30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878) was an English novelist, best known as the author of the classic 1877 novel Black Beauty.Anna Sewell was born on 30 March 1820 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, into a devoutly Quaker family. Her father was Isaac Phillip Sewell (1793–1879), and her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1798–1884) was a successful author of children's books. She had one sibling, a younger brother named Philip and was largely educated at home.
When she was twelve, the family moved to Stoke Newington where she attended school for the first time.Two years later, however, she slipped while walking home from school and severely injured her ankles. Her father took a job in Brighton in 183