Anna Sewell was an English novelist, best known as the author of the classic novel Black Beauty

Black Beauty

Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate bestseller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, long enough to see her first and only...

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Anna Mary Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

, Norfolk, England into a devoutly Quaker family. Her father was Isaac Phillip Sewell (1793–1879), and her mother, Mary Wright Sewell

Mary Wright Sewell

Mary Wright Sewell was the mother of Anna Sewell a very well known children's author who wrote Black Beauty. Mary, less known today, was a then-popular author of juvenile bestsellers....

 (1798–1884) was a successful author of children's books.

Anna Sewell had one sibling, a younger brother named Philip Sewell.

Anna Sewell was largely educated at home.