Georgiana Fletcher Welch (née Ford; 9 June 1792 8 April 1879) was an English patron of religious and political unorthodoxy.

Biography

Georgina Fletcher Ford was born in

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred south-west of Charing Cross in central London. Thame ...

, Surrey, on 9 June 1792. She was one of eight children of the slave and plantation owning baronet Sir Francis Ford and his wife Mary (née Anson). In 1816 she married Stephen John Fletcher Welch who owned Ebworth Park. The marriage was not a success and she became separated from him about 1820 and strongly dissatisfied with the marriage laws in the country. She rented the house and lands from her husband who moved to Paris. Welch's sister

Sophia Chichester Sophia Catherine Chichester (née Ford; 7 August 1795 – 29 April 1847) was an English patron of religious and political unorthodoxy. She supported the work of reformers including Robert Owen and Richard Carlile, and was president of the British ...

became a widow a year after her marriage to John Chichester. She moved to live with Welch and together the sisters began to patronise religious radicalism and political unorthodoxy. As the ladies of the big house, charity was expected of them but the books and support the women gave to the weavers in their locality was subversive literature and they were opposed by the local clergy. They gave financial support to evangelical preachers, spiritual and political. They became friends of the reformer

James Pierrepont Greaves James Pierrepont Greaves (1 February 1777 – 11 March 1842), was an English mystic, educational reformer, socialist and progressive thinker who founded Alcott House, a short-lived utopian community and free school in Surrey. He describe ...

as well as secularist

George Jacob Holyoake George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and " jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, ''The Reasoner'', from 1846 to ...

and

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist, political philosopher and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement, co-operative movement. He strove to ...

. It is hard to tell from correspondence who is writing because the sisters wrote as one, sharing their names on their letters. In 1844 they left Ebworth Park and came to live at Ham Common near the community and school founded by Greaves called the Concordium or

Alcott House Alcott House in Ham, Surrey (now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames), was the home of a utopian spiritual community and progressive school which lasted from 1838 to 1848. Supporters of Alcott House, or the Concordium, were a key gr ...

. In later years their mentor was

James Elishama Smith James Elishama Smith, often called Shepherd Smith (1801 in Glasgow – 1857 in Glasgow) was a British journalist and religious writer. Smith studied at Glasgow University. Hearing Edward Irving preach in 1828, he became a millenarian and ass ...

, who they financially supported. Their attempts to reform the world were performed predominantly from their home by letter, at times via an agent, B. D. Cousins, himself a radical publisher. Their correspondence with

Richard Carlile Richard Carlile (8 December 1790 – 10 February 1843) was an English radical publisher and writer. He was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom. Early life and career ...

and their support for him expresses their ultra radical positions and careful proselytising. Welch was supportive only while interested and when she suffered a depressive episode she lost much of her interest in some of the people when they later needed her. After her sister's death in 1847, Welch remained quietly at home in Ebworth and her radical activities appear to have ended. She died there on 8 April 1879.England & Wales,

National Probate Calendar The National Probate Calendar is a register of proved wills and administrations in England and Wales since 1858. History The probate calendar was created by the Probate Registry, which was responsible for proving wills and administrations from ...

(Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

Biography

References

Further reading