Elizabeth Cadbury [cont.]

Description:In 1908 Elizabeth built 'The Beeches'[See image]. Near to Bournville, this large house was utilised as a “holiday home” for children from the poorest parts of Birmingham. This scheme allowed the children to experience fresh air, good food and regular sleep. Their health was checked and monitored, and they received basic hygiene and new clothing. Weights and measurements of the children were taken for later comparison. Benefits and improvements in health were observed by the staff there. At various parts of the year, women from the Salvation Army were also invited to use the facility in order to take some rest and recuperation.

Taking on a Reformist stance, Elizabeth was a member of the Liberal Party. As such she worked as Birmingham City Councillor for Kings Norton from 1919 to 1924. She encouraged a municipal action in improving housing provisions. This was especially crucial to her work with the Bournville Village Trust. In 1922 her husband George Cadbury died. As a result Elizabeth took on some of his interests, including Chairmanship of the Bournville Village Trust. Through this medium she set up the Woodlands Housing Society. This ensured working class people, especially around Bournville had affordable housing, including a garden. Whilst focusing on disadvantaged women, Elizabeth had residential flats built in Bournville, for those women who were single and working.

In her compassion and care for children, from 1908 to 1912 Elizabeth campaigned for a School Health Service. The aim of this was to have regular inspections by a School Medical Officer throughout a child’s education. Key to obtaining this was her 1911 role when she served as chairman to the Hygiene Sub-committee. Elizabeth used her healthcare knowledge gained by visiting hospitals, in witnessing illness and distress. Having put herself in patients' shoes she urged hospitals to allow the Education Authority to set up clinics in which to treat school children. She was successful in arranging dental treatment, provision of spectacles, and somewhere for ailments to be effectively treated. A problem amongst children at the time was tonsillitis. Elizabeth believed children should have somewhere to receive tonsillectomies and a sufficient recovery centre. She wanted a Central School Clinic established in Great Charles Street, where such procedures would be available. So, in 1913 as the only female present, she took on the Education Committee and the City Council. Two years later her clinic was opened.

Having succeeded in setting about changes to children's and women's welfare, Elizabeth Cadbury died in December 1951, aged 93. Even in her last years, her ongoing involvement with her organisations ensured her work continued. “…to the end she would question and challenge,…towards the solution of these wrongs. In the constantly growing round of activity…she never forgot that the people she encountered…were individual human beings…and in whom she had faith…”

[cont.]