Local philanthropist Dame Elizabeth Cadbury has been honoured by McCarthy & Stone, with the developer naming its new retirement complex in Bournville after her.
Elizabeth Court is in the area of Birmingham most associated with the Cadbury family and somewhere that Dame Elizabeth played a great role in moulding.
Born in 1858, she came from an affluent Quaker family. No dilettante socialite, when she left school she did social work in the London docks and in Paris.
She became a Cadbury when she wed the widowed George Cadbury, the third son of John Cadbury, who founded the chocolate-making company.
As well as being mother to their large family, she aided George in the realisation of the vision to build a village for factory workers.
She opened the Woodland Hospital and The Beeches, a place for slum children to holiday; founded girls’ clubs; worked to provide medical inspection in schools; campaigned for women’s education and welfare; was elected to Birmingham City Council and was a magistrate.
She served on the National Peace Council during the First World War, and even during the Second World War, when she was in her in her 80s, she let her home, Manor Farm in Northfield, be used as a training centre for an ambulance unit and the grounds for fund-raising garden parties.
Robert Monkman, regional sales and marketing director from McCarthy and Stone West Midlands, said: “We wanted to choose a name that was memorable, and that would resonate with both Bournville residents and our future homeowners alike.
“Elizabeth Court will serve as a celebration of her memory and an acknowledgement of the site’s rich heritage – a topic we know our future homeowners will be extremely interested in, no doubt.”
The development, which is in Oak Tree Lane, is currently under construction, and will provide 21 apartments for the over 60s,
The first home owners are scheduled to move in in August
A launch event is being held at the Westmead Hotel on Redditch Road in Hopwood, on January 27, with presentations scheduled for 11am and 2pm.
To book a place call 0800 201 4741 or go to www.mccarthyandstone.co.uk/elizabethcourt
