Person    | Female  Born 1791  Died 1877

Mrs Catherine Smithies

Born as Catherine Bywater. Founded the Band of Mercy movement in Britain. She also campaigned against slavery but we can find no details.

Her home, Earlham Grove House, built c.1865, has also been known as Westbury House and Woodside House. It still stands in Woodside Park on the High Road. Her son, Thomas Bywater Smithies (1817-83) who never married, was living with her in Earlham Grove when she died.

We can find no picture of Smithies so we are using this charming one of a Band of Mercy, possibly American.

2018: Dai Bevan wrote to tell us that the Shoreditch Observer, 3 November 1877 reports Mrs Smithies' funeral so she must have died shortly before that date. We had previously taken her date of death as 1878 from her son's page at the normally reliable ODNB. We thank Dai for this correction.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Mrs Catherine Smithies

Commemorated ati

Mrs Catherine Smithies

{The sides of the plinth above each basin are inscribed with texts.  Taking t...

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Other Subjects

Band of Mercy

Band of Mercy

Locally led organisations aimed at teaching young people about kindness to animals. They also worked to prevent cruelty to animals. Founded by Catherine Smithies as a furtherance of the temperance ...

Group, Community / Clubs, Animals

1 memorial
Sugar

Sugar

Sugar was John Henderson's companion for 10 years before she died. When Sugar died John said: “She was my best friend and I was hers. We did everything together. ... “She was a rescue dog. One day ...

Animal, Animals

1 memorial
Old Tom

Old Tom

This is the story......During the early 19th Century one of the most celebrated characters in the Market was Old Tom, a gander from Ostend who came to England by chance, due to his fascination with...

Animal, Animals

1 memorial
Towpath Horse

Towpath Horse

We can't find any biographical information about the horse.

Animal, Animals

1 memorial
Jim

Jim

Died aged almost 16, faithful dog of Sir Henry Cole, buried in the V&A garden. First mentioned in Cole’s diary entry for 11 December 1863: "Walked out with Tishy & Jimmy". And on 30 Januar...

Animal, Animals

1 memorial

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William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

Born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon. His birth date is usually given as the 23rd, the same date as his death, but all that is actually known is that he was baptised 3 days later, on the 26th. Even...

Person, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Theatre

47 memorials
London County Council

London County Council

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285 memorials
Collins Music Hall

Collins Music Hall

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Place, Theatre

1 memorial
Patricia Penn (Penny)

Patricia Penn (Penny)

Patricia Rosemary Anderton Penn was born on 13 November 1914 in Battersea, the third daughter of William Arthur Penn (1876-1945) and Jane Winifred Penn née Hartley (1875-1923). Her father had been ...

Person, History

1 memorial
Royal Northern Gardens gates

Royal Northern Gardens gates

N7, Manor Gardens, Royal Northern Gardens

An information board, just to the right of our photo, says: "Royal Northern Gardens occupies part of the old Royal Northern Hospital sit...

3 subjects commemorated