Dame Rachel Elizabeth Waterhouse ( Franklin; 2 January 1923 – 14 October 2020) was an English local historian, consumer affairs activist and writer.

Biography

Rachel Franklin was born in Whitchurch,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, the daughter of Percival Franklin, a loss adjuster, and his wife Ruby (née Knight). The family relocated to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

while she was a child. Rachel won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

King Edward VI High School for Girls King Edward VI High School for Girls (KEHS) is an all-girls public school (United Kingdom), public school located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1883 and occupies the same site as, and is twinned with the King Edward's Scho ...

in the city, then an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

to study history at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

, graduating in 1944. After 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 ...

she returned to Birmingham where she married John Waterhouse, a university lecturer, in 1947. In 1950 she completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Historian

Waterhouse became a founder member of

The Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by la ...

in 1958 and was instrumental in setting up the Birmingham Branch in 1967, serving as its first Chairman between 1967 and 1971. She was a member of the group which resurrected the

Lunar Society The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophy, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly b ...

around 1990 and became its founder Chairman. She was president of the

Birmingham and Midland Institute The Birmingham and Midland Institute (popularly known as the Midland Institute) (), is an institution concerned with the promotion of education and learning in Birmingham, England. It is now based on Margaret Street in Birmingham city centr ...

for 1992.

Consumers' Association

Waterhouse was a council member of the Consumers' Association from 1966 and its chairman from 1982 to 1990. She was also a member of the

National Consumer Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and of the

Health and Safety Commission The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) was a United Kingdom non-departmental public body. The HSC was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA). It was formally established on 31 July 1974. The Commission consisted of a chairm ...

.Hansard
17 April 1991.

Honours

Waterhouse was made a

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1980 and a

Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in 1990. She received honorary degrees from

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

, the University of Birmingham and

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

.Obituary
LunarSociety.org. Accessed 20 November 2023.

Death

Waterhouse died in 2020 at the age of 97. Her husband predeceased her in 2000. She was survived by her children (Matthew, Edmund, Deborah and Rebecca), eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Written works

*''The Birmingham and Midland Institute, 1854–1954'' *''Children in Hospital: a hundred years of child care in Birmingham '' *''A Hundred Years of Engineering Craftsmanship: a short history tracing the adventurous development of Tangye's Limited, Smethwick, 1857–1957'' *''King Edward VI High School for Girls, 1883–1983'' *''Six King Edward Schools, 1883–1983'' *''The 1990s and a Christian Response to Consumerism'' *''The Birmingham and Midland Institute: the Institute's contributions to Birmingham, 1855–2005'' Joint authorship: *''How Birmingham became a Great City'' (jointly with John Whybrow) *''Birmingham One Hundred Years Ago: social and political life and cultural life'' (jointly with Charles Parish)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterhouse, Rachel 1923 births 2020 deaths British activists British historians English women activists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Academics from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Birmingham