Blanche Gibbs

Blanche and William Gibbs were members of the Oxford movement, a 19th-century religious movement that eventually resulted in the formation of Anglo-Catholicism.^[2] Together, they engaged in a number of religious philanthropic projects, and were the main donors that established the London Diocesan Deaconesses Institution, as well as the establishment of several churches and educational institutions in England. These included the building of Keble College and its chapel, at Oxford University, for which they donated £30,000, as well as funding the establishment of the St Michael and All Angels Church, Exeter, and the restoration of the Bristol Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral.^[7]

In 1875, following William Gibbs' death, his estate was inherited by Blanche Gibbs, who continued their religious philanthropic work but expanded it to encompass social and welfare efforts as well.^[2] Independently, Blanche Gibbs established a number of philanthropic institutions including the St Michael's and All Angels' Home for Consumptives in Axbridge, in 1878, a hospital, St Michael's Home at Cheddar (which was designed by architect William Butterfield, and is now known as St Michael's Cheshire Home)^[8] and the St John's Convalescent Home at Tyntesfield.^[9] Several of these homes built by Blanche Gibbs were dedicated to patients who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, a disease that resulted in the deaths of three of her seven children.^[8] She also funded the establishment of a temperance house in Somerset, which later became a well-known brewery and pub, known as the Battle Axes.^[10][11] In 1881, she endowed a scholarship at Keble College.^[2]

Blanche Gibbs died of uterine cancer at Tyntesfield, a country house that remained the principal residence for her and her husband, on 22 September 1887, at the age of 69.^[9] An unfinished portrait of her, painted by Sir William Boxall, is a part of the National Trust Collections of the United Kingdom, as well as a second portrait, painted by Walter Charles Horseley.^[12] Additionally, a portrait of Blanche Gibbs, along with five of her children, painted by Sir William Charles Ross, is also part of the National Trust Collections, and was displayed at the Royal Academy in 1850.^[13]