Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-05-04
LADY HENRY SOMERSET PRO
NOTED TO HEAVENLY AC-
TIvITIES.

/
of another of the great leaders of the
temperance reform. On March H.,
Lady Henry Somerset, for many
years president of the Worlds w. G..
T. u, passed on to the other world.
Isabel, Lady Henry Somerset, born
in London, in 1851, had all the quail
fications of a successful leader. Many
illustrious men and women of the
Somers family ae found in the an
nails of English history, among them
Lord Keeper Somers, of whom Ma
cauley speaks as "the greatest man
of his age" Her father, Earl Somers,
was a student, a traveller, and the
friend of men of celebrity, while the
stately ancestry of her mother, Coun-
tess Somers, included maid in watt
| ing to the unfortunate Queen Antoi-
nette. Thus Lady Henry, as the eld-
est daughter, was born to an inheri-
tance of culture, refinement and
wealth.
In 1872 she was married to Lord
Henry Somerset, and for several
years her life was spent in court cir
cles, Lord Henry being one of the
officials of Queen Victoria. The whirl
and gaity of fashionable life could
not long be satisfying to one whose
spiritual nature was of the deepest
and who craved the highest things OF
this world. When, therefore, a grave
personal sorrow came into her life,
when the bitter waters of disappoint-
ment went over her soul, she gather
ed strength from trial and bravely
took up the tasks which, in Gods
dealings, had been laid upon her. For
many years she devoted herself to
bettering the conditions of her ten,
antry in the several countries where
she had estates, signing the temper
ance pledge at her castle gates with
forty of her tenants. In the famous
Herefordshire country, where East
nor Castle is situated, meetings were
held in the farming districts, Lady
Henry going often on cold stormy
days over the hills to the cottage gath
eringsof her people.
For years mission was supported
by Lady Henry in one of the poorer
districts of London, and here it was
that she came. in closer touch with
the degradation caused by the liquor
traffic. She personally visited house
after house, going among the crimi-s
nal and the outcast, helping, comfort
ingand cheering them with love and
patience which brought. to them life
and hope.
In 1889 she was elected President
of the British Woman's Temperance
Association, which Office she held un-
til 1908. Much of the progress made
by the Association is due to the wise,
liberal and forceful policy which she
inaugurated. No speaker in England
drew larger audiences than did this
gifted orator. Her logical reasoning,
keen analysis, vast fund of informa-
tion, and full understanding Of po-
litical conditions, made her of all
speakers, the best equipped to pre-
sent the great theme of total absti-
nence.
When the Royal Licensing Com
mission to investigate the conditions
of the drink trade in Great Britain
was in session, the strongest, clear
est, and most direct testimony given
before this body was hers, it's thor
oughness eliciting from the Commis-
sioners the highest commentator.
The Worlds W. C. T. U. in 1890
made Lady Henry Vice President, and
on the death of Miss Frances E. Will
lard in 1898, she succeeded to the
presidency, which she held until 1906.
The thorough knowledge which
Lady Henry had of the drinking hab-
it's of English women, and the hold
which.it has upon their lives, led her
to found "The Industrial Farm Colo
n.y." where women were treated for
drunkenness. The Colony, situated in
Duxhurst, consisted of 200 acres of
beautiful grounds. Gardening, fruit
cultivation, care of bees, raising of
poultry, seed sorting, basket making,
linen weaving, and laundry work,
were the avocations which furnished
the patients outdoor exercise and
employment. A particularly interest
ing feature of Duxhurst was "The
Nest," a permanent home for. chill
Jran roeoued from vicio11s. homes and