Henrietta Barnett

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Dame Henrietta Octavia Weston Barnett (née Rowland), DBE (4 May 1851 – 10 June 1936) was a notable English social reformer and author. She and her husband, Samuel Augustus Barnett, founded the first 'University Settlement' at Toynbee Hall (in the East End of London) in 1884.

Personal life

The daughter of Alexander Rowland, a wealthy businessman, in Clapham, she developed an enjoyment of country pursuits. She worked with Octavia Hill who was instrumental in introducing her to the curate of St Mary's, Bryanston Square, London.

Marriage

She subsequently married Samuel Barnett in 1873 and later that year the Barnetts moved to the impoverished Whitechapel parish of St Jude's intent on improving social conditions.^{[citation needed]}

Activism

A strong believer in the power of education to effect social change, she helped establish the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants in 1875, the Children's Country Holiday Fund in 1884, and annual loan exhibitions of fine art at the Whitechapel Gallery, which was built in 1897 at the behest of the Barnetts.^{[citation needed]}

Henrietta Barnett was also associated with the Hampstead area of north-west London, conceiving the idea of the model housing development of Hampstead Garden Suburb in 1904 (working with architects Raymond Unwin and Sir Edwin Lutyens) and helping protect part of Hampstead Heath from development by Eton College.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy

Henrietta Barnett also founded the Henrietta Barnett School in Hampstead Garden Suburb in 1911.

Writings

Barnett wrote several books, alone and with her husband. These include Practicable Socialism, which sets out their Christian Socialist beliefs.

Honours

For her work as a social reformer, Barnett was awarded the CBE in 1917 and was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1924.

Death

She lived at Heath End House in Spaniards Road, Hampstead (today marked by a blue plaque) until her death, twelve years later, in 1936. She is buried with her husband in the churchyard of St Helen's Church, Hangleton, East Sussex.^[1]

References

1. ^ Dale, Antony. Brighton Churches. London EC4. p. 227. ISBN 0-415-00863-8. 

Published works

• Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1919) [1919] (pdf). Canon Barnett: His Life, Work, and Friends. Houghton Mifflin. http://books.google.com/books?id=FVE3AAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2008-03-31. 

• Barnett, Samuel Augustus; Henrietta Barnett (1972) [1888]. Practicable Socialism: Essays on Social Reform. Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press. 

• Barnett, Samuel Augustus; Henrietta Barnett (1909) [1909]. Towards Social Reform. New York: Macmillan Co.. 

• Barnett, Henrietta Rowland (1930) [1930]. Matters that Matter. London: J. Murray. 

• Group, Taylor & Francis; Cathy Hartley, Susan Lecky (2003). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 1857432282. http://books.google.com/books?id=pDtEe4FKolUC. 

• Smith, M. K. (2007). "Henrietta Barnett, social reform and community building". The Encyclopaedia of Informal Education. http://www.infed.org/thinkers/henrietta_barnett.htm. 

External links

• Works by or about Henrietta Barnett in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Archival material relating to Henrietta Barnett listed at the UK National Register of Archives