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'."
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Girls Friendly Society
Commemorated ati
Girls Friendly Society hostel
This foundation stone is behind railings, hence the squew-whiff photo.
Other Subjects
Mary Lowndes
Artist, suffragette and founder of Artist Suffrage League in 1909. Born Dorset. Trained in stained-glass work. Lived and worked in Chelsea. The photo shows Lowndes in 1890.
First gay rights demonstration
The first gay rights demonstration in Britain took place in Highbury Fields when about 150 members of the Gay Liberation Front held a torchlight rally against police harassment. Louis Eakes of the ...
Priss Fotheringham
Some details of Priss's sorry life are given at HistoryWeird: Born in Scotland, she was in London by 1656 and had married Edmund Fotheringham. "In the late 1650s Priss took up residence in a taver...
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
Formed in 1984 by Mark Ashton and his friend Mike Jackson, this group was only wound down in 2015. The London group used the bookshop Gay's the Word as their HQ. The largest fund-raising event was ...
Margaret Ethel MacDonald
Feminist and social reformer. Daughter of John & Margaret Gladstone. Born 17 Pembridge Square, her mother dying soon after. Brought up to do good works, she became a socialist, joined the Labou...
Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration, Social Welfare