Letchworth Local History Research Group

The Local History Group collected donations over a considerable period to erect a memorial to Eliza Ann Howard, who made valiant efforts in support of her better-known husband, Ebenezer, in founding Letchworth Garden City 

The ‘unveiling’ of the stone took place on a sunny, but bitterly cold, afternoon on Sunday 22 January 2023 in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Letchworth Lane, Letchworth Garden City.

About thirty guests gathered inside the ancient church, before the unveiling, and Ursula Howard, Eliza's great granddaughter, spoke movingly about the life of her ancestor, emphasizing the enormous effort she had made to support her not always practical husband in his mission to found a new ideal type of industrial town. Several other members of the extended Howard family were also present.

Churchwarden Marlene Gray gave a lively description of the church, which dates back to Norman times.

Present also, among other donors to the memorial fund, were Lord Salisbury, Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, and Oliver Heald, MP for North East Hertfordshire. The group then moved out into the churchyard where the  Revd. Amanda Ferris, parish priest, gave a blessing as the stone was unveiled.

Following this, there was an informal gathering at the adjacent Letchworth Hall Hotel. 

The inscription on the memorial reads: 

ELIZA ANN HOWARD 



In this churchyard lies Eliza Ann Howard, nee Bills, wife of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) and worker for the foundation of Letchworth Garden City. 



She was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on 23 March 1853 and died in Stamford Hill, London, on 7 November 1904. 



Eliza is remembered for "her dauntless ardour and indefatigable labour" for the Garden City movement. 



Letchworth's first public building,The Mrs Howard Memorial Hall in Norton Way South, was built  by public subscription  in her memory in 1906, a permanent reminder of the love and esteem in which she was held. 

 

The (then) Letchworth Local History Group’s exhibition in October 2015 titled Letchworth – England’s first new industrial town? aimed to highlight Letchworth as, primarily, an industrial experiment. The Group’s first project was a study of the 1911 Census data for the town; we envisage building on this when the 1921 data becomes available, as it will offer a fascinating picture of the first 18 years of Letchworth. 

Visitors to the 2015 exhibition contributed to our knowledge and the obvious next step was to produce a well-illustrated book, aimed at the general reader, whilst being thoroughly authoritative.

We felt that the architecture and social history of Letchworth had been well covered by earlier writers but that the roles of important people besides Ebenezer Howard had been neglected. This book therefore celebrates the investors, philanthropists, surveyors, engineers, manufacturers, businessowners and retailers who had such faith in the garden city ideal.

The wonderful Garden City Collection is the source of most of the illustrations, but you will also find many images that have not previously been seen. We regard it as a true garden city collaboration! Please buy a copy from local or online booksellers, and tell your friends and colleagues about it. The royalties earned will enable future local history projects to enhance our understanding of Letchworth’s place in world history.

In October 2015 the Letchworth Local History Group mounted a highly successful exhibition in the Letchworth Heritage's Community Area in the Arcade showing the range of early industries in Letchworth Garden City and emphasising the fact that the principal aim of the Garden City was to attract INDUSTRY and provide a much better living environment for its workers than the often miserable conditions in the great industrial cities.

Accounts of the Arts & Crafts architecture and the 'sandals and smocks' community that was later attracted to the Garden City have tended to eclipse the story of the main objective of Letchworth Garden City, which was to be the first and only New industrial Town in England. 

The exhibition ran for several weeks and attracted a large number of visitors from the town and from further afield. Many of the visitors were keen to discuss their own, or their parents', experiences in the firms that featured in the exhibition and the group members who manned the show were delighted to make a note of these first hand accounts.

Several local firms, who occupy today the premises of the pioneer companies of those early years, were ready to sponsor our exhibition enabling us to produce professional display material, which told the story in a most impressive style for the duration of the exhibition and will also be kept for future deployment.

New memorial to Eliza Ann Howard in Letchworth churchyard

It is always pleasing when a sustained campaign to celebrate an unsung woman bears fruit, so Letchworth Local History Research Group (LLHRG) is thrilled to report that there is now a memorial stone to Ebenezer Howard’s first wife, Eliza Ann, in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Old Letchworth, where she was buried.

It’s always been known that Lizzie, as she was informally known, was buried in the churchyard following her funeral in the tiny church on 12th November 1904, but the plot wasn’t marked, partly because the Howard family couldn’t afford a stone grave marker and partly because, as Ebenezer told their children, “she is not there”. He felt that her spirit was elsewhere, after many years of ill health and hard work, caring for her husband and their four children.

Eliza Ann Bills was born in Nuneaton in 1853 and married Ebenezer in 1879. She was a great enthusiast for the garden city idea and spoke and campaigned extensively for the cause. Ebenezer may have been a visionary and a networker, but he wasn’t a well organised man, so it was his wife who contributed so much practical work to turn his ideas into a reality. Eliza Ann was remembered as “an adorable woman, witty and bright with a sweet tolerant nature.”

Back in 2018 LLHRG researched Lizzie Howard’s life and gained the approval of the Howard family and of the church authorities to install a simple memorial. Then fundraising began, and thanks to contributions large and small we were able to commission a fitting stone. On 22nd January 2023 a gathering of supporters, donors, and family members saw the official installation and blessing of the memorial; you can find it alongside the path through the churchyard on the north side, parallel with Letchworth Lane. Please do visit it and reflect on the support which Eliza Ann Howard gave to the garden city movement and particularly to our own Letchworth Garden City.

Philippa Parker

Leader, Letchworth Local History Research Group, a constituent group of Letchworth Arts &

Leisure Group

28th February 2023