The Hon. Maude Alethea Stanley (May 1833 –14 July 1915) was a British

youth work Youth work is community support activity aimed at older children and adolescents. Depending upon the culture and the community, different services and institutions may exist for this purpose. In the United Kingdom youth work is the process of cre ...

pioneer and women's welfare activist.

Early life and family

Stanley was born at

Alderley Park Alderley Park was a country estate at Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England, between Macclesfield and Knutsford. It was the residence of the Stanley family of Alderley from the 1500s. It became the headquarters of ICI Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s. I ...

Chelford Chelford is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, near to the junction of the A537 and A535 roads six miles (10 km) west of Macclesfield and six miles south-east of Knutsford, and is part of the Tatton constituency. The civil pa ...

in Cheshire, the third daughter and fourth of ten children of the politician Edward Stanley and the women's education campaigner Henrietta Stanley (later Baron and Baroness Stanley of Alderley). In 1834, her paternal grandfather, John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, wrote a manuscript on philosophy dedicated to his newborn granddaughter and called "''Alethea's Book''". Stanley shared her family's tolerant and liberal views towards religion – her parents were Anglicans, her eldest brother Henry a convert to Islam, her youngest brother Algernon a Roman Catholic bishop and her youngest sister Rosalind an agnostic. Stanley herself has been described as low church. Her youngest sisters,

Katharine Russell, Viscountess Amberley Katharine Louisa Russell, Viscountess Amberley (née Stanley; 3 April 1842 – 28 June 1874),
(Accessed 23 February 2016)

, and

Rosalind Howard, Countess of Carlisle Rosalind Frances Howard, Countess of Carlisle (née Stanley; 20 February 1845 – 12 August 1921), known as ''The Radical Countess'', was a promoter of women's political rights and temperance movement activist. Family The Countess of Carlisle ...

, both campaigned for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. It was decided that Stanley should remain unmarried, and Lady Amberley assured her sister that their parents and siblings needed her at home. Described by Lady Amberley's son

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

as "stern and gloomy Aunt Maude", Stanley doted on her siblings' numerous children. Russell himself thought of her as the perfect aunt and an embodiment of kindness. In his later years, he recalled: "I used to enjoy going to see her when I was a child because she had a parrot that talked, and because she sometimes gave me marrons glacés." In 1894, Stanley took her nephew to visit Monsignor Algernon in Rome. Stanley's father died in 1869 and the house at

Smith Square Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a Baroque surplus church, which has inside converted to a concert hall ...

in London where she lived was inherited by her eldest brother. The next year, Stanley contemplated travelling to the continent to nurse the wounded in the Franco-Prussian War. Following a long trip abroad, she and her mother moved to

Dover Street Dover Street is a street in Mayfair, London. The street is notable for its Georgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It also ...

Youth work

A woman of Stanley's social position was expected to devote time to charity and social work, but her involvement exceeded expectations. She started out as

visitor A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...

of Five Dials, a now-extinct London

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...

, where her younger brother Algernon served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

, which she considered "old-fashioned" but enabling her to "penetrate into houses where none other could enter". Stanley's approach gradually became more secular and she started concentrating on

. She started opening night schools and clubs for girls, spending much of her income for that purpose. She set out to reach young men and women on the streets and in the courtyards by talking to them, playing cards and gambling. In an attempt to promote inter-club co-operation, she established Girls Club Union in 1880 (which eventually grew into London Youth). Stanley also functioned as

Poor Law Guardian Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

, became manager of the Metropolitan Asylums Board in 1884 and governor of the

Borough Polytechnic London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough Po ...

in 1892. In 1890, she wrote ''Clubs for Working Girls'', the first text about young women's clubs, and took a lifelong interest in the welfare of working teenaged girls. The circle of philanthropists she belonged to included Henry Solly and

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 ...

Death and commemoration

Stanley lived with her mother until the latter's death in 1895. The outbreak of 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 ...

distressed her and caused her to leave London. She died of a heart condition at Alderley Park. The funeral was held at Alderley Park two days later, and was followed by a memorial service at

. Both Queen Mary and

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...

sent representatives to the memorial service. Queen Alexandra's wreath was inscribed with: "''In memory of dear Miss Stanley and all her many good works. From her devoted Alexandra.''" Sir Robert Lorimer designed a memorial to Maude Stanley in 1916. Its location is unclear.Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Lorimer

Bibliography

*Stanley, Maude: ''Work about the Five Dials'' Macmillan 1878 *Stanley, Maude: ''Clubs for Working Girls'' Macmillan 1890

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Maude 1833 births 1915 deaths Women of the Victorian era Daughters of barons

Maude Stanley The Hon. Maude Alethea Stanley (May 1833 –14 July 1915) was a British youth work pioneer and women's welfare activist. Early life and family Stanley was born at Alderley Park, Chelford in Cheshire, the third daughter and fourth of ten c ...

Youth work