Alice Ravenhill

Alice Ravenhill (1859, Epping Forest, England – 1954, British Columbia) was an educational pioneer, a developer of Women’s Institutes, and one of the first authors to propound aboriginal rights in B.C. She is also the author of numerous articles and books, including her autobiography which she wrote when she was 92.

Ravenhill was born into a wealthy British family. Early in life she took an interest in social issues, causing her to undertake studies in public health, child development, and home economics. She qualified as a sanitary inspector at Bedford College, London. She began her career as an educator in 1893, as a county council lecturer in Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire. In 1894, Ravenhill began what came to be three years' service as the secretary to the Royal British Nurses' Association. This was followed by working two years as a lecturer to the Co-operative Society and Women’s Co-operative Guild.

At the start of the twentieth century, Ravenhill became a lecturer in Social and Household Science at the University of London. As a representative of the British Board of Education, Ravenhill travelled to the United States to learn more about the teaching of home economics in American universities. Through her studies and work activities, Ravenhill became a leader in developing home economics curricula in post-secondary institutions. She was also active in social welfare issues and was the first woman elected as a Fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute.

In 1910, Ravenhill emigrated to Canada and settled at Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island with her sister Edith, brother Horace, and Horace's son Leslie. She planned to stay only three or four years until her nephew was sufficiently independent. World War I intervened, the beloved nephew was killed in the Second Battle of Ypres, and Ravenhill never returned to England. She organized branches of the Women's Institute and travelled extensively throughout the United States and Canada as a lecturer, until accepting the post as Director of Home Economics at the State College in Logan, Utah. Ravenhill held this position until 1919 at which point she became very ill and had to return to British Columbia to convalesce for several years in Victoria with nursing care by her sister Edith.

...
Wikipedia