She came to notice when her sister Mary Gladstone proposed that she should become one of the first students to study at Newnham College in Cambridge.

[1] At Newnham Helen Gladstone was known for her sweetness of disposition and good sense, as well as telling anecdotes that frequently mentioned her father.

"[2] During the 1890s, Helen and her sisters took turns as the "daughter at home" to take care of their aging and increasingly frail parents, and in 1896, she regretfully decided to step down from her post at Newnham and move back to the family home for the reminder of her parents' lives.

[3][4] Formed as part of the Settlement Movement, a social reform movement "based on the idea that middle class people (settlers) would live among the working poor as moral and intellectual guiding exemplars, rather than provide mere financial support through charity work",[5] women from London colleges were invited to live at the Settlement at 44 Nelson Square, in Southwark.

[2][3][4] While dedicated to the Settlement's objectives, She found the organisational side of the Warden's position far less congenial, and stood down after five years.