Janet Upcott
English housing manager (1888 – 1985)
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Janet Mary Upcott (1888 – 6 December 1985) was an English social worker specialising in housing management. She managed housing estates in London and Chesterfield, and was a long-time contributor to the estates work of the National Trust.
Life
Educated at Notting Hill and Ealing High School,[1] Upcott studied at Somerville College, Oxford, where she received a BA when degrees opened to women in 1920.[2] She then trained in social work at the London School of Economics.[3] In 1910, she was trained as a housing manager by Octavia Hill, founder of the National Trust.[4]
In the 1920s she became manager of a Ministry of Munitions housing estate, the Dudley estate. Her contributions there involved establishing a branch of the Women's Institute; helping the tenants to raise £130 to employ a district nurse; and running a boxing club.[5][6]
In 1927, she was appointed manager of the St Augustine's Estate by Chesterfield Town Council.[4] This was seen as a 'housing experiment of considerable significance' as Upcott was the first woman trained on the Octavia Hill system to be employed by a local authority.[7][8]
In 1928 she organised a Conference of Women Municipal Managers,[9][4][10] and she also gave lectures to other national women's associations.[3][11]
From the 1910s until the 1940s, she was on the Finance and General Purposes Committee of the National Trust, remaining on the Estates Committee until the late 1960s.[12][13][14][4]
Upcott House, a block of flats in Hackney, is named after Janet Upcott in recognition of her work as Hackney and Islington's housing manager.[1]