Anna Sewell in Old Catton, Sewell wrote the manuscript of "Black Beauty" – in the period between 1871 and 1877. During this time her health was declining; she was often so weak that she was confined to her bed. Writing was a challenge. She dictated the text to her mother and from 1876 began to write on slips of paper which her mother then transcribed. Although the book is now considered a children's classic, Sewell originally wrote it for those who worked with horses. She said "a special aim was to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses". In many
Horace Sewell was known to his comrades and subordinates, and he was recognized as "black" by Americans who he came in contact with during his World War II posting. Horace Sewell Brigadier-General Horace Somerville Sewell, CMG, DSO & bar (1881–1953) was an officer in the British Army during World War I, notable for his mixed-race ancestry. Horace Sewell was born in Wales on 10 February 1881; he was the third son of Henry Sewell, who was in turn the eldest son of the prominent Jamaica planter William Sewell and the mulatto former slave Mary McCrea. Henry Sewell returned to England, where he