Jane Nassau Senior (1828–1877) was Britain's first female civil servant, and a philanthropist. She was co-founder of the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants (MABYS).

Life

Senior was born Jane Elizabeth Hughes at

Uffington Uffington is the name of several places: England * Uffington, Lincolnshire :* Uffington and Barnack railway station :* Uffington Rural District * Uffington, Oxfordshire :* Uffington railway station (Uffington Junction) * Uffington, Shropshire ...

on 10 December 1828, daughter of John Hughes and the only sister of the author

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 1822 – 22 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had atte ...

and five other brothers. Senior did relief work for material aid for the victims of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870 as part of the inceptive National Society for Aid to Sick and Wounded in War, in 1905 reconstituted as the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...

. She directed many practicalities for handling these donations. Work with impoverished children in Surrey led to Senior's appointment in January 1873, as an assistant inspector of workhouses. This post was given to her by James Stansfeld, against civil service opposition. The goal of the post was a Civil Service ''Report'', which she framed as covering both pauper girls as school children, and their histories after school. When the ''Report'' appeared in 1875, the 1874 general election having intervened, it bore heavy criticism by Royal Navy senior officer Carleton Tufnell, acting in concert with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. A meeting called by the Reverend Thomas Vincent Fosbery (then chaplain to Bishop Samuel Wilberforce) in May 1874, at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

. It brought together Senior, Elizabeth, wife of the Very Reverend Harold Browne

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

, Catharine Tait, and Mary Elizabeth Townsend (1841–1918). They agreed to set up the Girls' Friendly Society, founded on 1 January 1875 so young, "wholly unblemished" servants could have a friend of a higher social class with whom to meet, read, sew, take refreshment. Senior, with

Caroline Emelia Stephen Caroline Emelia Stephen (8 December 1834 – 7 April 1909), also known as Milly Stephen, was a British philanthropist and a writer on Quakerism. Her niece was Virginia Woolf. Life Stephen was born on 8 December 1834 at Kensington Gore on Hyde Pa ...

and her cousin founded instead, the rivalling Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants in 1876, to habilitate institutionalised and vulnerable girls in London. Senior had not found enough common ground with GFS's senior Anglicans who used the geographical units of the church and some of whom insisted on no hint a servant's impropriety. Instead her successful organisation sought to de-institutionalise recruits, from such places as workhouses into becoming reliable, skilled servants. Senior, with the support of Thomas John Barnardo, had lobbied for MABYS, and similar bodies, to be automatically made guardians until the age of 20 for any child who had been in Poor Law care for over five years. She died of 'cancer of the womb' and exhaustion on 24 March 1877, aged 48; and is buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

in Surrey.

Associations

G. F. Watts the artist had become a confidant of Jane Senior by the mid-1850s; they corresponded, and most of the letters have been destroyed.

Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3December 183813August 1912) was an English Reform movement, social reformer and founder of the National Trust. Her main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteent ...

, governess for a time to the children of Thomas Hughes, became a close friend. Senior was a friend and correspondent of the novelist

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

In Clapham, Senior knew Marianne Thornton, figure of the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Holy Trinity Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the Established Church, established (and do ...

and daughter of Henry Thornton, and her niece Henrietta Synnot, both of whom were involved in local schooling. Synnot became her assistant. Caroline Stephen made a very positive impression, and was an influence for the future. In the aftermath of the "Eyre controversy", she made a point of inviting Emelia Russell Gurney, wife of Russell Gurney, to show her Jamaica sketches. In the early 1870s Senior worked with Henrietta Rowland, teaching literacy in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () 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. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

. Another associate of this period was

Menella Bute Smedley Menella Bute Smedley (1820–1877) was a novelist and poet. A relative of Lewis Carroll, she wrote some minor novels and books of poems, including the anonymous, ''The Story of Queen Isabel, and Other Verses'', 1863. She translated the old German ...

, following up on girls who had left workhouse schools. For MABYS, Senior called on Bessie Belloc, Barbara Bodichon and Mrs. Knox for support.

Family

Jane married Nassau John Senior, son of

Nassau William Senior Nassau William Senior (26 September 1790 – 4 June 1864), was an English lawyer and economist. He was also a government adviser over several decades on economic and social policy on which he wrote extensively. In his writings, he made early co ...

, on 10 August 1848 at Shaw Church. Her husband was a barrister, but failed to make more than a desultory career in the law. From 1860 they lived in Elm House, a villa with a small wooded estate on Lavender Hill, near Clapham Junction in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

, south London, taking lodgers. * * The marriage was unhappy. They had a son Walter Nassau (1850–1933). He married Mabel Barbara Hammersley, daughter of Hugh Hammersley and his mother's friend Dulcibella Eden, in 1888. Dorothea Murray Hughes (1891–1952), daughter of Senior's brother Hastings Hughes, was a nurse and aid worker. She wrote ''Jane Elizabeth Senior: A Memoir'' (1915).

References

Sources

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External links

''Restoration of the memorial to Jane Elizabeth ("Jeanie") Senior''
Walter Money, FSA {{DEFAULTSORT:Senior, Jane 1828 births 1877 deaths British civil servants Deaths from uterine cancer Burials at Brookwood Cemetery