(Egerton) St John Pettifor Catchpool (1890-1971) also known as Jack Catchpool was a social worker who served as the warden of

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliat ...

, London. He was general secretary of the Youth Hostels Association from its inception in 1930 until 1950.

Early life

He attended the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

institutions Sidcot School and

Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre Woodbrooke Study Centre is a Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFr ...

Career

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Catchpool served with the Friends' Ambulance Unit in France and then with the Friends' war victims' relief committee in Russia. After the war, he held the post of sub-warden of

from 1920 to 1929. He was a member of the

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 ...

education committee from 1925 to 1931. From 1930 to 1950 he served as the first general secretary of the Youth Hostels Association, and in 1938 he was elected president of the

International Youth Hostel Federation Hostelling International (HI), formerly known as International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF), is a grouping of more than seventy National Youth Hostel Associations in over eighty countries, with over 4,000 affiliated hostels around the world ...

Personal life

He married Ruth Allason in 1920 and they had five children. His older brother was

Corder Catchpool Thomas "Corder" Pettifor Catchpool (15 July 1883 – 16 September 1952), born Leicester, was an English Quaker and pacifist, actively engaged in relief work in Germany between 1919 and 1952. He was awarded the French Mons Star for his relief work ...

. He was appointed chevalier of the Dutch

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

in 1948 and Commander of the

Order of the British Empire 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 ...

in 1951. He died at his home in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

, Herfordshire, on 13 March 1971.

Publications

*''Candles in the Darkness''. London: Bannisdale Press, 1966

Early life

Career

Personal life

Publications

References

Further reading