Person    | Female  Born 1875  Died 1960

Lady Eleanor Keane

Categories: Children, Social Welfare

Pioneer in youth work. Born Eleanor Lucy Hicks-Beach, eldest daughter of 1st Earl St Aldwyn. On Valentine's day 1907, just 2 months before laying the foundation stone, she married the Irishman Sir John Keane (1873 -1956) and went on to have 1 son and 3 daughters. At the same period she was Chair of the St Mary’s Girls' Club Building Sub-Committee responsible for the 1907 building in Union Street. That Wikipedia link has a photo which may show Eleanor but since it claims to show two of Sir John's sons we don't trust it!

1931 The Sydney Morning Herald reports her organising an exhibition of embroidery in London. Chairman of the National Association of Youth Clubs 1924-1939. There is a Nerine flower named for her.

From Sisterhood or Surveillance? She was President of the National Council of Girls' Clubs and present at a 1937 international rally of physical culture in Hamburg ("Strength Through Joy"). Our photo comes from that document and is captioned "Girls' club members at a physical culture rally, Hamburg, 1938" so it seems possible that the lady in the dark suit behind the second row might be Lady Eleanor. Otherwise we refer you to the 3 photographic portraits of her with her 3 sisters (1923-31) held by the National Portrait Gallery, which, as we type, are "not currently available".

Her 12 December 1960 Times obituary doesn’t give many facts but makes it clear she was an important figure over a long period of time.

The plaque refers to 'our sisters': Eleanor had 3 sisters and perhaps her husband also had sisters, but that we cannot discover. Perhaps it was a nod to the suffrage movement? We think it probably just refers to the girls who belonged to the girls' club which used the building.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Lady Eleanor Keane

Commemorated ati

Lighthouse mission - Keane

To the honour & glory of God and in love of our sisters this stone was la...

Read More

Other Subjects

Jim Gaffney

Jim Gaffney

Spent his life helping vulnerable children.

Person, Children, Social Welfare

1 memorial
John Cyril Lees Collingham

John Cyril Lees Collingham

John Cyril Lees Collingham was born in 1865, the second of the six children of Joseph Mawer Collingham (1832-1902) and Jane Eliza Collingham née Lees (1836-1919). His birth was registered in 2nd qu...

Person, Benefactor, Children

1 memorial
Sunbeam

Sunbeam

Children's comic published by James Henderson and Sons. It featured 'Dr Rhino's Jolly Jungle Boys' and 'Willie And Winnie And Wuffles The Pup'. Originally called 'Sparks' it went through various ch...

Fiction, Children, Journalism / Publishing

1 memorial
William Riley

William Riley

Drowned in the 1898 HMS Albion disaster, aged 11. Buried in grave 4 at the memorial in East London Cemetery.

Person, Children, Tragedy

1 memorial
Mr Benn

Mr Benn

Character created by David McKee in the 1967 book Mr Benn - Red Knight. Dressed in black suit and bowler hat he sets out from his house each day to visit a fancy-dress shop where he tries on an out...

Fiction, Children, Fictional

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Greater London Council

Greater London Council

Replaced the LCC. The GLC was abolished, some say, because Mrs Thatcher could not abide its left-wing politics, nor its leader, Ken Livingstone.  On its 50th anniversary Diamond Geezer posted a goo...

Group, Politics & Administration

241 memorials
Francis Owen Salisbury

Francis Owen Salisbury

Painter. Born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. Known as Frank, his forte was in portraiture and he also painted over forty large canvases of historical and national events. He also produced a large qua...

Person, Art, Craft / Design

2 memorials
Bermondsey Abbey

Bermondsey Abbey

SE1, Tower Bridge Road

Bermondsey Abbey The Cluniac (Benedictine) Priory of St Saviour at Bermondsey occupied ground between Bermondsey Street, Abbey Street and...

1 subject commemorated
William Glanville

William Glanville

Engineering research. FRS.  Born 75 Kempe Road, Willesden.  Carried out research on concrete at first the Building Research Station and then the Road Research Laboratory.  During WW2 he was scienti...

Person, Engineering, Science

1 memorial
Lady Lucy Gilbert

Lady Lucy Gilbert

Lucy Agnes Turner was born on 14 November 1847 at The Grove, Yoxford, Suffolk, (now called Grove Park, Yoxford, Saxmundham, IP17 3HX), the youngest of the seven children of Thomas Metcalfe Blois Tu...

Person, Benefactor

1 memorial