Queer Places:
St Peter Churchyard
Westhampnett, Chichester District, West Sussex, England
Elizabeth Margaretta Maria Gilbert (7 August 1826 – 7 February 1885) was an English philanthropist.[1]
Caroline Bathurst was the eldest daughter of James Bathurst
and Lady Caroline Stewart, daughter of the 1st Earl Castle Stewart. General Sir James Bathurst was an old
friend of the family of
Elizabeth Gilbert; and in London his children and the Gilberts saw
much of each other. Caroline Bathurst was
one of the little band of so-called "advanced" women who, around 1850, were interested in every movement having for its object the
development and intellectual culture of women, and the throwing open to
them of some career other than that of marriage, since marriage was
seen to be not possible or even desirable for some women, such, for
example, as Bessie Gilbert.
Elizabeth Gilbert was born in Oxford, the daughter of Ashurst Gilbert, principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, and later the Bishop of Chichester[2] and Mary Ann Wintle. Elizabeth caught scarlet fever at the age of two, which resulted in her becoming blind. Her parents chose to educate her alongside her sisters, and she learned languages and music, and after 1851 used a "Foucault frame" writing device to write.[3] She also enjoyed tactile astronomy lessons with an orrery, according to her biographer. "The little fingers fluttered over the planets and followed their movements with great delight."[4]
In 1842 Gilbert came into a sizeable inheritance from a godmother, allowing her financial independence in adulthood. In 1854 she and William Hanks Levy (who was also blind) established a vocational training program, initially only for men, called "The Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind" (GWB). Soon, as Gilbert's fundraising efforts succeeded, a library and more classes were added, and blind women were included by 1857.[4][5]
Caroline Bathurst was a few years older than Bessie, had
full experience of all the best that life can give, and also of the
deepest sorrows. Those who have seen her would recall the slight graceful
figure, broad low brow, and eyes youthful and beautiful like a child's;
eyes, with love and trust and happiness looking out from them. She was suffering from an incurable malady,
which she endured with heroic fortitude and without one murmur.
Caroline Bathurst died at 40 years old in Bruges in 1861. Elizabeth Gilbert, never in robust health, became more ill in 1875, and died in 1884, aged 58 years.[6] The organization Gilbert founded continues today as CLARITY - Employment for Blind People.
My published books:/p>
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