being.^[8]: 151

The narrative also presents vegetarianism as an alternative to urban and industrial life. The protagonist's aunt, depicted as a committed vegetarian, lives in a rural setting and describes "flesh-foods" as "strange unnatural compounds". She envisions a future in which vegetarianism underpins a pastoral and morally renewed society.^[9] She argues that if a vegetarian diet were universally adopted, it would bring about a complete reconstitution of society, delivering both moral and physical benefits. Such change, she emphasises, must be gradual and nonviolent, describing it as a "progressive" reform rather than a revolutionary upheaval.^[10]

Lacy wrote and composed several songs. Her published work Juvenile Songs: Jack and Jill, issued by Oliver Ditson in Boston, features the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill" set to music for piano and voice.^[11] She also composed a separate setting of "Little Jack Horner", likewise published by Ditson.^[12] Another original composition, "The World of Flowers", is also attributed to her.^[13]

In addition to composing music, Lacy's texts were set by other composers in works such as "Come Friends and Neighbours", "Lillian", "The Fruit Gatherers' Song", "The World of Flowers", and "The Sylph of the Forest: The Song of the Fairy Butterfly".^[14][15]

Lacy was a prolific contributor to 19th-century periodicals, especially The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction and the Mirror Monthly Magazine. Her fiction included stories such as "The True History of the Celebrated Blue Beard", "The Story of Little Red Riding-Hood", "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper", "The Disagreeable Lodger", "Jeremy Jollyboy's Pantomime; or, An Old Bachelor's Garret-Window", and "The Vision of the Snow-Storm; A Tale for a Winter Night". She also published historical and exotic tales like "Judith and Holofernes", "The Nabob's Arrival", and "The Serpent-Charmer of Cashmere: A Tale of Hindoostan". Her poetry appeared in both general and themed formats, including one-off poems such as "The Fruit Gatherers", "Let Us Pray", and "A Wish for the New Year", as well as recurring series titled "Pencillings of Poesy" and "Lays from Shakespeare".^[16]

In the 1850s, Lacy published several works of fiction and poetry. Her novel The Visitor in Grey, and Other Tales was dedicated, with permission, to Lord Shaftesbury, a prominent philanthropist. One of her poems was also published in the Ragged School Magazine, a periodical associated with educational reform. Another novel, Merry Sparks for a Winter Hearth, was dedicated to her literary mentor Albert Smith and received attention in newspaper advertisements. Her book Labyrinth and the Path was dedicated to the Reverend John Cumming and included Hindu themes as well as a poem about a character named Basa, who is socially ostracised for converting to Christianity.^[3]

Lacy died in 1869 at 12 Lansdowne Villas, Fulham, London, aged 83. She was buried in Brompton Cemetery on 11 December.^[17]

Lacy is listed in John Foster Kirk's comprehensive bibliographical reference, A Supplement to Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors.^[18] She also appears in David James O'Donoghue's 1912 reference work, The Poets of Ireland: A Biographical Dictionary of Irish Writers of English Verse.^[19]

Lacy has been identified among several 19th-century British authors, including James Duncan and Sarah Clubb, who incorporated vegetarian themes into their fiction during the 1840s to 1870s. Although such works were limited in number and received little attention, they formed part of the broader literary output associated with the vegetarian movement. This body of fiction has been described as a counterpart to biographical narratives commonly used in life-reform advocacy.^[2]: 47

She has also been noted in scholarship examining the historical connections between vegetarianism, animal welfare, and women's rights. Her short story "The Vegetarian; or, a Visit to Aunt Primitive" is recognised as an early example of literature aligning with emerging feminist-vegetarian thought, predating the broader acknowledgement of such links in the later 19th century.^[4] It has also been discussed alongside the work of Mary Shelley, Martha Brotherton, and Beatrice Webb as part of a tradition of Victorian women writers who used vegetarianism to imagine utopian social change.^[10]

In later assessments of the movement's literary and cultural reach, Lacy has been cited alongside Punch magazine, Charles Walter Forward, Edward Carpenter, and Henry S. Salt as one of several figures who produced representations of vegetarianism intended to encourage Victorian readers to appreciate, if not adopt, a diet free from meat.^[8]: 16 However, scholars today know relatively little about her work, and she remains an obscure figure within literary and reformist history.^[8]: 151

• Sheridan, Louisa Henrietta, ed. (1834). "A Trifling Commission". The Comic Offering, Or, Ladies' Melange of Literary Mirth. London: Smith, Elder and Company. pp. 308–317.
• "A Sketch of Character". Metropolitan Magazine. No. 180. April 1846.
• "The Vegetarian; or, a Visit to Aunt Primitive" (PDF). Metropolitan Magazine. April 1847.
• "Invitation to the Physiological Festival". Truth-Tester. Vol. 1. 1847. p. 20.
• The Visitor in Grey, and Other Tales. London: W. Tweedie. 1853.
• Merry Sparks for a Winter Hearth. London: Hardwicke. 1855.
• The Labyrinth and the Path: A Sacred Poem. Chelsea: W. Tweedie. 1856.
• A Very Old Story: Dedicated to an Enlightened Nation. London: W. Tweedie. 1857.
• Centenary Tribute to Robert Burns. London: W. Tweedie. 1859.

• History of vegetarianism
• Women in the Victorian era

• Media related to Fanny E. Lacy at Wikimedia Commons
• Fanny E. Lacy - Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901