Louisa Daniell

Mrs Louisa Daniell (1809 – 16 September 1871) was a Protestant philanthropist known for her work among the poor of The Midlands but most especially for her Soldiers' Home and Institute in the garrison town of Aldershot in the United Kingdom during the Victorian era.

Deeply moved by the number of destitute vagrants she saw on the streets of Rugby Louisa Daniell set up five missions in five years in the area which were largely financed by local gentry.

[10] Mrs Daniell and her daughter arrived in Aldershot in April 1862 with the intention of setting up a place of recreation and relaxation for soldiers other than the public houses and saloons;[11] with the help and guidance of some of the outstanding evangelical philanthropists of the period including Lord Shaftesbury they rented a house in Artillery Terrace in October 1862[11] and fitted it up as a mission hall and reading room, providing recreation for soldiers in Aldershot out of concern for their spiritual needs and well-being.

The building of her permanent Mission Hall and Soldiers' Home and Institute situated on Barrack Road was commenced in February 1863 on a plot of land donated by local businessman Mr Eggar, being officially opened on 11 October 1863 by Lord Shaftesbury.

[11] Her Total Abstinence Society was set up 1863 and within a year had 500 members, and while many lapsed either temporarily or permanently it held regular meetings and awarded medals to men who kept the pledge.

[5][6] Georgiana Daniell died in the Mission Hall and Soldiers' Home in Barrack Road in Aldershot from an illness brought on by influenza on 24 June 1894.

Miss Kate Hanson carried on the work as Honorary Superintendent of all Mrs Daniell's Soldiers’ Homes until she died from heart failure on 22 April 1913, aged 79.

In recognition of her long service to the soldiers and their wives and children of the British Army she too was buried in Aldershot Military Cemetery, beside the grave of Louisa and Georgiana Daniell.

[6] Much of Miss Daniell's Soldiers’ Home in Barrack Road in Aldershot was demolished in 1958, leaving only three walls and a roof from the main hall where the religious services had been held.