Eglantyne Louisa Jebb ( Jebb; 1845/1846 - November 1925) was an Anglo-Irish social reformer. A keen supporter of the arts and crafts movement, in 1884 she founded the

Home Arts and Industries Association The Home Arts and Industries Association was part of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain. It was founded in 1884 by Eglantyne Louisa Jebb, mother of Save the Children founders, Dorothy and Eglantyne Jebb and Louisa Wilkins who helped start t ...

as a way of reviving country

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

and overcoming

rural poverty Rural poverty refers to poverty in rural areas, including factors of rural society, rural economy, and political systems that give rise to the poverty found there.Janvry, A. de, E. Sadoulet, and R. Murgai. 2002“Rural Development and Rural Pol ...

Biography

Eglantyne Louisa Jebb was born in 1845 or 1846 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

to Emily Harriet (née Horsley) and Robert Jebb. She had an elder brother, would become the

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Sir

Richard Claverhouse Jebb Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb (27 August 1841 – 9 December 1905) was a British classical scholar. Life Jebb was born in Dundee, Scotland. His father Robert was a well-known Irish barrister; his mother was Emily Harriet Horsley, daughter of t ...

and younger twin siblings, Heneage Horsley Jebb and Robert Jebb. Her father was a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

of the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

and studied literature. His family included Sir

Joshua Jebb Sir Joshua Jebb, (8 May 1793 – 26 June 1863) was a Royal Engineer and the British Surveyor-General of convict prisons. He participated in the Battle of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812, and surveyed a route between Ottawa ...

, a prison reformer;

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

pioneer, John Jebb, Bishop of Limerick; and court physician, Sir Richard Jebb. Her mother was the daughter of the Dean of Brechin, Rev.

Heneage Horsley Heneage Horsley (23 February 1776 – 6 October 1847) was Dean of Brechin from 1812 until his death. He was the 3rd son of Samuel Horsley, Bishop of St Asaph, and his first wife Mary Botham. He died on 6 October 1847. He had at least one daug ...

. In 1850, the family moved to

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent seaside resort and suburb in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It lies south of neighbouring Dalkey, east of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Churc ...

, due to the delicate health of the twins. From an early age, she was called Tye and studied art and poetry. In 1871, she married her cousin Arthur Trevor Jebb (1839–1894), a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and landowner from Ellesmere, Shropshire. The couple's first child, Emily was born in 1872 and the following year, Jebb gave birth to another daughter, Louisa, or "Lill". Their son, Richard, known as Dick, was born in 1874; followed by Eglantyne in 1876; Arthur in 1879; and

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...

in 1881. In 1884, Jebb founded the Cottage Arts Association to create a network for craft education throughout England and assist in philanthropic efforts to overcome poverty in rural areas. She renamed the organization in 1885, as the Home Arts and Industries Association. The organization sponsored courses in craftwork, specifically woodworks and wearable items. The idea behind the programs was to provide education and training on art production to help people make a living, but also to build appreciation for the beauty of handicrafts. Jebb was able to secure patrons such as

Earl Brownlow Baron Brownlow, of Belton in the County of Lincoln, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1776 for Sir Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet. The Cust family descends from Richard Cust (1622-1700) of The Black Friars, Stamford, w ...

and his wife, Countess Adelaide; Katherine Cavendish, Duchess of Westminster; and Louisa Beresford, Marchioness of Waterford as patrons. They helped provide not only funding for the schools, but exhibition spaces for the goods to be shown to society figures. She ran the organization until 1887, when health concerns forced her to withdraw from active participation, though she did continue to organize free classes. After her husband's death in 1894, Jebb resided with her unmarried daughter and namesake, Eglantyne, in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. A further health issue caused them to move to the Swiss Riviera in 1910, travelling between health spas in Austria, Italy and Switzerland. During the war, Eglantyne agreed to collect, distribute, and monitor funds for the Macedonia Relief Fund. Jebb contributed £50 to the relief efforts, and supported her daughter's 1913 trip to the Balkan states.

Death and legacy

Jebb died on 6 November 1925 in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England. Two of her daughters, Eglantyne and Dorothy, founded 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 ...

, and Eglantyne Jebb also wrote the

Declaration of the Rights of the Child The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, sometimes known as the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, is an international document promoting child rights, drafted by Eglantyne Jebb and adopted by the League of Nations in 1924, and adop ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jebb, Eglantyne Louisa People from Dublin (city) 1845 births 1925 deaths Irish activists Irish women activists English activists English women activists