Original handwritten and signed letter by Lady Isabel Somerset, better known as Lady Henry Somerset (1851–1921), an important British temperance reformer, philanthropist and campaigner for women’s rights and women’s suffrage.

Written on her distinctive printed stationery headed“The Cottage, Duxhurst, Reigate”, and dated simply“April 14”, the letter is addressed to“Mr Wynne Willson”, apparently St John Basil Wynne Willson (1868–1946), the educationalist and Anglican clergyman who became Dean of Bristol in 1916 and subsequently Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1921 to 1937. 

Transcription:

Dear Mr Wynne Willson,

I will not trouble the Bishop with a letter but please thank him very warmly for the trouble he has taken.

Yrs sincerely
Isabel Somerset

The printed letterhead additionally gives the useful contemporary directions“Stations. Reigate 4 miles. Horley, 3 miles.”

Lady Henry Somerset and women's history

Lady Henry Somerset was one of the most prominent British temperance campaigners of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods and was actively involved in women's suffrage and wider women's rights, as well as child welfare and labour rights. 

She became president of the British Women's Temperance Association in 1890, and from 1894 to 1899 edited the feminist periodical The Woman's Signal. She and her close associate Frances Willard openly advocated women's emancipation, while critics accused them of pushing the temperance movement towards women's suffrage. Somerset subsequently succeeded Frances Willard as president of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union, holding that office from 1898 until 1906. 

The present letter does not itself discuss suffrage, but the autograph therefore has strong associated interest for collectors of women's suffrage, women's history and social reform.

Duxhurst

The address is particularly significant. The Cottage was Lady Henry Somerset's own home at Duxhurst, rather than simply an institutional office. 

Somerset established the Duxhurst Industrial Farm Colony near Reigate in 1895 for women affected by alcoholism. It became the largest institution of its type in England and combined residential treatment with productive occupations including gardening, dairy work, poultry keeping, spinning and weaving.

Duxhurst was notably ambitious in accommodating women from different social backgrounds. The extensive settlement included cottages, a manor-house sanatorium, hospital, laundries, workshops, dairy farm, gardens, greenhouses, pottery and“The Nest”, which cared for children. 

Somerset approached alcoholism as a social problem requiring rehabilitation rather than simply condemnation, seeking to address circumstances which had contributed to individuals turning to drink. 

Duxhurst also possessed its own church, St Mary and the Angels, reflecting the strong religious dimension of Somerset's work. 

The recipient and “the Bishop”

The unusual content of the letter provides an interesting ecclesiastical connection.

The recipient appears likely to be St John Basil Wynne Willson. Educated at Cambridge, he taught at The Leys and Rugby and subsequently became headmaster of Haileybury and Marlborough. He was ordained in 1904, appointed Dean of Bristol in 1916, and became Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1921

Somerset's statement:

“I will not trouble the Bishop with a letter but please thank him very warmly for the trouble he has taken”

clearly concerns assistance provided by an unnamed bishop, with Wynne Willson apparently acting as intermediary.

If the recipient is indeed Basil Wynne Willson, the Bishop cannot be Wynne Willson himself during Somerset's lifetime: Lady Henry Somerset died on 12 March 1921, whereas Wynne Willson was not consecrated a bishop until 1 November 1921.

The precise identity of “the Bishop”, the assistance he provided, and the year of the letter remain unidentified, so these should not be stated more specifically without further evidence.

An appealing original autograph letter bringing together Lady Henry Somerset, Duxhurst, the women's temperance movement, women's suffrage and social-reform history, together with an interesting connection to senior Anglican circles.

Condition as photos. Guaranteed Original. All items can be returned for a full refund if found to be not as described.

Isabella Caroline Somerset, Lady Henry Somerset (Aug 1851 – Mar 1921), styled Lady Isabella Somers-Cocks from Oct 1852 to Feb 1872, was a British philanthropist, temperance leader and campaigner for women's rights. As president of the British Women's Temperance Association, she spoke at the first World's Woman's Christian Temperance Association convention in Boston in 1891.

St John Basil Wynne Willson (Aug 1868 – Oct 1946) was an Anglican bishop in the first half of the 20th century. He was the Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1921 to 1937.

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