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Henry Gillett

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Henry Tregelles Gillett (1872–1955) was an English physician and Mayor of Oxford. He was an activist in the Society of Friends, and a founder of Oxfam.

Life

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He was the third son of Charles Gillett of Woodgreen, Banbury and his wife Gertrude Mary Tregelles, daughter of Edwin Octavius Tregelles; the banker Joseph Ashby Gillett was his grandfather.[1] He won an entrance scholarship to St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1891.[2] He qualified as a physician in 1895, and the same year became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.[3]

Gillett undertook a further medical course in Edinburgh, and went into practice there in 1898.[4][5] He later moved to Oxford as a general practitioner, taking over the 15 King Edward Street medical office, where Dr. Robert Thomas Jenkins had worked in 1903.[6][4] In 1915 he supplied Arnold J. Toynbee with a second medical opinion that allowed Toynbee to be excused military service.[7] In 1916 he wrote to the Oxford Times in support of the work as voluntary tuberculosis officer being done by Dr. Mary Carew Hunt.[8]

From around 1920 Gillett had as assistant Eric Clark Hinde (died 1925), a conscientious objector of World War I who had served with the Friends Ambulance Unit.[9] He retired as a general practitioner in 1935.[4] The practice at 15 King Edward Street was taken over by Gerald Joseph Wyld McMichael, and Kenneth H. Southall of the Friends Ambulance Unit.[10][11]

King Edward Street, Oxford, 2014 photograph

Local politics

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Gillett was a member of Oxford City Council from 1920 to 1947, and served as Oxford's mayor for a year from 1938. He involved himself in the issue of the city's electricity supply.[4][12] He was elected for South ward;[4] an Independent, he generally supported the Labour group on the Council in the 1930s.[13] An attempt to have him made an alderman in 1936 foundered on Conservative opposition.[14] He later served as alderman from 1942 to 1947.[4]

As mayor, Gillett oversaw the creation of a training school and flying club at Oxford's aerodrome, meeting Eric Gordon England there. The project was objected to by the Labour concillor Richard Crossman.[15][16] At the same period the Oxford Refugee Committee was founded, supported by local Quakers..[4][17]

Associations and activism

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Gillett participated in the Adult School movement in Oxford, chairing in 1913 lectures by Keith Feiling and Wilfrid Harris Crook, brother of Margaret Brackenbury Crook.[18][19] He himself, as President of the Cowley Road Adult School, gave a talk on Pasteur. It was chaired by Henry William Appleton.[20]

Gillett supported the pacifist Joseph Edward "John" Hoare (1896–1980) of World War I.[21] Raymond Postgate, another conscientious objector of the period, stayed with the Gillett family;[22] he was at the same time being supported by Cecil John Cadoux.[23]

In 1919 Gillett made arrangements for Horace Alexander to attend the Quaker conference at Oriel College in September.[24] Lucy Gillett gave Adult School talks on Booker T. Washington in 1920, and on Germany's World War I reparations in 1923.[25][26] In 1924 Henry Gillett spoke at a meeting of the League of Nations Union at Thame, with William Hepburn Buckler.[27]

C. Mary Pask, in 1919 an organiser of collections for Save the Children, was in 1928 organising collections at 15 King Edward Street for distressed coal mining areas.[28][29] As a brother-in-law of Joseph Rowntree Gillett, Henry Gillett, with his wife Lucy, was among the Oxford group of supporters around A. D. Lindsay contacted by William and Emma Noble, for development of the South Wales Depression-era project at Maes yr Haf.[30]

On 6 May 1934 Gillett took part in Oxford in a protest meeting against a sedition bill then before parliament, with John Lawson, Gilbert Murray, D. N. Pritt and Michael Sadler.[31] On 10 May he was one of a Quaker deputation that saw Sir Thomas Inskip on the issue, with the former Member of Parliament Edmund Harvey and led by Harold J. Morland.[32] The measure became law as the Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934.

After the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses of 1 April 1933, Gillett brought to the Quaker Meeting for Sufferings a request for action. A committee was set up chaired by George Barker Jeffery.[33] Gillett travelled in 1937 to Germany with Corder Catchpool, whose work he had helped to fund, and Douglas V. Steere.[34][35] In the period 1937 to 1939 he corresponded with Hans Grimm.[36]

Oxford Committee for Famine Relief

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Gillett was a leading figure among Quakers in Oxford, who belonged to the Meeting for Sufferings and the national Yearly Meeting.[37] The foundation of the charity Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (OCFR), now known as Oxfam, was a staged process in 1942, in a climate of great concern about the human cost of fighting in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre. The national Famine Relief Committee (FRC) of 1942 in practical terms was a largely Quaker initiative.[38] The FRC had a lone but central Quaker member, its secretary Edith Pye, in charge of communications. Gillett adopted her approach of underplaying the Quaker dimension of the campaign, in favour of seeking a base in general public opinion.[39]

On 20 July 1942 Pye spoke at the Friends Meeting House in Oxford.[40] The immediate issue that the FRC wished to address was food security in Belgium and Greece, occupation of the latter having caused the Great Famine.[41] A provisional Oxford committee was formed on 20 July, with C. Mary Pask as secretary.[42]

A meeting convened at the Old Library of University Church of St Mary the Virgin by Dick Milford on 5 October 1942 moved matters on. It involved Gillett and also Gilbert Murray of the FRC. Alan Pim was appointed treasurer of the OCFR, established as a support group for the FRC, which became a membership organisation. It set about lobbying activities.[43] At this point Pask was replaced as secretary by Cecil Jackson-Cole, another Quaker associate.[44] Milford, who had been prompted to act by Gillett, became chairman of the OCFR.[45] Funds raised initially were channelled through the Greek Red Cross.[46]

The Minister for Economic Warfare, responsible for the British blockades, was Roundell Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne, also covertly running the Special Operations Executive that took most of his time.[47] Gillett was one of the 15-member delegation that met Lord Selborne on 4 January 1944.[48][49] Selborne rehearsed arguments that Dingle Foot had given in 1943, adding that some steps were being taken secretly.[50]

Works

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  • Vaccine Therapy in Acute and Chronic Respiratory Infections (1933)[51]
  • The Spiritual Basis of Democracy: The Living Way Through Christianity (1954)[52]

Family

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Gillett married Lucy Bancroft, daughter of William Poole Bancroft; her sister Sarah married another English Quaker, Roger Clark.[53] The couple had three daughters and two sons.[4]

In 1940 their daughter Esther married at Jordans Meeting House the educator Eric G. Curtis, later of Earlham College; the family moved to the United States in 1948.[54][55][56] In June of 1940 Curtis, a teacher at Oundle School, faced a conscientious objectors tribunal at Leicester,[57] after which he did service teaching at Bootham School.[58] He became headmaster of George School.[59]

As a memorial to their daughter Jenepher who died in 1938 at age 22, the Gilletts in 1948 bought Charney Manor and gave it to the Society of Friends, with a trust fund.[60][61]

In 1906, Henry Gillett's banker cousin Arthur Bevington Gillett was using 15 King Edmund Street as a business address, for an Oxford branch of Gillett & Co.[62] He was married to Margaret Clark Gillett. The correspondence of Jan Smuts includes letters to Margaret and Arthur, and also to Henry Gillett and Roger Clark.[63]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Burke, Bernard (1921). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry. p. 726.
  2. ↑ Saint Bartholomew's Hospital Reports. Longmans, Green, and Co. 1891. p. 240.
  3. ↑ The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1900. p. 647.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Henry Tregelles Gillett, Mayor of Oxford". www.oxfordhistory.org.uk.
  5. ↑ The Journal of the Friends' Historical Society. Vol. 45–48. Headley Brothers. 1953. p. 12.
  6. ↑ Kelly's Oxford directory, with Abingdon, Woodstock and neighbourhood [afterw.] Kelly's directory of Oxford, Abingdon, Woodstock and neighbourhood. Kelly's Directories Ltd. 1903. p. 292.
  7. ↑ McNeill, William H. (20 April 1989). Arnold J. Toynbee: A Life. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-19-992339-7.
  8. ↑ "Oxfordshire County Council and Tuberculosis Officer". Oxford Times. 29 July 1916. p. 3.
  9. ↑ "Names H". menwhosaidno.org.
  10. ↑ Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Kelly's Directories. 1939. p. 421.
  11. ↑ "Conscientious Objectors: debated on Wednesday 5 December 1917". hansard.parliament.uk.
  12. ↑ Gillett, Henry Tregelles (1954). The Spiritual Basis of Democracy: The Living Way Through Christianity. Exposition Press. p. 10.
  13. ↑ Bowie, Duncan (13 December 2018). Reform and Revolt in the City of Dreaming Spires: Radical, Socialist and Communist Politics in the City of Oxford 1830–1980. University of Westminster Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-912656-13-4.
  14. ↑ Bowie, Duncan (13 December 2018). Reform and Revolt in the City of Dreaming Spires: Radical, Socialist and Communist Politics in the City of Oxford 1830–1980. University of Westminster Press. p. 271. ISBN 978-1-912656-13-4.
  15. ↑ Oxford, Museum of (19 June 2023). "A Municipal Airport for Oxford". Museum of Oxford.
  16. ↑ The Aeroplane. Temple Press. July 1939. p. 139.
  17. ↑ "Oxford Refugee Committee". www.ukholocaustmap.org.uk.
  18. ↑ "Cowley Road Adult School". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. 16 May 1913. p. 5.
  19. ↑ "Cowley Road Adult School". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. 27 June 1913. p. 8.
  20. ↑ "Cowley Road Adult School". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. 29 August 1913. p. 5.
  21. ↑ Hoare, John (1998). John Hoare: A Pacifist's Progress. Sessions Book Trust. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-85072-208-3.
  22. ↑ Postgate, John Raymond; Postgate, Mary (1994). A Stomach for Dissent: The Life of Raymond Postgate, 1896-1971. Keele University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-85331-084-3.
  23. ↑ Postgate, John Raymond; Postgate, Mary (1994). A Stomach for Dissent: The Life of Raymond Postgate, 1896-1971. Keele University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-85331-084-3.
  24. ↑ Carnall, Geoffrey (7 May 2010). Gandhi's Interpreter: A Life of Horace Alexander. Edinburgh University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-7486-4185-7.
  25. ↑ "Oxford Adult School". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. 11 June 1920. p. 20.
  26. ↑ "The Adult School". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. 10 August 1923. p. 8.
  27. ↑ "Thame: No More War - United Service". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. 26 September 1924. p. 18.
  28. ↑ "Save The Children Fund". Oxford Times. 28 November 1919. p. 10.
  29. ↑ "Distress in the Coal Areas". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. 26 October 1928. p. 2.
  30. ↑ Cann, Roger; Haughton, Roger; Melville, Nigel (1985). Adult Options: Three Million Opportunities. Weavers Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-946017-03-4.
  31. ↑ Anderson, Gerald D. (1983). Fascists, Communists, and the National Government: Civil Liberties in Great Britain, 1931-1937. University of Missouri Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-8262-0388-5.
  32. ↑ ""End Sedition Bill": Quakers Appeal to Government". Daily News (London). 10 May 1934. p. 11.
  33. ↑ Greenwood, Ormerod (1975). Friends and Relief: A Study of Two Centuries of Quaker Activity in the Relief of Suffering Caused by War Or Natural Calamity. William Sessions Limited. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-900657-29-0.
  34. ↑ Hughes, William Ravenscroft (1956). Indomitable Friend: The Life of Corder Catchpool, 1883-1952. Housmans. p. 121.
  35. ↑ Schmitt, Hans A. (1997). Quakers and Nazis: Inner Light in Outer Darkness. University of Missouri Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8262-1134-7.
  36. ↑ "Gillett, Henry T. an Grimm, Hans [Briefe]". www.dla-marbach.de.
  37. ↑ Finlow, P. C. (31 May 2018). "An investigation into the role of religion in the origins, strategic development and internationalisation processes of international non-governmental organisations". City University of London. p. 81.
  38. ↑ Finlow, P. C. (31 May 2018). "An investigation into the role of religion in the origins, strategic development and internationalisation processes of international non-governmental organisations". City University of London. p. 81.
  39. ↑ Finlow, P. C. (31 May 2018). "An investigation into the role of religion in the origins, strategic development and internationalisation processes of international non-governmental organisations". City University of London. pp. 63, 66, 69, 81.
  40. ↑ Black, Maggie (1992). A Cause for Our Times: Oxfam - The First Fifty Years. Oxfam. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-85598-173-0.
  41. ↑ Black, Maggie (1992). A Cause for Our Times: Oxfam - The First Fifty Years. Oxfam. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-85598-173-0.
  42. ↑ Finlow, P. C. (31 May 2018). "An investigation into the role of religion in the origins, strategic development and internationalisation processes of international non-governmental organisations". City University of London. p. 82.
  43. ↑ Black, Maggie (1992). A Cause for Our Times: Oxfam - The First Fifty Years. Oxfam. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-0-85598-173-0.
  44. ↑ Walker, B. W. "Cole, Cecil Jackson- (1901–1979)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31280. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  45. ↑ Tomkins, Oliver. "Milford, (Theodore) Richard (1895–1987)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40000. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  46. ↑ "Collection: Records of Oxfam's governance : Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts". archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
  47. ↑ Foot, M. R. D. "Palmer, Roundell Cecil, third earl of Selborne (1887–1971)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31525. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  48. ↑ Black, Maggie (1992). A Cause for Our Times: Oxfam - The First Fifty Years. Oxfam. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-85598-173-0.
  49. ↑ "Food Relief Plea". Liverpool Daily Post. 4 January 1944. p. 3.
  50. ↑ Clogg, Richard (15 January 2008). Bearing Gifts to Greeks: Humanitarian Aid to Greece in the 1940s. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-230-50035-8.
  51. ↑ Gillett, Henry T. (1933). Vaccine Therapy in Acute and Chronic Respiratory Infections. Lewis.
  52. ↑ Gillett, Henry Tregelles (1954). The Spiritual Basis of Democracy: The Living Way Through Christianity. Exposition Press.
  53. ↑ Palmer, Mark (11 April 2013). Clarks: Made to Last: The story of Britain's best-known shoe firm. Profile Books. pp. 1898–1901. ISBN 978-1-84765-845-6.
  54. ↑ Friends' Weekly Intelligencer. Friends' Intelligencer Association. 1940. p. 125.
  55. ↑ Private Independent Schools. Bunting and Lyon. 1976. p. 441. ISBN 978-0-913094-29-7.
  56. ↑ Friends' Intelligencer. Friends' Intelligencer Association. 1948. p. 517.
  57. ↑ "Oundle Schoolmaster a C.O." Stamford Mercury. 14 June 1940. p. 5.
  58. ↑ Friends Journal. Friends Publishing Corporation. 2005. p. 36.
  59. ↑ LIFE. Time Inc. 29 November 1968. p. 19.
  60. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  61. ↑ Marriott, Jane (17 April 2014). "Space to think". Oxford Mail.
  62. ↑ The Banking Almanac, Directory, Year Book and Diary. Groombridge & Sons. 1906. p. 136.
  63. ↑ "Smuts, Jan Christian, 1870-1950 (statesman)". archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk.
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