Lettice Jowitt (1878–1962) was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

educationist and refugee worker, and the first warden at the Bensham Grove

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Life

Lettice Jowitt was born into a large

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

family in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

, the daughter of William Jowitt, a rector and headmaster. Her brother,

William Jowitt William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt, (15 April 1885 – 16 August 1957) was a British Liberal Party, National Labour and then Labour Party politician and lawyer who served as Lord Chancellor under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951. Backgr ...

, was a lawyer, politician and

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

. Educated at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, Jowitt gained experience in education in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, working as a tutor at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, as well as for the

Workers' Educational Association Workers' Educational Associations (WEA) are not-for-profit bodies that deliver further education to adults in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. WEA UK WEA UK, founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult edu ...

. In 1911, she was a co-founder (alongside

Hilda Cashmore Hilda Cashmore (1876 – 1943) was a Quaker who founded the Bristol University Settlement which was later known as the Barton Hill Settlement. Life Cashmore was born in 1876 at Norton House in Norton Malreward. She was the penultimate child of ...

) of the Bristol University Settlement, and later recalled as a 'pioneer in the Resident Settlement movement'. Young residents remembered her as having 'grace and good looks', and having a 'charming gift' for 'encouraging them to think and read'. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Jowitt undertook relief work in France. In 1919, Jowitt moved to Gateshead to oversee the newly established Bensham Grove settlement, intended to be a 'common meeting ground for men and women to learn through class study, discussions, music and fruits of Fellowship’. Jowitt was the 'first and most influential' of all the wardens at Bensham Grove. She believed that educational settlements should ‘seek to unsettle those who had narrow personal aims and were content with the injustices and inequalities of the social system in which they live’. Among the settlements established after World War I, Bensham Grove was unusual in having a female warden and a residential element. Jowitt saw the challenges and significant social deprivation in Gateshead, and gathered a group of residents ('settlers') with welfare and reform in mind. She helped to establish the first Mother and Child welfare clinic in Gateshead, and the first nursery school in the North-East. Jowitt was warden of Bensham Grove for ten years, from 1919 to 1929. In 1931, she acquired Rock House in

Seaham Seaham ( ) is a seaside town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham, England, Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as ...

, to run as an educational settlement similar to Bensham Grove. It was intended to be 'a centre... for social and ethical education'. Jowitt was warden at Rock House between 1931 and 1937. It later became Seaham Rock House Community Association, joining with other educational institutions in the town. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Jowitt again engaged in educational and relief work. She worked as acting principal at the Friends' school in

Brummana Broummana () is a town in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. It is located east of Beirut, overlooking the capital and the Mediterranean. Broummana has long been a summer destination for visitors and locals. It is also ...

, and then taught at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

. In 1942, she was asked to investigate the conditions of Polish refugees in Tanganyika and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, teaching and living for two years in one of the largest camps. Following the war, Jowitt worked for 18 months as general secretary of the

Friends Relief Service The Friends Relief Service (FRS) was a voluntary humanitarian relief organisation formally established by a committee of Britain Yearly Meeting in November 1940. Largely staffed by pacifists and conscientious objectors, its aim was to provide hu ...

, and spoke about her experiences at various Quaker meeting houses around the country. Lettice Jowitt died in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

aged 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jowitt, Lettice 1878 births 1962 deaths English Quakers English women educators Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford People from Stevenage