West window, Holy Sepulchre
A modern window in the church of Holy Sepulchre, Northampton. Made by stained glass artist Rachel Aldridge, from designs by students of the Caroline Chisholm School in Wootton and dedicated in June 2015. This is a memorial window , honouring the work of Caroline Chisholm (1808 - 1877), a far-sighted and independent 19th century woman, who was born in Northampton. The window overlooks the burial place of her parents, who encouraged her caring and pioneering spirit.
Born into a farming family, Caroline (née Jones) was encouraged from an early age to consider others. Her parents were known for providing food and shelter to those less fortunate than themselves.
When Archibald Chisholm, a soldier, asked for Caroline's hand in marriage, she sensibly laid down preconditions before she accepted, requesting that she should be treated as an equal and allowed to continue with her philanthropic works. This would have been highly unusual at the time when women were basically regarded as subordinate to men.
Her new husband having been posted to India, Caroline soon became aware of the poverty around her and set up a school for poor girls. A later move took the couple to New South Wales, where, again, Caroline observed the appalling conditions under which many immigrants were forced to live , some of them having been forced into a life of begging and prostitution. So she set up a Female Immigrants' Home in an old barracks in Sydney, offering housing and education and an opening into paid work. She was also instrumental in introducing the idea of work contracts to ensure that those in employment were treated fairly.
On returning to England in 1845 Caroline continued her good works by fighting to obtain free passage for convicts' families and setting up a loan society to help poorer families who wished to travel to Australia. Returning to Australia but this time to Melbourne, in 1854, she then set up refuges for women in need. Three years later she returned to England, where she died in 1877 and is buried in the Billing Road Cemetery, Northampton.
West window, Holy Sepulchre
A modern window in the church of Holy Sepulchre, Northampton. Made by stained glass artist Rachel Aldridge, from designs by students of the Caroline Chisholm School in Wootton and dedicated in June 2015. This is a memorial window , honouring the work of Caroline Chisholm (1808 - 1877), a far-sighted and independent 19th century woman, who was born in Northampton. The window overlooks the burial place of her parents, who encouraged her caring and pioneering spirit.
Born into a farming family, Caroline (née Jones) was encouraged from an early age to consider others. Her parents were known for providing food and shelter to those less fortunate than themselves.
When Archibald Chisholm, a soldier, asked for Caroline's hand in marriage, she sensibly laid down preconditions before she accepted, requesting that she should be treated as an equal and allowed to continue with her philanthropic works. This would have been highly unusual at the time when women were basically regarded as subordinate to men.
Her new husband having been posted to India, Caroline soon became aware of the poverty around her and set up a school for poor girls. A later move took the couple to New South Wales, where, again, Caroline observed the appalling conditions under which many immigrants were forced to live , some of them having been forced into a life of begging and prostitution. So she set up a Female Immigrants' Home in an old barracks in Sydney, offering housing and education and an opening into paid work. She was also instrumental in introducing the idea of work contracts to ensure that those in employment were treated fairly.
On returning to England in 1845 Caroline continued her good works by fighting to obtain free passage for convicts' families and setting up a loan society to help poorer families who wished to travel to Australia. Returning to Australia but this time to Melbourne, in 1854, she then set up refuges for women in need. Three years later she returned to England, where she died in 1877 and is buried in the Billing Road Cemetery, Northampton.