Eglantyne Jebb's achievements to be marked by fresh Ellesmere sculpture
A Shropshire woman's historic achievement in securing children's rights will be commemorated with a new artwork.
Ellesmere-born Eglantyne Jebb's 1922 drafting of her ground-breaking 'Declaration of the Rights of the Child' paved the way for an international treaty signed by nearly 200 countries.
Now plans are underway to celebrate her pioneering achievement in persuading global leaders to adopt her children’s charter.
Members of the Ellesmere Sculpture Initiative have commissioned a new artwork, which will be placed in the Jebb Garden alongside the town’s mere.
Lettering artist John Neilson will begin work shortly on carving a 5ft stone pillar featuring some of Eglantyne's most memorable words.
It will be sited close to two other sculptures put up two years ago to mark the centenary of the international aid charity Save the Children, which Eglantyne and her sister, Dorothy co-founded in 1919, as children in Germany and Austria suffered starvation at the end of the First World War.
Sculpture group chairman Len Graham said: “Eglantyne is rightly hailed as a true innovator and passionate champion for children, though ironically, as a former school-teacher, she never really showed great fondness for them and once described them as ‘little wretches’.
“Although best-known for setting up the Save the Children Fund, she also campaigned relentlessly for the rights and welfare of children to be something for which everyone should take responsibility. This led to her drafting her the Rights of the Child, which became another lasting legacy and an international benchmark for the treatment of children”.
Soon after launching the charity in the UK, Eglantyne opened an office in Geneva to co-ordinate the distribution of food and medical supplies across Europe and beyond, through the newly-formed International Save the Children Union.
It was there, in the summer of 1922, while hiking high on Mont Saleve, overlooking the Swiss city, that she reputedly drafted her five-point children’s charter.
She presented it to officials of the League of Nations, which had just established its headquarters in the lakeside resort.
It took another two years of arguments and amendments before the document was finally adopted by the league – a forerunner of the United Nations – and dubbed the Declaration of Geneva.
More than sixty years later, long after her death, Eglantyne’s charter provided the basis for the UN Convention on Children’s Rights, a legally-binding international agreement signed by most countries around the world, covering the health, welfare and education of children and protection from violence, abuse and exploitation.
Trudi Graham, the sculpture group’s artistic co-ordinator, said: "In this centenary year, it’s fitting that we remember this remarkable achievement which has helped to change the lives of so many children.”
The new artwork will complete the final part of a four-year community art project to commemorate the Jebb sisters, who were born at the Lyth country house on the outskirts of Ellesmere.
The project has been partly-funded by grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England, with support from Shropshire Council, Ellesmere Town Council, local schools, businesses, voluntary organisations and individuals.
The project site has been developed as the Jebb Memorial Garden at the main entrance to the Cremorne Gardens beauty spot, one of Shropshire’s most popular visitor attractions.
