Dame Sophia Gertrude Wintz DBE (1847–16 January 1929) was a

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-born

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philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

who co-founded the Royal Sailors' Rests. She was also a temperance activist. Sophia Wintz was born in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

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. Her father died when she was a child and her mother brought her to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Her younger brother, Lewis Wintz, joined the

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and rose to the rank of

vice-admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

. She was educated in a school near

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

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. While staying at

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she met

Agnes Weston Dame Agnes Elizabeth Weston, GBE (26 March 1840 – 23 October 1918) was an English philanthropist noted for her work with the Royal Navy. For over twenty years, she lived and worked among the sailors of the Royal Navy. The result of her powerf ...

, who lived there, and the two became close friends and remained so for the rest of their lives. In the 1870s they began to hold Sunday afternoon meetings at Wintz's mother's house for boys from the

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

s at Devonport. These meetings grew into a major movement in both

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and the two women later bought a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in each city, demolished them and replaced them with the two Sailors' Rests to serve as homes for sailors of all nationalities on shore leave. The establishment in Plymouth opened in 1876 and that in Portsmouth in 1881. They also founded the Royal Naval Temperance Society and established journals, ''Monthly Letters'' and ''Ashore and Afloat'', and a library for sailors which distributed literature to ships all over the world. Weston died in 1918, but Wintz continued to serve as superintendent of the homes until her own death in 1929. She was appointed

Dame Commander of the 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 the 1920 civilian war honours. She was given a full naval funeral at Devonport Dockyard Church attended by four hundred officers and ratings of the Royal Navy and was buried next to Weston.

References

Sources

*Obituary, ''

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'', 17 January 1929 1847 births 1929 deaths English philanthropists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Swiss emigrants to the United Kingdom Swiss expatriates in England British women in World War I People from Schaffhausen English temperance activists {{Philanthropist-stub