![The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840 , by Benjamin Robert Haydon (died 1846), given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1880 by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society . Oil on canvas, 1841. 117 in. x 151 in. (2972 mm x 3836 mm). See source website for additional information. Quote from the description at the National Portrait Gallery website: This monumental painting records the 1840 convention of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society which was established to promote worldwide abolition. A frail and elderly [Thomas] Clarkson addresses a meeting of over 500 delegates. [...] Haydon later wrote: 'a liberated slave, now a delegate, is looking up to Clarkson with deep interest ... this is the point of interest in the picture, and illustrative of the object in painting it, the African sitting by the intellectual European, in equality and intelligence'. Identified persons in this portrait (based on National Portrait Gallery description) follow. For an image map showing the location of each person in the painting, see image . Abraham Beaumont (1782-1848) Amelia Opie (1769-1853), Novelist and poet; second wife of John Opie Anne Knight (1792-1868) Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron (1792-1860), Wife of Lord Byron B. Godwin, Baptist preacher Charles Edwards Lester , American abolitionist Charles Stovel, Baptist minister and abolitionist Charles Stuart, abolitionist from Jamaica Constantine Richard Moorsom (1792-1861), Vice-Admiral Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor (1792 – 1879) , American abolitionist Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), Irish politician David Turnbull Dr Murch Edward Adey Edward Baldwin Edward Barrett , Emancipated slave and abolitionist Edward Smith Edward Steane Elizabeth Pease Eton Galusha , American Baptist minister Francis Augustus Cox (1783-1853), Baptist preacher François-André Isambert , French, lawyer and abolitionist G.K. Prince George Bennett George Bradburn , American abolitionist George Head Head George Stacey (1787-1857) George Thompson (1804-1878) George William Alexander (1802-1890), Treasurer of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society Henry B. Stanton Henry Beckford, Emancipated slave and abolitionist Henry Sterry (1803-1869) Henry Taylor Henry Tuckett Isaac Bass (1782-1855) Isaac Crewdson (1780-1844), Writer Isaac Hodgson (1783-1847) J. Harfield Tredgold J.H. Johnson Jacob Post (1774-1855), Quaker James Carlile (1784-1854), Divine James Dean, American abolitionist James Gillespie Birney (1792-1857), American abolitionist James Mott , American abolitionist James Whitehorne John Angell James (1785-1859), Independent minister John Beaumont (1788-1862) John Birt, American abolitionist John Bowring (1792-1872), Linguist and traveller; Politician and diplomatist John Burnet (1789-1862), Pastor of Mansion House Chapel, Camberwell John Cropper John Ellis (1789-1862), Railway promoter John Howard Hinton (1791-1873), Baptist minister John Keep , American abolitionist John Morrison John Scoble John Steer (1780-1856) John Sturge John T. Norton, American abolitionist John Woodmark Jonathan Backhouse Jonathan Miller, American abolitionist Joseph Cooper (1800-1881) Joseph Eaton (1793-1858) Joseph Ketley Joseph Marriage (1807-1884) Joseph Pease (1772-1846), Reformer Joseph Reynolds (1769-1859) Joseph Sams (1784-1860), Orientalist Joseph Soul Joseph Sturge (1793-1859), Quaker and philanthropist Josiah Conder (1789-1855), Bookseller Josiah Forster (1782-1870) Louis Celeste Lecesne Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), American abolitionist M. L'Instant, Haitian abolitionist Mary Clarkson, Daughter-in-law of Thomas Clarkson Mrs John Beaumont (1790-1853) Mrs Rawson , Sheffield campaigner Mrs Tredgold , British South African Nathaniel Colver, American abolitionist Peter Clare (1781-1851), secretary of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester Professor Adam , American slavery abolitionist Richard Allen (1787-1873) from Dublin Richard Barrett (1784-1855) Richard D. Webb Richard Peek ex Sheriff from Devon Richard Rathbone Richard Robert Madden (1798-1886), Writer Richard Sterry (1785-1865) Richard Tapper Cadbury (1768-1860), Birmingham manufacturer Robert Forster (1792-1871) Robert Kaye Greville (1794-1866), Botanist Samuel Bowly (1802-1884), Quaker and anti-slavery agitator Samuel Fox (1781-1868) Samuel Gurney (1786-1856), 'The Banker's Banker'; philanthropist Samuel Jackman Prescod , abolitionist from Barbados Samuel Lucas (1811 – 1865), later editor of the Morning Star Samuel Wheeler (1776-1858) Saxe Bannister (1790-1877), Pamphleteer Sir Edward Baines (1800-1890), Journalist Sir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Bt (1783-1847) Sir John Jeremie (1795-1841), Colonial judge Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Bt (1786-1845), Philanthropist Stafford Allen (1806-1889) Stephen Lushington (1782-1873), Judge T.M. McDonnell Thomas Binney (Benny) (1798-1874), Nonconformist divine Thomas Bulley Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) Thomas Clarkson, Grandson of Thomas Clarkson Thomas Morgan Thomas Pinches Thomas Price Thomas Scales Thomas Swan W.T. Blair Wendell Phillips (1811-1884), American abolitionist William Allen (1770-1843), Chemist and philanthropist William Beaumont (1790-1869) William Bevan William Boultbee William Brock (1807-1875), Dissenting divine William Dawes , American abolitionist William Dillworth William Fairbank (1771-1846) William Forster (1784-1854), Quaker philanthropist and minister William James William Kay William Knibb (1803-1845), Missionary William Leatham (1783-1842) William Morgan William Smeal (1792-1877) William Tatum (1783-1862) William Taylor William Wilson](/assets/images/2026-08-27T05-10-19-875Z-moms-for-liberty-files-lawsuit-against-new-jersey-school-district-over-secret-ge-wikimedia-1280.webp)
Parental rights group Moms for Liberty has filed a federal lawsuit against the School District of the Chathams Board of Education, accusing the district of "pushing secret gender transitions behind closed doors."
Filed on August 26, 2026, by the Thomas More Society on behalf of Moms for Liberty in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the lawsuit alleges that the district's Policy 5145.7 violates the First Amendment's Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses as well as the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The policy reportedly allows school counselors to hide a student's gender transition from their parents and to refer students to outside LGBTQ advocacy groups without parental notice or consent.
The verified complaint states, "By enacting its Policy 5145.7, the District has followed this trend of arrogant usurpation of the constitutionally protected right of parents to guide the religious and moral formation of their children according to their belief in God, His creation of only two biologically determined sexes/genders — male and female — and the eternal destiny of every human soul as affected by conformity to His eternal law."
Moms for Liberty CEO and co-founder Tina Descovich said in a statement, "Parents are the primary educators and caregivers of their children, not school boards, not counselors, and not ideologues pushing secret gender transitions behind closed doors. The Chathams Board of Education's open defiance of the Supreme Court's clear rulings in Mirabelli and Mahmoud is an assault on the constitutional rights of every family in that district."
Thomas More Society senior counsel Christopher Ferrara told the Daily Caller News Foundation, "When Thomas More Society prevailed at the Supreme Court, we made a promise: any school board or district that kept hiding a child's so-called 'gender transition' from parents, or that punished kids for refusing to bow down to an ideology they don't believe, would be held accountable."
The School District of the Chathams Board of Education did not respond to requests for comment.
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