This performance had booked up fast at The Shakespeare North Playhouse, so there was no way we were missing the opportunity to see the stage play, based on the true story at St Georges Hall, Liverpool.

What do you know about Catharine Wilkinson (otherwise known as Kitty) born in the late 1700’s ?

Originally from Ireland, Kitty is celebrated for having helped save countless lives, and help contain the cholera epidemic in Liverpool which began in 1832. How ?

Kitty had built up a washhouse business, and she was the only person to have a boiler in the neighbourhood. Kitty knew that boiling clothes, and cleaning them with chloride of lime (a bleaching agent) would kill the deadly bacteria, so she invited all to use her home and yard for 1 penny per week.

Even after the pandemic had passed, Kitty was successful in campaigning for a public baths and washhouse to be opened for the poor.

Sam Alton actress (Arts Groupie) delivered a fabulous one woman stage performance in the concert room, with nothing more than a table, and a few cotton sheets as props.

After the performance, we went into the Great Hall to marvel at Kitty’s marble statue. The only statue dedicated to a woman in St Georges Hall Liverpool.

You will find a stained glass window in Liverpool Cathedral … A Kitty Wilkinson Walking Tour to be had, and Kitty’s grave can also be found in St James Cemetery Liverpool.

Kitty Wilkinson Queen of the Washhouse … a story that had to be told 💗