Women play a vital role in modern society. Today, women can work, study, vote, lead, and drive cars on an equal footing with men. However, this wasn’t always the case. Sadly, there was a time when women had no right to vote, could not get a quality education, and were barred from many professions. The prevailing view was that a woman’s duty was confined to raising children and managing the home. Yet even then, some women strove to change society and make an impact on their city and country. Today, we’re going to talk about Kitty Wilkinson, who saved countless lives during Liverpool’s cholera epidemic. She also spearheaded the opening of the first public baths and washhouses in Liverpool. While such facilities might not seem remarkable today, in the 1840s, they were a desperately needed luxury in the city. Read more about her story on the liverpoolka.com website.
Early Life and Youth
Kitty Wilkinson was born in County Londonderry, Ireland. When she was nine years old, her family moved to Liverpool. Tragedy struck during the journey: their ship ran aground, and her father and younger sister drowned. As a result, Kitty was forced to start working at the age of just 12 at a cotton mill in Caton. At the age of 20, she left the mill and returned to Liverpool with her mother.
In 1812, she married a sailor, and the couple had two children. But happiness was short-lived, as her husband drowned at sea.
Kitty married for a second time in 1823.
The Cholera Epidemic and Lives Saved
Kitty Wilkinson began working as a laundress and owned the only boiler in her neighbourhood. In 1832, a cholera epidemic broke out in our city. Wilkinson invited her neighbours to use her boiler, house, and yard to wash their clothes and bedding, charging just one penny a week for the service. Boiling the laundry killed the cholera bacteria, helping to stop the spread of the disease.
Following this experience, Kitty Wilkinson became a fierce advocate for the creation of public baths, arguing that not all of Liverpool’s residents had access to washing facilities at home. In 1842, the combined public baths and washhouses opened on Upper Frederick Street. Four years later, Kitty was appointed Superintendent of the Public Baths. Today, such facilities might not seem exciting, but in those days, they were both a necessity and a luxury.
Recognition and a Teapot from Queen Victoria
In 1846, the Mayor of Liverpool presented Kitty Wilkinson with a gift from Queen Victoria. It was a silver teapot, engraved with the words: “The Queen, the Queen Dowager, and the Ladies of Liverpool to Catherine Wilkinson, 1846”.
Kitty died in 1860 and was buried in Liverpool. Even after all these years, the people of Liverpool have not forgotten the work of this woman, who managed to save the lives of so many.
In 2012, a marble statue of Kitty Wilkinson was unveiled in St George’s Hall. In 2017, students at the University of Liverpool voted to rename a room in the Liverpool Guild of Students building in her honour. Many biographies and articles have also been written about Wilkinson’s life and work.
Kitty Wilkinson was an ordinary woman from a working-class family. Yet through her hard work, dedication, and initiative, she managed to change the course of history. She demonstrated to everyone that determination and a strong will could help fight a terrible disease. Furthermore, she successfully campaigned for the construction of the baths and washhouses in Liverpool, a facility that was desperately needed by thousands of people in our city at the time.
And that is the life story of Kitty Wilkinson, who helped the city overcome a deadly cholera epidemic. We hope you found this article informative and that it has given you some food for thought.