| Kitty Wilkinson | Catherine (Kitty) Seaward was born in Derry, Ireland, in 1785. In 1794 her family moved to Liverpool. During the voyage Kitty’s father and baby sister were lost during a storm. In 1823, Kitty married Tom Wilkinson, a porter at the Rathbone’s. In 1846 Kitty and husband Tom were made Superintendents of the Frederick Street public baths and wash-house. Kitty Wilkinson died aged 73 in 1860 she is buried in St James Cemetery. |
As part of this year’s Liverpool Biennial a group of young mothers from Speke are creating a quilt in honour of one of Liverpool’s most famous nineteenth century inhabitants. The quilt made out of baby clothes celebrates the life of Kitty Wilkinson who fought poverty and disease in nineteenth century Liverpool will be displayed at Liverpool Cathedral during this autumn's Biennial. Working with artist Lisa Oppenheim, Kelly-Louise Howard, Amanda Faulkner and Vicky Langley have developed a project to recognise strong women. Lisa, Kelly-Louise and Amanda chose Kitty Wilkinson as their icon, Vicky Langley says “We researched a few names and the main one we came up with was Kitty Wilkinson. We thought she reflected our lives a bit better than the other women we researched. “
 | | The Kitty Wilkinson quilt |
Amanda Faulkner says it was Kitty Wilkinson’s work that decided their choice “We’ve all got children and she helped lots and lots of children stay alive when the cholera epidemic was about. Basically all she did was wash clothes, and that’s all that we do!†“What we’re trying to do is depict her life. Hopefully it’s going to work out right.†The quilt will incorporate nursing pictures and patches illustrating washing lines with childrens clothes hanging on them. The quilt itself will be made of old clothes from Kelly-Louise, Amanda and Vicky’s children. During the cholera epidemic of 1832 Kitty Wilkinson and her husband Tom owned the only hot water boiler in their street. They invited in local people to wash their clothes and bed-linen in the hope of providing protection against the disease.
 | | Kelly-Louise, Amanda and Vicky |
They were helped by Liverpool District Provident Society and the Rathbone family. So successful was the enterprise that they expanded the wash room added a drying area in the back yard. Neighbours using the wash room were asked to pay a penny a week towards costs of water and bedding. By the middle of the nineteenth century public wash house were becoming more common place and Kitty Wilkinson and her husband were appointed Superintendents of the Frederick Street public baths and wash-house. In 1846, when Queen Victoria visited Liverpool, Kitty was presented to the Queen in recognition of her services to the city. The completed blanket will be displayed at Liverpool Cathedral, where there is a stained glass window of Kitty Wilkinson, between 16th and 22nd October. | 
Ìý
