Helen Lucas born Helen Goldsmid (10 August 1835 – 3 January 1918) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

and

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er.

Life

Lucas was born in 1835. Her parents were Caroline (born Samuel) and Frederick Goldsmid and she was the first of their nine children. Her Jewish family taught her Hebrew when she was a child. She married Lionel Lucas in 1855 and by 1862 she was a widow with two children and an inheritance. From 1880 she took up a position within the Jewish Board of Guardians that provided relief to the Jewish poor. She was the President of the ladies conjoint visiting committee. The JBG were very keen on visiting applicants for their aid to ensure that their resources were well spent. In addition she assisted in the adult workroom. By 1896 she was the President of the workrooms where girls would be taught how to embroider and other types of needlework so that they would become employable. In 1885, she and

Louisa de Rothschild Louisa de Rothschild (née Montefiore), Lady de Rothschild (28 May 1821 – 22 September 1910), was an Anglo-Jewish philanthropist, and founding member of the Union of Jewish Women. Born in England, the daughter of Abraham Montefiore There hav ...

jointly paid for the cost of a nurse to work among the poor who were Jewish. Lucas would pay for two more in 1891 and 1892 and they would use a traditional common sense approach to the help and sympathy they offered. Lucas believed that relief workers should give little priority to statistics or paperwork. She argued that relief workers should supply assistance and sympathy first and other questions could be answered later. The

Goldsmid family Goldsmid is the name of a family of Anglo-Jewish bankers who sprang from Aaron Goldsmid (died 1782), a Dutch merchant who settled in England around 1763. Two of his sons, Benjamin Goldsmid (c. 1753-1808) and Abraham Goldsmid (c. 1756-1810), began ...

had been one of the founding families of the

West London Synagogue The West London Synagogue of British Jews, abbreviated WLS ( he, ק"ק שער ציון, ''Kahal Kadosh Sha'ar Tziyon'', "Holy Congregation Gate of Zion"), is a synagogue and congregation, affiliated to Reform Judaism, near Marble Arch in centr ...

in 1840 that created a new approach to worship. Helen was there when the new synagogue was opened and she was a voice resisting further change. She had to contend with some change but she threatened to leave if services were delivered in English as she was a great supporter of Hebrew. She was involved with the Jewish Religious Education Board and with the running of the

Jews' Free School JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlot ...

in London serving on the ladies' committee. She had strong views on the education of girls arguing that cooking was important and that girls who were tidy would be better wives. She thought girls should not wear lace or white schools but should take part in drill and lessons in Hebrew. Lucas died in Sunninghill in Berkshire in 1918.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Helen 1835 births 1918 deaths 19th-century British philanthropists British Jews British people of Dutch-Jewish descent British social workers

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

Philanthropists from London