Description:[Submitted by Angela Skitt, Birmingham Archive and Heritage]
Helen Newill's Positions:
Chair of The Association for the Rescue and Training of Young Women (Birmingham
District), 1906-1914
Head of ‘Bethany’, The Birmingham Diocesan Training Home for Women Workers, 1908 - 1916.
Guardian of the Poor, Kings Norton Union, 1901 – 1912.
The photograph above, labelled ‘Miss Helen Newill, Chairman 1906 – 1914’, survives amongst the historical records of a Birmingham charity, the Birmingham Association for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child, which are now preserved at Birmingham Archives and Heritage department [1]. Miss Newill was first chair of the charity from its foundation in 1906. However, the surviving records of the charity reveal little else about Miss Newill. What was her family background? What motivated her in her work to provide help to unmarried mothers in the city? What was the significance of her style of dress in the photograph? Through research using local and national records, I have attempted to build up a picture of her life and work.
Helena Marian Roberta Newill was born in 1863 in Wellington, Shropshire [2]. The census returns for 1871 and 1881 reveal she was born into a large wealthy family. In 1871, the household, residing in Admaston, Wrockwardine in Shropshire, comprised Helen’s father, mother, seven children, five servants and a governess. Helen’s father, Robert D. Newill is described as ‘Solicitor Coroner Registrar of the County Court Farmer of 10 acres and Land Owner’[3].
By 1891, the family had moved to Birmingham. Helen’s mother, Marian S. Newill, can be found on the 1891 census living at 7 Priory Road, Edgbaston with six of Helen’s siblings[4]. Helen is absent, but can be found at 48 Alexander Road, North Meols in Lancashire. She is listed as a ‘companion’ to Susan Coalbank, a 52 year old woman living ‘on own means’[5].
Helen’s sister, Fanny Gertrude Newill, was married on 4th July 1893 to Reverend Arthur G. Lloyd, curate of St. Mary and St. Ambrose Church, Edgbaston [6]. Through this association, Helen became heavily involved in the work of the church. Fanny died in childbirth in October 1897, after which Helen took over many of her sister’s roles within the parish [7].