Marjory Allen, Baroness Allen of Hurtwood (née Gill; 10 May 1897 – 11 April 1976), known to her friends as Joan, was an English landscape architect and promoter of

child welfare Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to ...

. Marjory Gill was born in Bexleyheath,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. She was a cousin of

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

and sister of Colin Gill. She was educated at

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conven ...

and

University College, Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, where she took a diploma course in

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. In 1921 she married

Clifford Allen Clifford Robertson Allen (January 6, 1912 – June 18, 1978) was a Tennessee attorney and Democratic politician. Early life and career Allen was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated from Friends High School (now Sidwell Friends) in ...

, a leading member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

who had been imprisoned as a conscientious objector in

World War I 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 ...

. Marjory Allen worked as a landscape architect throughout the 1920s and 1930s and was elected the first

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the Institute of Landscape Architects in 1930. Clifford Allen, who had been created 1st Baron Allen of Hurtwood in 1932, died in 1939, and Lady Allen threw herself into her work, also becoming interested in the welfare of children. Her campaigning for children in institutional care led to the passing of the Children Act 1948. She was chairman (1942–1948) and president (1948–1951) of the

Nursery School Association of Great Britain Nursery may refer to: Childcare * Nursery (room), a room within the house designed for the care of a young child or children. * Nursery school, a daycare facility for preschool-age children * Prison nursery, for imprisoned mothers with their young ...

, founder president of the World Organisation for Early Childhood Education, a member of the

Central Advisory Council for Education Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...

(1945–1949), and chairman of the Advisory Council on Children's Entertainment Films (1944–1950). During the Second World War, Lady Allen, with the support of the Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, with whom she was friends, established a scheme whereby waste material from the bomb sites were turned into children's toys. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

she served as a liaison officer with

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

in Europe and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. She campaigned for facilities for children growing up in the new high-rise developments in Britain's cities and wrote a series of illustrated books on the subject of playgrounds, and at least one book on

adventure playground An adventure playground is a specific type of playground for children. Adventure playgrounds can take many forms, ranging from "natural playgrounds" to "junk playgrounds", and are typically defined by an ethos of unrestricted play, the presence ...

s, spaces for free creativity by children, which helped the idea spread worldwide.

References

* Dictionary of National Biography

External links

Catalogue of Allen's papers
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick * Lady Allen of Hurtwood and Susan Jellicoe 'The New Small Garden' 1956, 128 pp THE ARCHITECTURAL PRESS LONDON 1897 births 1976 deaths People from Bexleyheath Alumni of the University of Reading Allen of Hurtwood English landscape architects English women writers People educated at Bedales School British women architects {{UK-architect-stub

References

Further reading

External links