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

Sacred Heart School, Hammersmith

Sacred Heart School, Hammersmith

The origins of the school date back to a nunnery in 1609. In 1869, Cardinal Manning decided to convert it into a seminary, and had John Francis Bentley (the architect of Westminster Cathedral) draw...

Building, Children, Education

1 memorial
Central Foundation Girls School

Central Foundation Girls School

Moved from Spital Square in 1975 to the building in Bow Road.  Spitalfields Life reports on a 2013 school reunion at the old building, which is now Galvin Restaurant - old photos and reminiscences.

Group, Children, Education

1 memorial
Francis Lord Derwent

Francis Lord Derwent

Francis Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Baron Derwent. Army officer and landowner. Attended Eton, 1864-9.  First born son to Harcourt Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone of Hackness Grange, Scarborough. Harcourt...

Person, Armed Forces, Children, Property, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Highgate Camp

Highgate Camp

A youth camp started in the Highgate Congregational Church's Sunday School by two teachers.

Group, Children, Religion

1 memorial
Charity School - Hatton Garden

Charity School - Hatton Garden

Possibly designed by Wren.  Built by Lord Hatton following the loss of St Andrews church Holborn in the Great Fire.  In 1721 converted to house St Andrew's Parochial School.  It was given two entra...

Building, Children, Education

3 memorials

Previously viewed

Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road

Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road

The church moved here at the end of the 19th century from a Knightsbridge site, where the French Embassy now is.   The British Library have a wonderful zoomable street-scape showing Knightsbridge w...

Building, Religion

1 memorial
National Firefighters memorial

National Firefighters memorial

EC4, Sermon Lane

Two figures in the sculpture are based on a photograph, “A relief crew damping down in Cannon Street, 17th April 1941” but we cannot find...

War served | WW2
2 subjects commemorated, 8 creators
British Plaque Trust

British Plaque Trust

A charity with: "The key objective of the British Plaque Trust (BPT) is to resurrect this national scheme {of English Heritage} which commemorates the lives and successes of notable figures by reco...

Group, History

9 memorials
Mayor, Cllr Patricia Ekechi

Mayor, Cllr Patricia Ekechi

Had lived in Enfield for more than 37 years when, in May 2015, she was appointed Mayor of Enfield.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Napoleonic wars

Napoleonic wars

Following the French Revolution France, under Napoleon, fought with most of Europe (primarily Britain, Spain, Russia and Austria)  in various alliances for over a decade.  The fighting spread as fa...

Event, Armed Forces

2 memorials