Today a blue plaque was unveiled in honour of Hilda Cashmore. The community worker, who campaigned for the establishment of the thriving community hub, was commemorated on International Women’s Day this year at the building she helped set up 112 years ago.
Hilda Cashmore, who already has a building (Cashmore House) and nursery (Cashmore Early Years Centre) named after her in Barton Hill, now also has a blue plaque on Ducie Road at what is now called The Wellspring Settlement. Hilda Cashmore was the only woman to have opened a Settlement community building and managed to do so before women in Britain won the right to vote.
Although she will now be remembered by locals for decades to come, Hilda has remained very much an unsung hero all these years, gaining little recognition despite the contribution she made to the local community. Thanks to local historian Helen Meller and Bristol Radical History Group, the fascinating story of Hilda and the history of what had originally been called ‘The University Settlement’ is now well documented.
READ MORE: International Women’s Day 2023: The unsung heroes making Bristol a better place
Beth Wilson, who has recently become CEO of The Wellspring Settlement, said that the plan for a plaque to honour Hilda had been planned before she started in the job but its delay meant that the plaque could coincide with International Women’s Day, which hadn’t been the original plan. Ms Wilson said: “In the end it worked out really well, she was an amazing woman and she’s so important for Bristol and for this building and this organisation.
“That felt really fitting for me, to celebrate her today and to use that both as an opportunity to amplify what she’s done and how impressive that was as a woman in the era that she was in and also amplify International Women’s Day and the importance of that event. Hilda Cashmore was very much about community and addressing those challenges of poverty.
“That really resonates with our approach as an organisation now. Many of the things that she was trying to do then were focused around the same issues we’re trying to address now, like trying to amplify the strengths of the community.”
Local resident and current board member at The Wellspring Settlement, Anne Joslin, also attended the event and spoke alongside Helen Meller and a representative from the Civic Society on the relevance of Hilda’s legacy today. Ms Joslin told Bristol Live : “She's so important because she set up the Settlement in this area and we’re so lucky to still have it here.
“There’s a lot of other areas in Bristol that haven’t got these sorts of facilities available and I think it’s really good that we happened to get it on Women’s Day also because of the important role that women have played in the Settlement.”
The blue plaque can be found at the entrance to the Ducie Road site next to another blue plaque of A V Alexander; a Labour and Cooperative party member who lived in Barton Hill. The Bristol Civic Society is responsible for issuing blue plaques.
Helen Meller's fascinating book, Hilda Cashmore, can be purchased on the Bristol Radical History website.
READ NEXT:
Tribute mural to man murdered in hate crime vandalised by taggers
Police drop murder investigation after woman fell to her death at Bristol tower block
Bristol group working to inspire young people in 'deprived and polluted' neighbourhoods
Plans to transform former Pure Gym and Mecca Bingo site into 340 home development
