Henrietta Barnett
Henrietta Barnett | |
---|---|
Born | Henrietta Octavia Weston Rowland 4 May 1851 Clapham, London, England |
Died | 10 June 1936 Hampstead, London, England | (aged 85)
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Humanitarian, educator, author |
Spouse | Samuel Barnett |
Dame Henrietta Octavia Weston Barnett,
Early life
Born in Clapham, London, Henrietta Octavia Weston Rowland lost her mother (Henrietta Monica Margaretta Ditges)[1] at an early age. Her father, Alexander William Rowland, a wealthy businessman associated with the Macassar Oil Company,[1] raised her and seven siblings at their London home and a country house in Kent, where she developed a lifelong appreciation of country pursuits. One of her sisters was the philanthropist Alice Hart.[2][3]
At age 16, Henrietta was sent to a boarding school in Devon run by the Haddon sisters, who, influenced by James Hinton,[1] were committed to social altruism. When her father died in 1869, Henrietta moved with two sisters to Bayswater, where she met and helped social activist and housing reformer Octavia Hill.[3] Hill introduced Henrietta to the writings of John Ruskin, as well as many influential people similarly interested in improving the condition of London's poor.
Marriage and activism
Through Hill, Henrietta met
In 1884, the Barnetts established (and began living at)
In 1889 the activist couple acquired a weekend home at Spaniard's End in the Hampstead area of north-west London. The Barnetts became inspired by Ebenezer Howard and the model housing development movement (then exemplified by Letchworth garden city). Building on the principles of Toynbee Hall, Henrietta had a vision of a garden community where all classes could live together in a light and airy environment, with beautifully designed housing and gardens, as well as protecting part of nearby Hampstead Heath from development by Eton College.[8][9] She began by establishing a committee to protect part of nearby Hampstead Heath from development by Eton College, raising £43,000 and purchasing 80 hectares of the Heath for the public.[10][11] In 1904, they established trusts which bought 243 acres of land along the newly opened Northern line extension to Golders Green. This became the Hampstead Garden Suburb, a model garden city developed through their efforts and those of architects Raymond Unwin and Sir Edwin Lutyens and which ultimately grew to encompass over 800 acres.[12] In 1909, an adult education institute opened in the middle of the new Hampstead Garden Suburb, with cultural programmes and discussion groups. Soon a school for girls was established and named the Henrietta Barnett School.[3]
Although the suburb was never completely developed according to Lutyens's plan (and soon became a middle class enclave rather than a mixture of classes), it did include Grade I listed St Jude's Church, as well as a clubhouse and a tea house (for non-alcoholic social focus), a Quaker meeting house, children's homes, a nursery school, and housing for old people.[citation needed]
The Barnetts never had children of their own. They adopted Dorothy Woods, and Henrietta also served as legal guardian for her brain-damaged elder sister, Fanny. After Samuel died in 1913, Henrietta founded Barnett House at Oxford (1914) in his memory. She helped it become the university's centre for social work and social policy education.[citation needed]
Writing
Barnett wrote several books, alone and with her husband.
Her early books concerned domestic issues: The Making of the Home (1885), How to Mind the Baby, (1887) and, written with her husband and
Honours
For her work as a social reformer, Barnett was named a
Death and legacy
For the final dozen years of her life, Henrietta Barnett took up painting and often lived at 45 Wish Road, Hove (today marked by a blue plaque).
She died at Hampstead in 1936 (aged 85) and is buried (with Samuel) in the churchyard of St Helen's Church, Hangleton, East Sussex.[14]
Henrietta is
Published works
- Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1885). The Making of the Home. A reading-book of domestic economy for school and home use. London: Cassell and Company.
- Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1894). The Making of the Body. A children's book on anatomy and physiology : for school and home use. London: Longmans, Green.
- Barnett, Henrietta O. (Mrs. S. A. Barnett) (1881). The Work of the Lady Visitors: Written For The Council of the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants [1]. London: Penny and Hull.
- Barnett, Henrietta O. (Mrs. S. A. Barnett) (1879). The Young Women In Our Work Houses [2]. London: Penny and Hull.
- Barnett, Samuel Augustus; Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1888). Practicable Socialism: Essays on Social Reform (1st ed.). London: Longmans, Green & Co.
- Barnett, Samuel Augustus; Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1895). Practicable Socialism: Essays on Social Reform (2nd ed.). London: Longmans, Green & Co.
- Barnett, Samuel Augustus; Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1915). Practicable Socialism: Essays on Social Reform (New Series ed.). London: Longmans, Green & Co.
- Barnett, Samuel Augustus; Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1895). Practicable Socialism: Essays on Social Reform (2nd ed.). London:
- Barnett, Samuel Augustus; Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1909). Towards Social Reform. London: T. Fisher Unwin.
- Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1919). Canon Barnett: His Life, Work, and Friends. Houghton Mifflin.
- Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1930). Matters that Matter. London: J. Murray.
References
- ^ a b c d e Simkin, John. "Henrietta Barnett". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ a b "Henrietta Barnett in Whitechapel a review by Chris Kellerman". Hgs.org.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ a b c "Henrietta Barnett, social reform and community building". Infed.org. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Children's Country Holiday Fund, Retrieved 14 January 2017
- ^ "Our History". CCHF - All About Kids. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ISBN 0333221249. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ Seth Koven, ‘Barnett , Dame Henrietta Octavia Weston (1851–1936)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2013 accessed 14 Jan 2017
- ^ "Obituary. Dame Henrietta Barnett". The Times Newspaper.
- ^ "Dame Henrietta Barnett at 80". The Guardian.
- ^ "Obituary: Dame Henrietta Barnett". The Times.
- ^ "Dame Henrietta Barnett at 80". The Guardian.
- ^ "Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust". Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ "BARNETT, Mrs. (Henrietta Octavia)". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. p. 97.
- ISBN 978-0-415-00863-1.)
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ "The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
Further reading
- Hartley, Cathy; Susan Lecky (2003). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. London and New York: ISBN 978-1-85743-228-2.
- Creedon, Alison (2006). 'Only a Woman' Henrietta Barnett: Social Reformer and Founder of Hampstead Garden Suburb. Chichester: Phillimore.
- Koven, Seth (2004). 'Dame Henrietta Octavia Weston Barnett' in Matthew, H. C. G. and Harrison, B. (eds.) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Volume 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Robbins, Sarah Ruffing. "Sustaining Gendered Philanthropy Through Transatlantic Friendship: Jane Addams, Henrietta Barnett, and Writing for Reciprocal Mentoring in Philanthropic Discourse." Anglo-American Literature, 1850 - 1920, edited by CHRISTIANSON F. Q. and THORNE-MURPHY LESLEE, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana, 2017, pp. 211 - 235. Retrieved February 13, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt.2005sg6.14. [3]
- Slack, Kathleen M. (1982). Henrietta's Dream: A Chronicle of Hampstead Garden Suburb 1905–1982. London.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Watkins, Mickey (2005). Henrietta Barnett in Whitechapel: Her First Fifty Years. London.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)