Kitty Wilkinson

Kitty (Catherine) Wilkinson (1786–1860) was an Irish migrant, known as the ‘The Saint of the Slums’, because she helped save the lives of many during the cholera epidemic of 1832 by inviting them to wash infected clothing and bedding in her domestic boiler. Ten years later with public funds raised through her efforts, a combined washhouse and public baths was opened in Frederick Street, Liverpool. This was the first public washhouse in the United Kingdom and she was appointed the first warden. Her statue was unveiled 2012 in St George’s Hall, Liverpool.  It was the first sculpture of a woman to be installed there.

Location: St George's Hall, Liverpool.