Woman's Mission

Granddaughter of the banker Thomas Coutts, the philanthropist Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906) was one of the most remarkable women of her age, giving away an estimated £4 million of her inheritance to a wide range of causes at home and abroad. She set an example to others, offering support in a practical way without fuss, working with Charles Dickens on schemes to improve the lot of the poverty-stricken, striving to ameliorate the conditions in which they lived. The Church of England was another beneficiary of her largesse, receiving endowments for bishoprics, churches, and elementary and technical school buildings. In 1893, she edited this collection of papers from a congress held during the international exposition in Chicago. It offers a fascinating snapshot - drawing on information from over 300 organisations worldwide - of the astonishing variety of charitable work undertaken by women in the late nineteenth century.