Kay-Shuttleworth, Rachel B. (1886-1967)

Rachel Kay-Suttleworth, 1886-1967, by Peter Brannan 1960 Rachel Kay-Suttleworth, 1886-1967, by Peter Brannan 1960

Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth was the daughter of Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth (1844-1939) and Blanche Marion Kay-Shuttleworth (née Parish). The Hon. Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth's father was the 1st Baron Shuttleworth, who held various ministerial appointments, including that of Under-Secretary of State for India.

She was one of six children, two boys and four girls. Both boys were killed in the First World War (1914-1918), and the estate was eventually to pass to a cousin who died in the Battle of Britain in the Second World War (1939-1945). The next heir (another cousin) was very badly injured during the war and moved from the ancestral Gawthorpe Hall to another family home. The Hall was left under the care of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth, his aunt, who was unmarried and had lived for many years at the Hall looking after her aged father following the death of her mother in 1924.

Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth was a renowned embroidery and lace maker and she turned Gawthorpe Hall into a Craft House, in order to preserve and teach textile skills and techniques. She was particularly involved in the Arts and Crafts Movement. During her lifetime, she built up a large collection of textiles (embroidery, lace, quilts, printed as well as woven forms) and clothing from Britain, in addition to many items of textiles and costume from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The Gawthorpe Hall Textile Collection now includes over 14,000 items.

Digital source

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 18 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Wednesday, 04 January 2017 17:20