Hon. Maude Alethea Stanley (4 May 1833 –14 July 1915) was a British

youth work Youth work is a community support activity aimed at older children and adolescents. Depending upon the culture and the community, different services and institutions may exist for this purpose. In general, it provides an environment where young pe ...

pioneer and women's welfare activist.

Early life and family

Stanley was born at

Alderley Park Alderley Park was a country estate at Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England, between Macclesfield and Knutsford. It was the residence of the Stanley family of Alderley from the 1500s. It became the headquarters of ICI Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s. ...

Chelford Chelford is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England; it includes the hamlet of Astle. It lies six miles (10 km) west of Macclesfield and six miles south-east of Knutsford. The village forms part of the Tatton parliamentary constit ...

in Cheshire, the fourth daughter and fifth of 12 children of the politician Edward Stanley and the

women's education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

campaigner Henrietta Stanley (later Baron and Baroness Stanley of Alderley). In 1834, her paternal grandfather,

John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley John Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley (26 November 1766 – 23 October 1850), known as Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet, from 1807 to 1839, was an English peer and politician. Early life and education Stanley was born at Alderley Pa ...

, wrote a manuscript on philosophy dedicated to his newborn granddaughter and called ''Alethea's Book''. Stanley shared her family's tolerant and liberal views towards religion – her parents were Anglicans, her eldest brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

a convert to Islam, her youngest brother Algernon a Roman Catholic bishop and her youngest sister Rosalind an agnostic. Stanley herself has been described as

low church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...

. Her youngest sisters,

Katharine Russell, Viscountess Amberley Katharine "Kate" Louisa Russell, Viscountess Amberley ( Stanley; 3 April 1842 – 28 June 1874) was a British women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, suffragist and an early advocate of birth control in the United Kingdom. A member of th ...

, and

Rosalind Howard, Countess of Carlisle Rosalind Frances Howard, Countess of Carlisle (''née'' Stanley; 20 February 1845 – 12 August 1921), known as the Radical Countess, was an English aristocrat and activist for women's political rights and temperance movement. She was a member of ...

, both campaigned for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. It was decided that Stanley should remain unmarried, and Lady Amberley assured her sister that their parents and siblings needed her at home. Described by Lady Amberley's son

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

as "stern and gloomy Aunt Maude", Stanley doted on her siblings' numerous children. Russell himself thought of her as the perfect aunt and an embodiment of kindness. In his later years, he recalled: "I used to enjoy going to see her when I was a child because she had a parrot that talked, and because she sometimes gave me marrons glacés." In 1894, Stanley took her nephew to visit Monsignor Algernon in Rome. Stanley's father died in 1869 and the house at

Smith Square Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden square, garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a English Baroque, Baroque surplus church, the inside of w ...

in London where she lived was inherited by her eldest brother. The next year, Stanley contemplated travelling to the continent to nurse the wounded in 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 ...

. Following a long trip abroad, she and her mother moved to

Dover Street Dover Street is a street in Mayfair, London. The street is notable for its Georgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It al ...

Youth work

A woman of Stanley's social position was expected to devote time to charity and social work, but her involvement exceeded expectations. She started out as

visitor A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...

of Five Dials, a now-extinct London

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

, where her younger brother Algernon served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

, which she considered "old-fashioned" but enabling her to "penetrate into houses where none other could enter". Stanley's approach gradually became more secular and she started concentrating on

. She started opening night schools and clubs for girls, spending much of her income for that purpose. She set out to reach young men and women on the streets and in the courtyards by talking to them, playing cards and gambling. In an attempt to promote inter-club co-operation, she established Girls Club Union in 1880 (which eventually grew into London Youth). Stanley also functioned as

Poor Law Guardian Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

, became manager of the

Metropolitan Asylums Board The Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) was established under Poor Law legislation to deal with London's sick and poor. It was established by the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 6) and dissolved in 1930, when its functions were transfer ...

in 1884 and governor of the

Borough Polytechnic London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough Po ...

in 1892. In 1890, she wrote ''Clubs for Working Girls'', the first text about young women's clubs, and took a lifelong interest in the welfare of working teenaged girls. The circle of philanthropists she belonged to included

Henry Solly Henry Solly (17 November 1813 – 27 February 1903) was an English social reformer.Alan Ruston, �Solly, Henry (1813–1903)��, '' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 , accessed 18 April 2010. William Beverid ...

and

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 ...

Death and commemoration

Stanley lived with her mother until the latter's death in 1895. The outbreak of 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 ...

distressed her and caused her to leave London. She died of a heart condition at Alderley Park. The funeral was held at Alderley Park two days later, and was followed by a memorial service at

. Both Queen Mary and

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...

sent representatives to the memorial service. Queen Alexandra's wreath was inscribed with: "In memory of dear Miss Stanley and all her many good works. From her devoted Alexandra." Sir

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, Order of the British Empire, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scotland, Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, f ...

designed a memorial to Hon. Maude Stanley in 1916. Its location is unclear.''Dictionary of Scottish Architects'': Robert Lorimer

Bibliography

*Stanley, Maude: ''Work about the Five Dials'' Macmillan 1878 *Stanley, Maude: ''Clubs for Working Girls'' Macmillan 1890

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Maude 1833 births 1915 deaths Women of the Victorian era Daughters of barons

Maude Stanley Hon. Maude Alethea Stanley (4 May 1833 –14 July 1915) was a British youth work pioneer and women's welfare activist. Early life and family Stanley was born at Alderley Park, Chelford in Cheshire, the fourth daughter and fifth of 12 child ...

Youth work