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From English Heritage: "... founded in 1875 by Mary Townsend as an Anglican organisation that offered care and support to such women, through seven 'lodges' across west London, in areas like Ealing, Kensington and at 5 Bourdon Street, Berkeley Square where young women 'working in shops in the neighbourhood and (who) require a comfortable and safe lodgings' could lodge in separate cubicles. By 1912, places were inadequate to meet demand, 'owing to the remarkable development and rapid increase in the number of professions and occupations open to women, and the consequent necessity of their leaving their homes and living away from their relatives and friends'."