Helen Georgiana Nussey

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(27 November 1875 – 6 February 1965) was an early British

welfare worker Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

and writer on gardening.

Life

Nussey was born in

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

in 1875. Her parents were Mary Anne (born Charrington) and Antony Foxcroft Nussey who was a solicitor. She was educated at the

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to pr ...

boarding school and went on to work for

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...

where she was their first

almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

looking after the needs of patients. She worked there for seven years. In 1909 she and Olive J. Cockerell published, "A French garden in England: a record of the successes and failures of a first year of intensive culture". Before war broke out London decided to create a school care service that would be modelled on the pioneering work of school manager

Margaret Frere Margaret Frere (12 August 1863 – 14 March 1961) was a British school manager and welfare worker who established the model for a school care service that was adopted throughout London's elementary schools. Life Frere was born in the part of Lon ...

and her Charitable Funds Committee who had realised in 1898 that handing out missing goods like shoes did not benefit poor children unless the parents were visited and assisted too. Frere believed that a care service should "unite the home with the school education". The new school care service relied on volunteers but they were initially organised by two women employed by

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

and Nussey was one of them. Theodora Morton was their boss and responsible for the new service. Morton divided the service into twelve regions where care committees staffed by volunteers identified children in need of school dinners or other assistance. In 1930 Theodora Morton retired and Nussey was appointed as her replacement as "Principal Organiser". She valued the work and her departments Independence. Gladly children were now shod, but children and families still needed support. In 1939 when war broke out there was 158 employed staff and 5,000 volunteers servicing every elementary school in London. And every school had a care committee. In 1940 she was recognised for her work with an

and although she retired she continued to volunteer. Other activities included gardening and writing. She had published "London Gardens of the Past " the year before when she had been made an honorary organiser of the London Gardens Society. She continued her interest and in 1950 the London Garden Society published her short guide to "Miniature Alpine Gardens". Nussey died in 1965 in

Beckenham Hospital Beckenham Hospital was a healthcare facility based in Beckenham, Kent. History The hospital was founded by Peter Richard Hoare, the younger (1803-1877) of Kelsey Park, Kelsey Manor as the Beckenham Cottage Hospital in 1872. Additional facilities ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nussey, Helen 1875 births 1965 deaths People from Richmond, London British social workers British women non-fiction writers British gardeners People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College 20th-century British women writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers