ABSTRACT
Jonas Hanway (c. 1712–1786) was a merchant whose work had taken him for extensive periods to Lisbon, then to Russia and Persia. The latter adventure prompted his first foray into publication in 1753, when he wrote a well-received account of his travels on the Caspian Sea. His success prompted him to publish on a wide variety of subjects, often linked to his philanthropic efforts. His populationism, or his concerns about the need to maintain a healthy population of Britons to preserve and expand the empire, made Hanway a driving force behind the Foundling Hospital and the Marine Society. The latter helped to recruit boys for sea service by providing them with clothes. The Society for the Encouragement of British Troops in Germany and North America provided clothing to soldiers, but it also allocated money to their wives, widows, and children. Hanway’s account is significant in outlining the economic challenges faced by the families of men who had already died in the Seven Years War. Hanway mentioned the limits of the poor relief system in providing aid to military families, and countered stereotypes of regimental wives in order to show them to be worthy of charity.
