
Catherine Wilkinson (1786–1860)
was an Irish migrant, "wife of a labourer", who became known as the ''Saint of the Slums''. In 1832, during a cholera epidemic, she had the only boiler in her neighbourhood, so she invited those with infected clothes or linens to use it, thus saving many lives. This was the first public washhouse in Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
. Ten years later with public funds her efforts resulted in the opening of a combined washhouse and public baths, the first in the United Kingdom.
Personal life
Wilkinson was born Catherine Seaward in County Londonderry
County Londonderry (Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulste ...
, Ireland, and at the age of nine was coming to Liverpool with her parents, when their ship ran aground in the Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...
and her father and younger sister drowned. At twelve years of age she went to work at a cotton mill in Caton, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...
, where she was an indentured apprentice. At age 20 she left the mill and returned to live with her mother in Liverpool, where they both were in domestic service. Shortly thereafter she married a sailor, Emanuel Demontee, although her mother continued to live with her. After two children in quick succession, with her husband drowned at sea, she returned to domestic service. But shortly thereafter, upon being gifted with a mangle, she set herself up as a laundress. In 1823, she married Tom Wilkinson, a warehouse porter, and they continued to live at the Denison Street house that she rented.
Crusade
In 1832, cholera broke out in Liverpool, part of the 1826–1837 cholera pandemic
The second cholera pandemic (1826–1837), also known as the Asiatic cholera pandemic, was a cholera pandemic that reached from India across Western Asia to Europe, Great Britain, and the Americas, as well as east to China and Japan.Note: The ...
. Wilkinson took the initiative to offer the use of her boiler, house and yard to neighbours to wash their clothes, at a charge of 1 penny per week, and she showed them how to use a chloride of lime to get them clean. Boiling killed the cholera bacteria. Once these activities came to their attention, Wilkinson was supported by the District Provident Society and William Rathbone. Convinced of the importance of cleanliness in combating disease, she pushed for the establishment of public baths where the poor could bathe. In 1842 the combined public baths and washhouse was opened on Upper Fredrick Street in Liverpool, and in 1846 Wilkinson was appointed superintendent of the public baths.
Recognition and legacy
In 1846 the Mayor presented Wilkinson with a silver teapot from Queen Victoria inscribed "The Queen, the Queen Dowager, and the Ladies of Liverpool to Catherine Wilkinson, 1846." Wilkinson died in Liverpool and was buried in the St. James Cemetery. with the inscription:
In 2012, a marble statue of Kitty Wilkinson was unveiled in St George's Hall.
The non-profit ''Kitty's Laundrette'', named after Wilkinson, opened in Everton in 2018.
In May 2017, students at the University of Liverpool voted to change one of the names of the rooms in the Liverpool Guild's building. After 1,400 votes, it was chosen to rename the room the Kitty Wilkinson room.
Biographies
In 1910 ''The Life of Kitty Wilkinson'' was published by Winifred Rathbone which provided a more accurate story of her life than previously available in "Catherine of Liverpool" in '' Chambers' Miscellany''.[, ]
In 2000, a fuller biography, ''The Life of Kitty Wilkinson'', was written by Liverpool author and civic historian Michael Kelly. Kelly also starred in a short documentary about Wilkinson's life, produced by a group of students at Edge Hill University
Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male stu ...
in 2014, with the title ''Kitty: The Saint of the Slums''.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Kitty
1786 births
Public baths in the United Kingdom
1860 deaths
People from County Londonderry