Lilian Barker

Dame Lilian Charlotte Barker, DBE, JP (21 February 1874 – 21 May 1955) was the first British female assistant prison commissioner, whose work provided the basis for the modern day humanitarian prison system for female correctional facilities in Great Britain.

Born in Islington, Barker was educated at the local primary school system and graduated from Whitelands College in Chelsea in the 1890s.

[3] Following the war, Barker joined the Ministry of Labour's training department and, in 1923, was appointed governor of the Borstal Institution for Girls at Aylesbury.

She met her partner, Florence Francis, whilst working as a Sunday school teacher.

[3] Barker was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1944 for her "services in connection with the welfare of women and girls".

Barker in 1900
Lilian Barker, right centre, surrounded by some of her women workers from the 'danger buildings' at Woolwich Arsenal, May 1918
Lilian Barker, left, supervises a group of female munitions workers using primitive remote handling equipment to work with TNT explosives at Woolwich Arsenal, May 1918