Thomas Hancock Nunn (1859-1937) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

. He was born on 14 March 1859 in London and admitted to

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

in 1880 with no scholarship. He received his B.A. in 1884 and his M.A. in 1904. He was also known as Tom Nunn and was married to Kate Hannah Nunn. His brother John Hancock Nunn was in the

India rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

business founded by Thomas Hancock. Nunn was vice-chair of the

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Charity Organization Society The Charity Organisation Societies were founded in England in 1869 following the ' Goschen Minute' that sought to severely restrict outdoor relief distributed by the Poor Law Guardians. In the early 1870s a handful of local societies were formed w ...

(COS). Soon after the founding of the first university-affiliated institution of the world-wide

Settlement movement The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

in 1884 at

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 ...

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 ...

he made a base for himself there. He resided there from 1884 to 1891, and in 1892 published an article, "The Universities' Settlement in Whitechapel" in '' The Economic Review'' which describes why it was established and how well it had meant those aims. At Hampstead in 1902 he founded the first Council of Social Welfare which brought all welfare agencies together under one administrative umbrella. This was to lay the foundations for the

London Council of Social Service The London Voluntary Service Council is the collaborative leader of Greater London’s voluntary and community sector, supporting some 60,000 voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations. It is a registered charity number 276886. Histo ...

. He was a commissioner of the

Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–09 Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

, and in 1909 published a pamphlet ''A council of social welfare : a note and memorandum in the report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress''. He died 22 June 1937 at

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the ...

. His biography was published in 1942 by H.J.Marshall. A charity bearing his name, the Thomas Hancock Nunn Memorial fund, operated from 1962 to 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunn, Thomas Hancock British social reformers 1859 births 1937 deaths People from Clerkenwell