Benjamin Waugh (20 February 183911 March 1908) was a
Victorian social reformer and campaigner who founded the UK
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
, the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity.
History
Victorian era
On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New York ...
(
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity.
History
Victorian era
On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...
) in the late 19th century, and also wrote various
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
s.
Early life
Waugh was born, the son of a saddler, in
Settle
Settle or SETTLE may refer to:
Places
* Settle, Kentucky, United States
* Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England
** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district
Music
* Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania
* ''S ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
, and attended theological college in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
before moving to
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timbere ...
, and then in 1866 to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
Career
Working as a
Congregationalist minister in the slums of
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, Waugh became appalled at the deprivations and cruelties suffered by children. Critical of the
workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
system, the
Poor law
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
and aspects of the criminal justice system as it affected children, he wrote a book (''The Gaol Cradle, Who Rocks It?'', 1873) urging the creation of juvenile courts and children's prisons as a means of diverting children from a life of crime. He was elected to represent Greenwich on the
London School Board
The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London.
The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...
from 1870 to 1876.
He was also, from 1874 to 1896, editor of a religious periodical, ''
The Sunday Magazine'', in which he published several of his own hymns, among which is "Now let us see thy beauty, Lord", which has appeared in several editions of the ''Methodist Hymn Book'', in ''Congregational Praise'' and in the ''Australian Hymnbook'', though not in its successor, ''Sing Alleluia''.
London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
In 1884, he was a co-founder (with
Sarah Smith,
Lady Burdett-Coutts,
Lord Shaftesbury
Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his f ...
and others)
of the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (echoing a similar initiative in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
), launched at London's
Mansion House on 8 July. The London body's first chairman was veteran social reformer, Earl Shaftesbury. It evolved to become the NSPCC some five years later (14 May 1889), with Waugh as its first director and
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
as its first patron.
Family and homes
With his wife Sarah Elizabeth, Waugh had twelve children including daughters
Edna, who would become a notable watercolour artist and draughtsman, and
Rosa
Rosa or De Rosa may refer to:
People
*Rosa (given name)
* Rosa (surname)
*Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose)
Places
*223 Rosa, an asteroid
*Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States
* Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, G ...
, who would follow in his footsteps as a social campaigner.
Waugh lived at a number of addresses including Oak Cottage,
Shipbourne
Shipbourne ( ) is a village and civil parish situated between the towns of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in the English county of Kent. In 2020 it was named as the most expensive village in Kent.
It is located i ...
in Kent, Croom's Hill in Greenwich, and at 53 Woodlands Villas (today Vanbrugh Park) in neighbouring
Blackheath Blackheath may refer to:
Places England
*Blackheath, London, England
** Blackheath railway station
**Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England
*Blackheath, Surrey, England
** Hundred of Blackh ...
. In 1884 he was living at 33 The Green,
Southgate
Southgate or South Gate may refer to:
Places Australia
*Southgate, Sylvania
*Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, an area within Southbank, Victoria
Canada
*Southgate, Ontario, a township in Grey County
* Southgate, Middlesex County, Ontario
Ed ...
.
He later retired, in 1905, to live at 4 Runwell Terrace in
Westcliff
Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...
,
a suburb of
Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, where he died three years later, and was buried in the Southend borough cemetery.
A
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
marks a property mistakenly believed to be that of Waugh's residence on Croom's Hill when it was installed in 1984 by the
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
.
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, the successor authority responsible for blue plaques correctly identifies Waugh's former home as 62 Croom's Hill.
Gallery
File:Benjamin Waugh blue plaque.jpg, Waugh's blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
at Croom's Hill, Greenwich
File:33 The Green, Southgate.JPG, Benjamin Waugh's home once stood on this site at 33 The Green, Southgate
Southgate or South Gate may refer to:
Places Australia
*Southgate, Sylvania
*Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, an area within Southbank, Victoria
Canada
*Southgate, Ontario, a township in Grey County
* Southgate, Middlesex County, Ontario
Ed ...
.
File:33 The Green, Southgate (3).JPG, The plaque to Benjamin Waugh at 33 The Green.
File:BenjaminWaugh1.jpg, Benjamin Waugh with some of his family of twelve children in about 1889.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waugh, Benjamin
1839 births
1908 deaths
People from Settle, North Yorkshire
English Christian religious leaders
English Congregationalists
English philanthropists
Members of the London School Board
British reformers
British social reformers
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children people
19th-century British philanthropists
Burials in Essex