(cont)

Description:The parish magazines from St. Mary and St. Ambrose Church, Edgbaston reveal that Helen was Superintendent of the Girls Sunday School [8] , Warden for St. Mary’s Guild for Domestic Servants[9] and an honorary deputy organist for the church [10]. Helen also gave religious instruction at Rea Street Board School [11] and was instrumental in the establishment of the St. Ambrose sub-branch of the Girls Friendly Society in 1901 [12].

Helen’s work extended outside the church. Miss Newill was elected as a Guardian for Kings Norton Poor Law Union on 25th March 1901 [13] and was re-elected in 1904 and 1908 [14]. She was also involved in the Birmingham Magdalen Workhouse Charity visiting unmarried mothers within the city’s workhouse infirmaries. It was this work which led to her involvement in The Association for the Rescue and Training of Young Women, later to become the Birmingham Association for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child. This charity was founded by female members of the Magdalen charity who wished to establish a home where unmarried mothers might reside for a short time with their baby and receive help and guidance. The home, known as Hope Lodge, opened on 16th October 1906 at premises in Athol House, Ladywood Road, Birmingham. The organisation aimed to ‘rescue’ young women from falling further into what was viewed as an immoral life, perhaps further pregnancies out of wedlock and a fall into prostitution. The home provided a temporary residence and training in domestic duties to help the women find employment.

Hope Lodge moved in 1913 to premises at 134 Heathfield Road Handsworth and in 1919 to Vernon Road, Edgbaston. The home closed in September 1951. After this date, the association continued to provide assistance to unmarried mothers and their babies in a non-residential capacity until the 1980s, through the provision of legal help in bringing affiliation orders through the courts and through visits by caseworkers. Miss Helen Newill was Chairman of the association from 1906 to 1914. She appears in the annual reports of the charity, as an honorary vice-president, until 1956.