Catherine Pennefather born Catherine King (c. 1818 – 12 January 1893) was an English home mission worker. She was president of the Association of Female Workers, and she edited a magazine and wrote. She created a cottage hospital in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

Life

Pennefather was born about 1818 in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. Her father was Rear Admiral James William King, son of the Earl of Kingston, and her mother was Caroline Cleaver, the daughter of Euseby Cleaver, the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

and his wife Catherine Wynne. In 1847 she married William Pennefather, an Anglican minister. She participated fully in her husband's work and was regarded as an equal partner. He was appointed as the perpetual curate to Holy Trinity Church, Walton near Aylesbury in 1848. In 1852 she and William moved to Barnet. She also wrote several hymns. From 1858 she was president of the Association of Female Workers, connected first with Barnet and then with the Mildmay area of Islington. She worked again with orphans in 1872. Her husband died on 30 April 1873 at their home in Muswell Hill. The Mildmay Mission Hospital was credited to him and his

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is a ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a liturgical role. The word comes from the Greek ...

es, but it was opened four years after he died by a dozen women including Catherine in an old warehouse near the church in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

. The hospital had a doctor, 27 beds, three nurses and five deaconesses in training. In 1876 she opened a mission to the Jews, and the following year she created a medical mission in Bethnal Green. A cottage hospital followed in 1883. Catherine has been credited with bringing together the Working Girls' Institute which was founded in 1855 to link those engaged in social work for girls in 1877 which led to the creation of the Y.W.C.A. The YMCA's main offices were in Mildmay until 1884. Other sources credit

Emma Robarts Emma Robarts (died 1 May 1877) was a British Christian activist who formed a group known as the Prayer Union. The organisation combined in 1877 with an organisation created by Mary Jane Kinnaird to form the Young Women's Christian Association. His ...

and Lady

Mary Jane Kinnaird Mary Kinnaird or Mary Jane Kinnaird, Lady Kinnaird; Mary Jane Hoare (1816–1888) was an English philanthropist and co-founder of the Young Women's Christian Association. Kinnaird has one Women's College and a girls' High School in Pakistan and ...

. Pennefather was engaged in training deaconesses for the mission including Maud Cattell in 1886 who went to lead Mildmay Mission Hospital. Pennefather died in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

on 12 January 1893. She had survived William by nearly twenty years. They had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennefather, Catherine 1810s births 1893 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Fulham Women founders English founders