Blanche Gibbs

Matilda Blanche Crawley-Boeveys, Mrs. William Gibbs, painted by William Boxall (National Trust) Blanche Gibbs (17 December 1817 – 22 September 1887) also known as Matilda Blanche Gibbs or Matilda Blanche Crawley-Boevey, was an English philanthropist, and a supporter of the Oxford Movement in 19th century England. Along with her husband, William Gibbs, a businessman, she funded the establishment and restoration of many churches and religious structures. After his death, as the inheritor of his estate, she expanded her philanthropy towards social and welfare efforts including the creation of convalescent homes, hospitals, and educational institutions.

Early life Matilda Blanche was born on 17 December 1817, and was the third daughter of Sir Thomas Crawley-Boevey, Third Baronet, and Mary Albinia, daughter of Sir Thomas Hyde Page, in Gloucester. She primarily used her middle name, Blanche.

Marriage and family Blanche married William Gibbs, a merchant who was her distant cousin, on 1 August 1839, in Gloucestershire. Gibbs was an extremely wealthy man, the co-founder of the firm Antony Gibbs & Sons, and had built his fortune in trading goods from South America, particularly guano.

Philanthropy Blanche and William Gibbs were members of the Oxford movement, a 19th-century religious movement that eventually resulted in the formation of Anglo-Catholicism.

In 1875, following William Gibbs' death, his estate was inherited by Blanche Gibbs, who continued their religious philanthropic work but expanded it to encompass social and welfare efforts as well. and the St John's Convalescent Home at Tyntesfield. Several of these homes built by Blanche Gibbs were dedicated to patients who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, a disease that resulted in the deaths of three of her seven children. In 1881, she endowed a scholarship at Keble College. Additionally, a portrait of Blanche Gibbs, along with five of her children, painted by Sir William Charles Ross, is also part of the National Trust Collections, and was displayed at the Royal Academy in 1850.