Annie Yorke (née de Rothschild, aka Mrs Eliot Yorke)

Annie Yorke (1844-1926) is the subject of the first of our blog posts marking Women’s History Month. Better known as “The Hon. Mrs Eliot Yorke”, she has the distinction of featuring in several of our collections. As a Rothschild she is mentioned in the Jewish collections, as a part-time resident of Netley she appears in the local studies collection and as a member of the Councils of Hartley University College and University College Southampton, she is also found in our University Collections.

Annie Yorke from: Lucy Cohen Lady de Rothschild and her Daughters 1821-1931 (1935) Cope 95 MON

The younger daughter of Sir Anthony and Lady Louise de Rothschild, Annie and her elder sister Constance (later Lady Battersea) spent much of their childhood at Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire where their mother ensured that from an early age, they were aware of their philanthropic obligations. Both girls taught from time to time at the village schools built by their father and later took some classes at the Jews’ Free School in London. Being dissatisfied with a textbook in use, they published their own, History and Literature of the Israelites (1870).

The History and Literature of the Israelites, vol.2 by Annie Yorke (1870) Parkes BZ 1651.F66

Although Constance and Annie were given a sound Jewish education, their social circle was largely Christian and unusually for members of the Rothschild family, they both married out. In 1873, with the reluctant approval of her father, Annie married Eliot Yorke, the fourth son of the Earl of Hardwicke. She retained her Jewish faith but despite this, the depth of feeling at the time is evident in her obituary in the Jewish Chronicle some fifty years later:

“This incident caused great pain to the Jewish community, and Sir Anthony de Rothschild indicated his own sense about the marriage by offering to resign from some communal offices which he held, particularly that of President of the United Synagogue. It is significant that the Jewish Chronicle of the time made no mention of, and entirely ignored, the alliance.”

Jewish Chronicle 26 November 1925

It was her marriage that brought Annie Yorke to Hampshire where Netley provided a base for her husband’s yachting activities. The couple divided their time between their London home in Curzon Street, Netley Castle and their yacht. After only five years, Annie was left a widow when Eliot Yorke died from pneumonia and thereafter she devoted much of her time to good works. She moved to Hamble Cliff, a house adjacent to the Royal Victoria Hospital, and this became her Hampshire base for the rest of her life.

Hamble Cliff from: P. Campion A Recent History of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset (1922) Cope quarto 95

Annie Yorke’s primary interest was in the temperance movement and she was active both locally and on the national stage. At Netley, she set up the White Rose Coffee Room as a base for temperance meetings and other entertainments designed to provide an alternative attraction to Netley’s many public houses. In Southampton she worked closely with Rev. Basil Wilberforce, Rector of St Mary’s 1871-1894, and president of the St Mary’s Church Temperance Society. Local newspapers record the meetings held in the town and events at the White Rose Coffee Room and Hamble Cliff, the latter venues often visited by the distinctively named “Blue Cross Abstainers Cycling Brigade” of which Annie Yorke was the patron. Nationally, she was a member of the British Women’s Temperance Association and then of the breakaway Women’s Total Abstinence Union, serving as its president for terms of three, five and seven years. She was also president of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union.

From: Hampshire Advertiser 10 June 1893 (Cope Collection microfilm)

Education at all levels remained a lifelong interest. An active member of Hound School Board which was responsible for Butlocks Heath, Sholing Boys and Netley Infants Schools, Annie Yorke was also a member of Hampshire County Council’s Education Committee. Through this she was appointed to the Council of the Hartley University College, later, University College, Southampton, and for many years was the only female member. She is credited with introducing her cousin, Claude Montefiore, to the institution, which proved crucial to its survival and success, Montefiore going on to serve as Acting President and then President from 1913 to 1934. Like many other members of the Council, Annie Yorke was also a benefactor of the College and in 1917 her contribution towards the establishment of a hostel for female students led to it being named Yorke House in her honour.

Extract from University College, Southampton Council Minutes 11 June 1971 MS1/MBK1/5

Locally, Annie Yorke was involved in many good works or as her obituary in the Hampshire Advertiser put it “As president, vice-president, or patroness, Mrs Eliot York was probably associated with more organisations in Southampton than any other woman.” Newspaper reports bear this out. She is recorded laying the foundation stone of the Gordon Boys Brigade Headquarters in 1889 and a memorial stone at the Emigrants Home in 1893, she supported the work of the YMCA, the YWCA, the Travellers Aid Society, the Royal South Hants Hospital, the Eye Hospital and the Soup Kitchen amongst many others. A well-practised opener of horticultural shows and fetes, she was remembered at Netley and Hamble for her support of the local community which included financing a district nurse.

From: Hampshire Advertiser 27 November 1926 (Cope Collection microfilm)

According to the Hampshire Advertiser, “Every religious community, no matter how small, found in her a firm friend” and this included the small Jewish community in the local area. The statement in the Jewish Chronicle, that after her marriage “Although remaining a Jewess, she took no part in communal affairs”, was corrected by her cousin, Arthur R. Moro, in a letter published in the next issue. In this he referred to her support of the Jewish Board of Guardians and the Jewish Association for the Protection of Women and Girls, which had been founded as the Jewish Ladies’ Society for Preventive and Rescue Work, at a meeting at her house in 1885. Her sister, Constance was for many years its honorary secretary, whilst Annie was an active member of the committee of the Sara Pyke Lodging House.

Minutes of the first meeting of the Jewish Ladies’ Society for Preventive and Rescue Work MS173/2/1/1

Away from her charitable works Annie Yorke moved in high society, hosting royal visitors and visiting W.E. Gladstone whilst on a temperance speaking tour.  She took extended cruises each year on her yacht, the Garland, developed the gardens at Hamble Cliff and was an accomplished artist. Whilst the University’s Yorke House hostel is long gone, Annie Yorke’s contribution to local life is commemorated locally by Yorke Way in Hamble.