Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith ( Potter; 4 April 1847 – 26 February 1929), known as Kate Courtney, was a British social worker and internationalist. Active in charitable organisations in her early life, she later campaigned with her husband Leonard Courtney to end the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. She sought to bring attention to the plight of citizens of the enemy nations and was denounced as being overly sympathetic to the enemy during both wars.

Early life

Catherine Potter was born at Gayton Hall,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

. She was the second daughter of the businessman Richard Potter and his wife Lawrencina (née Heyworth), daughter of a Liverpool merchant. Her seven younger sisters included the social reformer Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, while

Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor, (3 October 1852 – 30 June 1941) was a British politician who crossed the floor from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England ...

, and

Henry Hobhouse Henry Hobhouse may refer to: * Henry Hobhouse (archivist) (1776–1854), English archivist * Henry Hobhouse (East Somerset MP) (1854–1937), English landowner and Liberal Member of Parliament, 1885–1906 * Henry William Hobhouse (1791–1868), B ...

were among her brothers-in-law. Mostly educated at home by tutors, she briefly attended a London boarding school for girls in the 1860s. She was not regarded as particularly clever or beautiful, and strongly disliked

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

and socialising with the upper class. After her

coming out party ''Coming Out Party'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code Hollywood, Pre-Code drama film directed by John G. Blystone starring Frances Dee, Gene Raymond, Alison Skipworth and Nigel Bruce. It was produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporation. Syno ...

in 1865, she strived for independence and resisted her parents' attempts to marry her off.

Work in the slums

In 1875, after a particularly difficult year, the 28-year-old Kate Potter left her family home and went to London to enlist in the activities of

Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3 December 1838 – 13 August 1912) was an English social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a family of radical ...

and started training for the

Charity Organization Society The Charity Organisation Societies were founded in England in 1869 following the ' Goschen Minute' that sought to severely restrict outdoor relief distributed by the Poor Law Guardians. In the early 1870s a handful of local societies were formed w ...

in Whitechapel, as well as working as an organiser of an

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

boys' clubs, before joining Samuel Augustus and

Henrietta Barnett Dame Henrietta Octavia Weston Barnett, DBE (''née'' Rowland; 4 May 1851 – 10 June 1936) was an English social reformer, educationist, and author. She and her husband, Samuel Augustus Barnett, founded the first "University Settlement" at To ...

in their philanthropic work. Her parents frowned upon her decision, as did her elder sister Lawrencina, but ultimately granted her a small allowance which enabled her to settle in Great College Street in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. She stayed in touch with her family and they often complained about her forcing them to attend "poor people's parties", which they escaped as soon as they could. For the next eight years, she worked at

St Jude's Church, Whitechapel ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. As Hill's full-time aide from 1876 until 1883, Kate Potter's duties included running

youth clubs A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, vi ...

and collecting rents. The tight work schedule that she maintained, helped her to avoid dealing with her family's expectations. Her friendliness made her popular even as a rent collector, and she eventually managed to persuade her sisters

Theresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

and Beatrice to join her. In 1884, model dwellings in

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

in which she worked, were named after her –

Katharine Buildings Katharine Buildings were model dwellings in Cartwright Street, Aldgate, London, the first project of the philanthropically-motivated East End Dwellings Company. The block was built during 1884, and opened in 1885 as model apartments for the work ...

Marriage

Catherine Potter met the 48-year-old Leonard Courtney, then Liberal cabinet minister, in 1880, and became friends with him at Charles Booth's dinner parties. Potter and Courtney married on 15 March 1883. Both were Quakers and they were happily married for 35 years. Despite their hopes to have children and Catherine's fertility operation in 1888, the couple remained childless. Under her husband's influence, she became a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

. Marriage, however, required her to relinquish her earlier activities for the sake of homemaking and supporting her husband's career. They founded the

South Africa Conciliation Committee The South Africa Conciliation Committee was a British anti-war organisation Opposition to the Second Boer War, opposed to the Second Boer War. The committee was formed in 1899 in response to the outbreak of the war, for the "dissemination of accur ...

in 1899. In the 1890s, she became leader of the Women's Liberal Unionist Association but was disappointed by its conservatism and imperialism and resigned from the association's committee on 24 October 1900. Meanwhile, the Courtneys were significant supporters of the Zulu welfare activist

Harriette Colenso Harriette Emily Colenso (30 June 1847 – 2 June 1932) was a British Christian missionary in southern Africa. She was the eldest of five daughters of John Colenso, the first bishop of Natal, and continued his work, interceding on behalf of the Zu ...

, daughter of Bishop

John Colenso John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the Zulu and biblical scholar, who served as the first Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the Zulu language. In his role as an Angl ...

Wartime activities

The Courtneys actively campaigned for

world peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

. They were accused of being "pro-

Boers Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this a ...

" during the Second Boer War, receiving anonymous threatening letters, and Catherine was called "pro-Hun" after the First World War by the ''

Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton. It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers, but in 1925 Rothermere sold it to William and Gomer Berr ...

''. She actively supported negotiating the end of both wars, joining the 1899 armistice campaign of

Emily Hobhouse Emily Hobhouse (9 April 1860 – 8 June 1926) was a British welfare campaigner, anti-war activist, and pacifist. She is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the deprived conditions in ...

, and later aligning herself with

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of s ...

' attempts to negotiate peace during the First World War, with the help of neutral nations. Throughout 1901, she visited

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

to report on conditions inside the

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

built for Boer civilians. In 1906, her husband was elevated to

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

and she became Baroness Courtney of Penwith. Lady Courtney championed the "innocent enemies" of the First World War and participated in the founding of an emergency committee aimed at helping German civilians living in Britain. She visited German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

and publicised the work of her German counterparts in Berlin. She unsuccessfully pleaded with the Home Office to prevent German aliens from being deported back to Germany.

Widowhood and death

Lady Courtney was widowed in May 1918. In January the next year, she hosted the first meeting of the Fight the Famine Committee at her home in

Cheyne Walk Cheyne Walk is an historic road in Chelsea, London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It runs parallel with the River Thames. Before the construction of Chelsea Embankment reduced the width of the Thames here, it fronted ...

; the

Save the Children Fund The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

developed from that committee. Along with her former brother-in-law, Lord Parmoor, Lady Courtney campaigned for ending the

blockade of Germany The Blockade of Germany, or the Blockade of Europe, occurred from 1914 to 1919. The prolonged naval blockade was conducted by the Allies during and after World War I in an effort to restrict the maritime supply of goods to the Central Powers, w ...

. She wrote to '' The Daily News'' in 1920, saying that "somebody must begin to be good if the better world we were promised is ever to come". She died in Cheyne Walk in 1929 and was buried at Chelsea Old Church.

Family tree

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Catherine, Baroness Courtney of Penwith 1847 births 1929 deaths Courtney of Penwith People from Herefordshire English social workers British anti–World War I activists British anti-war activists Women of the Victorian era English suffragists People of the Second Boer War Youth work Women in war 1900–1945

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

Burials at Chelsea Old Church