Special commemoration services are being held to mark the 150th birthday of the Shropshire social reformer, Eglantyne Jebb, who co-founded the Save the Children aid charity more than a century ago.
The fearless, inspirational activist, who also helped to secure an historic international agreement on children’s rights, was born in Ellesmere on August 25, 1876.
She will be remembered as part of an evensong service at Lichfield Cathedral, beginning at 3.30 next Sunday afternoon, (August 23), to be followed by a civic service and exhibition at St Mary’s parish church, Ellesmere on Sunday afternoon, October 18.
On the actual anniversary, next Tuesday, (August 25), flowers will be laid in theJebb memorial garden alongside the town’s mere, not far from the Lyth, the country house where Eglantyne was born and spent her childhood.
Her great-great nephew Richard Jebb and his wife Susan, who now live at the house, will be joined by members of the local fund-raising branch of Save the Children and members of the Ellesmere Sculpture Initiative.
The garden was developed by the sculpture group to celebrate the charity’s centenary in 2019. Featuring several artworks and a labyrinth, it was completed with National Lottery and Arts Council funding. Save the Children’s patron, Princess Anne unveiled a plaque when she visited the garden two years agp after meeting the Jebb family at The Lyth.
Mr Jebb said “As a family we are tremendously proud of what Eglantyne achieved in her lifetime, and also that the organisation she founded in 1919 is still working around the world to relieve the suffering of children wherever it is needed. This anniversary provides a moment for us all to pause and celebrate her legacy.”
To coincide with the anniversary, artist Sally Poynton has produced a new image of Eglantyne, set on a background featuring an
The background features an Eglantyne Rose, photographed in the Jebb garden. It will be shown in displays at Ellesmere library and the town’s market hall, and during the Ellesmere carnival parade on Saturday
Sally, an Ellesmere library assistant., has previously published a 48-page illustrated booklet, tracing the remarkable story of the strong-willed country girl who co-founded Save the Children with her younger sister, Dorothy, at the end of the First World War.
The charity was launched in May 1919 at a packed public meeting in London’s Royal Albert Hall and followed Eglantyne’s arrest in Trafalgar Square a few weeks earlier. She was fined £5 for handing out ‘unauthorised’ leaflets showing pictures of emaciated children dying of starvation in Austria and Germany because Britain and its allies were still blockading food supplies to central Europe as a formal peace agreement hadn’t been signed.
Today, Save the Children operates in 100 countries, providing food, medicine, healthcare and educational support in some of the world’s worst trouble-spots as well as tackling child poverty in the UK. .
Author and historian Clare Mulley who wrote the award-winning biography ‘The Woman who Saved the Children’, said: “Eglantyne once wrote that “every generation of children… offers mankind anew the possibility of rebuilding his ruin of a world,’
This brilliant, passionate, compassionate woman never stopped fighting for children’s rights, helping to save the lives and improve the life chances of many millions of children. Today, 150 years since her birth, much of the world is sadly still in ruins, and it is up to a new generation to take up the cause.”
Two years ago the American multi-media company, Dolphin Entertainment acquired the rights to develop Clare’s book as a feature film, Currently, there is no indication on when it will be produced.
Picture showing new image of Eglantyne Jebb, (copyright Sally Poynton).
