The Hon. Rachel Beatrice Kay-Shuttleworth

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(1886–1967) was an English embroiderer, lace-maker, textile collector, teacher and philanthropist. Her textile collection is held at Gawthorpe Hall in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, Lancashire, her family home.

Early life

Kay-Shuttleworth was born on 17 February 1886 and was the daughter of

Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth Ughtred James Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth, (18 December 1844 – 20 December 1939), known as Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, Bt, between 1872 and 1902, was a British landowner and Liberal politician. He was Under-Secretary of ...

(1844–1939) and Blanche Marion Parish (died 1924).As reported in deprecated source "The Peerage", ''citing'' Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. She learned to sew, draw and paint in her childhood, and often visited the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

when staying at her family's

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

home. She was influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement and believed in the importance of creativity and craft for social and economic development; she taught textile skills in the community.

Textiles

Kay-Shuttleworth was an embroiderer and lace-maker, and started to collect textiles around 1912 to help with her teaching. The collection grew through donations from her family and friends, and during her lifetime grew to some 11,000 items, now increased to around 30,000. She gave the items hand-written labels, often written in green ink. Her collection is now maintained by a charity, The Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth Collections, operating under the name Gawthorpe Textiles Collection. It is held and in part displayed at Gawthorpe Hall, which is managed by

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...

and owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. Kay-Shuttleworth opened Gawthorpe to the community as a "Craft House" and worked to secure funding for its future. Schools, colleges and craft groups were welcomed to visit the house and collections during her lifetime, and talks and study tours are now arranged by the charity, along with work with schools which won the

Sandford Award The Sandford Award, previously the Sandford Award for Heritage Education, is a British and Irish award for education programmes at heritage sites. Its website describes it as "an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programm ...

in 2014.

Girlguiding

Kay-Shuttleworth played a major part in the early days of

Girlguiding Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association and is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest girl-only youth organisation. Girlguiding is a char ...

in Lancashire. She was the first County Commissioner, appointed in 1916, and held that position for over 30 years. A sampler presented to her on her retirement included at least one stitch made by every Guide in the county. She was awarded the

Silver Fish The Silver Fish Award is the highest adult award in Girlguiding. It is awarded for outstanding service to Girlguiding combined with service to world Guiding. The award has changed greatly since it first appeared in 1911, initially being awarded ...

, Guiding's highest award, for her services. A gate in the grounds of Gawthorpe Hall commemorates her association with Guiding.

Public service

Kay-Shuttleworth was appointed as a

Justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1934 and was on the county youth committee and the county records committee. She was involved with 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 ...

, Women's Voluntary Service, and the Civic Arts Association, and was appointed

in the

1949 New Year Honours The 1949 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the '' London ...

"For public services in Lancashire".

Death

Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth did not marry, and died at Gawthorpe on 20 April 1967, aged 81.

Legacy

Kay-Shuttleworth's collection, known as the Gawthorpe Textiles Collection, is internationally recognised as a significant collection. The collection influences other designers: as examples, a flooring company has produced a "Gawthorpe" range of designs, inspired by items from the collection and named after members of Kay-Shuttleworth's family, and a knitting designer has created a design for a tam based on a coverlet in the collection, which was embroidered by Kay-Shuttleworth in honour of a 17th-century ancestor. The Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Council for Voluntary Services (BPRCVS) headquarters building in Burnley is named the Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth building.

References

External links

Portrait of Kay-Shuttleworth by Peter Brannan, 1960Lancashire Legends - Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth
YouTube video {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay-Shuttleworth, Rachel 1886 births 1967 deaths Recipients of the Silver Fish Award English embroidery English collectors English justices of the peace Daughters of barons People from Burnley British embroiderers