[1] Hackett found her life's work when she took her seven year old orphan cousin, Henry Wintle, to become a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral.

Further investigation revealed that the choristers would be hired out for singing engagements and the choir masters would pocket the money.

A Committee chaired by Alderman W. T. Copeland, M.P., then Lord Mayor of London raised a small sum.

Hackett assumed all liabilities, oversaw the laying of stones for an adjoining council chamber, and funded the removal of the inserted floor.

[1] St Paul's Cathedral celebrates the 150th anniversary of her death in November 2024 with a dramatisation of her campaign for choristers' rights.