Jane Nassau Senior (1828–1877) was Britain's first female civil servant, and a philanthropist. She was co-founder of the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants (MABYS).

Life

Senior was born Jane Elizabeth Hughes at

Uffington Uffington is the name of several places: ; England *Uffington, Lincolnshire :* Uffington and Barnack railway station :* Uffington Rural District *Uffington, Oxfordshire :* Uffington railway station (Uffington Junction) *Uffington, Shropshire ;Un ...

on 10 December 1828, daughter of John Hughes and the only sister of the author

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...

and five other brothers. Senior did relief work for material aid for the victims of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 as part of the inceptive National Society for Aid to Sick and Wounded in War, in 1905 reconstituted as the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...

. She directed many practicalities for handling these donations. Work with impoverished children in Surrey led to Senior's appointment in 1873, as an assistant inspector of workhouses. This post was given to her by

James Stansfeld Sir James Stansfeld, (; 5 March 182017 February 1898) was a British Radical and Liberal politician and social reformer who served as Under-Secretary of State for India (1866), Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1869–71) and President of ...

, against civil service opposition. The goal of the post was a Civil Service ''Report'', which she framed as covering both pauper girls as school children, and their histories after school. When the ''Report'' appeared in 1875, the 1874 general election having intervened, it bore heavy criticism by Royal Navy senior officer Carleton Tufnell, acting in concert with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. A meeting called by the Reverend Thomas Vincent Fosbery (then chaplain to Bishop Samuel Wilberforce) in May 1874, at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...

. It brought together Senior, Elizabeth, wife of the Very Reverend

Harold Browne Edward Harold Browne (usually called Harold Browne; 6 March 1811 – 18 December 1891) was a bishop of the Church of England. Early life and education Browne was born on 6 March 1811 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the second son of Robert ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

, Catharine Tait, and Mary Elizabeth Townsend (1841–1918). They agreed to set up the

Girls' Friendly Society The Girls' Friendly Society In England And Wales (or just GFS) is a charitable organisation that empowers girls and young women aged 5 to 25, encouraging them to develop their full potential through programs that provide training, confidence b ...

, founded on 1 January 1875 so young, "wholly unblemished" servants could have a friend of a higher social class with whom to meet, read, sew, take refreshment. Senior, with

Caroline Emelia Stephen Caroline Emelia Stephen (8 December 1834 – 7 April 1909), also known as Milly Stephen, was a British philanthropist and a writer on Quakerism. Her niece was Virginia Woolf. Life Stephen was born on 8 December 1834 at Kensington Gore on Hyde Pa ...

and her cousin founded instead, the rivalling Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants in 1876, to habilitate institutionalised and vulnerable girls in London. Senior had not found enough common ground with GFS's senior Anglicans who used the geographical units of the church and some of whom insisted on no hint a servant's impropriety. Instead her successful organisation sought to de-institutionalise recruits, from such places as workhouses into becoming reliable, skilled servants. Senior, with the support of

Thomas John Barnardo Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 184519 September 1905) was an Irish-born philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor and deprived children. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1867 to the date of Barnardo's death, nea ...

, had lobbied for MABYS, and similar bodies, to be automatically made guardians until the age of 20 for any child who had been in Poor Law care for over five years. She died of 'cancer of the womb' and exhaustion on 24 March 1877, aged 48; and is buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

in Surrey.

Associations

G. F. Watts George Frederic Watts (23 February 1817, in London – 1 July 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He said "I paint ideas, not things." Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical work ...

the artist had become a confidant of Jane Senior by the mid-1850s; they corresponded, and most of the letters have been destroyed.

Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3 December 1838 – 13 August 1912) was an English Reform movement, 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 fa ...

, governess for a time to the children of Thomas Hughes, became a close friend. Senior was a friend and correspondent of the novelist

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...

. In Clapham, Senior knew

Marianne Thornton Marianne Thornton (10 March 1797 – 5 November 1887) was an English human rights activist, who campaigned for the abolition of slavery. Marianne Thornton was the eldest of nine children of the philanthropist, economist and abolitionist Henry Tho ...

, figure of the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...

and daughter of Henry Thornton, and her niece Henrietta Synnot, both of whom were involved in local schooling. Synnot became her assistant.

Caroline Stephen Caroline Emelia Stephen (8 December 1834 – 7 April 1909), also known as Milly Stephen, was a British philanthropist and a writer on Quakerism. Her niece was Virginia Woolf. Life Stephen was born on 8 December 1834 at Kensington Gore on Hyde Pa ...

made a very positive impression, and was an influence for the future. In the aftermath of the "Eyre controversy", she made a point of inviting

Emelia Russell Gurney Emelia Russell Gurney (1823–1896) was an English activist, patron and benefactor. After her marriage she was generally known as Mrs. Russell Gurney. Life She was born Emelia Batten, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Ellis Batten (1792–1830), mas ...

, wife of

Russell Gurney Russell Gurney, FRS (2 September 1804 – 31 May 1878) was an English lawyer and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1878. Life Gurney was born at Norwood, the son of Sir John Gurney, a Baron of the Exc ...

, to show her Jamaica sketches. In the early 1870s Senior worked with Henrietta Rowland, teaching literacy in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

. Another associate of this period was

Menella Bute Smedley Menella Bute Smedley (1820–1877) was a novelist and poet. A relative of Lewis Carroll, she wrote some minor novels and books of poems, including the anonymous, ''The Story of Queen Isabel, and Other Verses'', 1863. She translated the old German ...

, following up on girls who had left workhouse schools. For MABYS, Senior called on Bessie Belloc,

Barbara Bodichon Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (born Barbara Leigh Smith; 8 April 1827 – 11 June 1891) was an English educationalist and artist, and a leading mid-19th-century feminist and women's rights activist. She published her influential ''Brief Summary ...

and Mrs. Knox for support.

Family

Jane married Nassau John Senior, son of

Nassau William Senior Nassau William Senior (; 26 September 1790 – 4 June 1864), was an English lawyer known as an economist. He was also a government adviser over several decades on economic and social policy on which he wrote extensively. Early life He was born ...

, on 10 August 1848 at Shaw Church. Her husband was a barrister, but failed to make more than a desultory career in the law. From 1860 they lived in Elm House, a villa with a small wooded estate on

Lavender Hill The A3036 is an A roads in Great Britain, A road in London, England, running from Waterloo, London, Waterloo to Wandsworth. Route It starts at the southern tip of the County Hall roundabout where the A302 road, A302 Westminster Bridge, York ...

, near

Clapham Junction Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea. Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances durin ...

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

, south London, taking lodgers. * * The marriage was unhappy. They had a son Walter Nassau (1850–1933). He married Mabel Barbara Hammersley, daughter of Hugh Hammersley and his mother's friend Dulcibella Eden, in 1888. Dorothea Murray Hughes (1891–1952), daughter of Senior's brother Hastings Hughes, was a nurse and aid worker. She wrote ''Jane Elizabeth Senior: A Memoir'' (1915).

References

Sources

* * *

External links

''Restoration of the memorial to Jane Elizabeth ("Jeanie") Senior''
Walter Money, FSA {{DEFAULTSORT:Senior, Jane 1828 births 1877 deaths British civil servants Deaths from uterine cancer Burials at Brookwood Cemetery