People/Characters Benjamin Lay

Benjamin Lay (January 26, 1682 – February 8, 1759) was an English-born writer, farmer and activist. Born in Copford, Essex into a Quaker family, he underwent an apprenticeship as a glovemaker before running away to London and finding work as a sailor. In 1718, Lay moved to the British colony of Barbados, which operated a plantation economy dependent on slave labour. While working as a merchant, his shock at the brutal treatment of slaves in Barbados led Lay to develop lifelong abolitionist principles, which were reinforced by his humanitarian ideals and Quaker beliefs.

Lay subsequently moved to the Province of Pennsylvania, living in Philadelphia before settling in Abington with his wife, Sarah Smith Lay, who was also a Quaker and shared his humanitarian and abolitionist beliefs. Operating a small farm, which produced fruit, flax and wool, he refused to consume any product made from slave or animal labour and lived a frugal, vegetarian lifestyle, which continued after Sarah died in 1735. A hunchback with a protruding chest, Lay was roughly four feet tall and referred to himself as "Little Benjamin".
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