Vol. 1. Chapter 3 - Accoutrement

Chapter 3 – Accoutrement

17^th March 1884 – Eliza discharged herself “On request” from the Fulham Place Road workhouse. She returned to the “Devil’s Acre”, but to live in Artillery Square.

Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts was one of the richest women in England, she met leading politicians, scientists and literary scholars, entertained English and foreign celebrities and her wide social circle included members of the royal family, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, William Ewart Gladstone, the Duke of Cambridge, Napoleon III, Empress Eugenie, and Sir Henry Irving. She was a great friend of Charles Dickens who encouraged her to support Ragged Schools - schools for those in Rags. My father attended a Ragged School.

Her Christian faith led Baroness Burdett-Coutts to become one of the most generous philanthropists of her time. When she wanted to provide free education for the children of the poor, the Bishop of London recommended a site that was “in one of the worst slums in London.”  She built the school on Rochester Street, a mere 200yrds from Artillery Square. Her aim? To help disadvantaged children towards a better life.

Angela Burdett-Coutts was enthusiastic about the girls in her school becoming proficient in domestic subjects, since running a home on a limited budget was what most of them were destined to do, so she installed a laundry in the school, each girl bringing her own bundle of clothes to be washed and ironed.

The Vicar, the Reverend William Tennant, wrote to Angela saying that it was a pleasant sight to see the rows of little girls standing at their tubs, and that it was a branch of education likely to give great satisfaction to all parents.

School Motto

'Working together in Faith, Hope and Love'

I have great reason to be thankful for the faith, hope and love of Angela Burdett-Coutts. I attended the Burdett-Coutts School in 1958  

Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts died on 30th December 1906 of acute bronchitis at her home in  Stratton Street Street. Her body lay there in state for two days; nearly 30,000 paid their respects to a woman who had become known as the "Queen of the Poor". She was buried in Westminster Abbey on 5th January 1907.

Artillery Square, as its name suggests, has close associations with the military. It was situated less then ½ a mile from Wellington Army Barracks, on Birdcage Walk. But more importantly for Eliza, it was opposite the Army & Navy Co-Operative complex of supply stores and shop. The Army & Navy Co-operative Society was formed by a group of army and navy officers. The aim of the co-operative was to supply goods to its members at the lowest price.

In the 1881 Census, Eliza worked for the Army. In the Workhouse, her occupation is given as, “needle woman”. By 1891 Eliza is employed as an “Accoutrement Maker”.

Specifically, Accoutrement is a term used for soldiers' equipment other than the
basic uniform and gun.  As a needlewoman, Eliza would have been involved in the production of things like, underwear, shirts, stockings, gloves, cloaks, etc

The Army and Navy Stores are today better known as “The House of Fraser” and is still well known for its Co-Op philosophy.

But what of Skinny Granny? Alice?  Leaving Burdett-Coutts at the age of 13 meant being thrust out into the world of work. Not to be the domestic goddess that Burdett-Coutts had envisaged, but something far more menial. And despite Burdett-Coutts best intentions, by the age of 20, Alice could still not write her own name.