Editing Ann Lee (section)

==Early history==
{{wide image|Manchester1746panoramic.jpg|1009px|Manchester at Ann Lee's time (1746) panorama |alt=Panorama of Manchester in 1746}}
Ann Lee was born in [[Manchester]], England, the second child of eight born to her parents. She was baptized privately at Manchester Collegiate Church (now [[Manchester Cathedral]]) on 1 June 1742,<ref>MS 12/1, Manchester Cathedral Archive</ref> at the age of 6. It has been claimed that her parents were members of a distinct branch of the [[Quakers]] and too poor to afford their children even the rudiments of education,<ref>{{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Lee, Ann}}</ref> but this has been disputed because scholars have been unable to find her name in relevant records.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gee |first=Tim |date=2026 |title=Ann Lee Was Never a Quaker: Here's the Evidence |url=https://www.friendsjournal.org/ann-lee-was-never-a-quaker-heres-the-evidence/ |access-date=2026-03-24 |website=Friends Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> Ann Lee received no formal education, and remained [[illiterate]] throughout her life. Ann Lee's father, John Lees, was a [[blacksmith]] during the day and a tailor at night.

It is probable that Ann Lee's original surname was Lees but was changed at some point to Lee. Little is known about her mother other than that she was very religious and pious. As often happened in those days, her mother's name was not even recorded.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mother Anne Lee: Morning star of the shakers|last=Campion|first=Nardi|publisher=University Press of New England|year=1990|isbn=0874515270|location=Hanover, NH|pages=[https://archive.org/details/motherannleemorn0000camp/page/2 2]|url=https://archive.org/details/motherannleemorn0000camp/page/2}}</ref> When Ann was young, she worked in a cotton mill, then as a cutter of hatter's fur. At the age of 20 she worked in a much less dangerous occupation, as a cook in a Manchester [[hospital|infirmary]], which was also the local insane asylum.

In 1758, she joined an English [[sect]] founded in 1747 by [[Jane Wardley]] and her husband, preacher James Wardley, which was the precursor to the Shaker sect.<ref>{{citation |last=Campion |first=Nardi Reeder |title=Ann the Word: The Life of Mother Ann Lee, Founder of the Shakers |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-316-12767-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/annwordlifeo00camp }}</ref> That sect was commonly known as the Shaking Quakers due to their similarities to the Quaker faith, but also their practice of cleansing from sin through chanting and dancing. Jane and James believed that the Second Coming was imminent and that God would return in the form of a woman. Ann Lee proclaimed herself to be that woman, and later received her title of "Mother" due to that belief. Ann believed, and taught her followers, that it was possible to attain perfect holiness by giving up sexual relations because she believed sexual relations to be the great sin of [[Adam and Eve]]. Like her predecessors, the Wardleys, she taught that the shaking and trembling was caused by sin being purged from the body by the power of the [[Holy Spirit]], purifying the worshiper.

Beginning during her youth, Ann Lee was uncomfortable with sexuality, especially her own. That was partly due to her experience living and working in the city, seeing the sin around her. Her repulsion towards sexual activity continued and manifested itself in her repeated attempts to avoid marriage. Eventually, her father forced her to marry Abraham Stanley (or Abraham Standarin).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lee, Ann (1736-1784)|url=https://shakermuseum.us/people/?id=392|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Shaker Museum|language=en-US}}</ref> They were married on 5 January 1761 at Manchester Collegiate Church.<ref>MS 13/3, Manchester Cathedral Archive</ref> She became [[pregnant]] four times, but all of her children died during infancy. Her difficult pregnancies and the loss of four children were traumatic experiences that contributed to Lee's dislike of sexual relations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kern |first=Louis J. |title=An Ordered Love: Sex Roles and Sexuality in Victorian Utopias: The Shakers, the Mormons, and the Oneida community |url=https://archive.org/details/orderedlovesexro0000kern |url-access=registration |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-8078-1443-7}}</ref>

Those losses also led her to truly question and solidify her beliefs. Lee developed radical religious convictions that advocated [[celibacy]] and the abandonment of marriage, as well as the importance of pursuing perfection in every facet of life. She differed from the Quakers, who, though they supported [[gender equality]], did not believe in forbidding sexuality within marriage. The shaking Quakers also believed in an inner light and personal revelation, which was in common with the Quakers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2008-12-20 |title=Ann Lee |url=https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2008/12/ann-lee.html |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=History of American Women |language=en-US}}</ref>