Setta Axon (née Lüft; 25 January 1870 – 17 March 1910) was a German-born British social worker, writer, temperance advocate, and vegetarian. In Manchester, she worked with the Hulme Day Nursery, the Domestic Mission in Hulme, Roman Catholic poor-relief activities and the Moss Side Free Library, and supported Black visitors campaigning on racial issues. She later managed the Simple Life Home in Southport, participated in the Vegetarian Society, contributed papers to the Manchester Ladies' Literary Club and published an essay on the printer Hans Luft.
Biography
Early and personal life
Axon was born Setta Lüft on 25 January 1870 at Seligenstadt, Hesse, Germany. Her father, Jakob Lüft, was a merchant. After losing her parents at an early age, she was raised by an aunt at Miltenberg, Bavaria, and educated at the Töchter Institut. She came to England to visit a friend and spent time in the house of Dr Haden Guest, a physician in Hulme, Manchester. On 19 November 1892 she married William Edward Armytage Axon at Chorlton register office. They had one daughter, Dorothy Setta.
Social and charitable work
Axon assisted Guest in his work to establish the Hulme Day Nursery. She also took part in social and charitable work connected with the Domestic Mission in Renshaw Street, Hulme, an undenominational organisation mainly run by Unitarians. Although she was a Roman Catholic, she led a girls' class there on Sunday afternoons and spent Mondays visiting members of the Penny Bank in their homes.
In Manchester, Axon attended the Church of the Holy Family, All Saints, and later the Church of the Holy Name. She served on the Ladies' Committee for the poor and aged and helped with the soup kitchen.
When her husband was involved in establishing the Moss Side Free Library, Axon prepared catalogue slips for books that were being stored at the couple's home before the library building was ready. Around 1906, the Axons moved to Southport, where she managed the Simple Life Home.
The Southport Visiter described Axon as known in England and America for temperance and social work. It also reported that she had contributed papers to the Manchester Ladies' Literary Club, and that her only printed essay appeared in The Antiquary and concerned the sixteenth-century printer Hans Luft, whose surname was shared by her family.
Vegetarianism
Axon (standing, middle row, centre-right, in the wide light-coloured hat) among the delegates to the World's International Vegetarian Congress at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair
Axon died on 17 March 1910 at Southport. Her funeral took place at Southport Cemetery after a preliminary service at a Roman Catholic church. Representatives attended from the Vegetarian Society, the Vegetarian Restaurants Company, and the Bible Christian Church. John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor, president of the Vegetarian Society, was also present and spoke at the graveside.
↑Wood, Kevin Laroux (15 September 2019). "Grave of Setta Axon". Find a Grave. Retrieved 6 June 2026. In loving memory of Setta, wife of William E. A. Axon, born Seligenstadt, Hesse, Jan. 25, 1870, died Southport, March 17, 1910.
↑"The Sixty-third Annual Report of the Vegetarian Society". The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review. 7 (11): 366. Mrs. Setta Axon, the honoured wife of our Honorary Secretary, Mr. W. E. A. Axon, LL.D., passed away on April 17th. She was an earnest vegetarian and deeply interested in all movements for increasing human happiness and alleviating suffering.
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