Barbara Robb

Barbara Robb
Barbara Robb c. 1941
Born	Barbara Anne 15 April 1912 Yorkshire, England
Died	21 June 1976 (aged 64) London, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Chelsea School of Art
Occupation	Psychotherapist and campaigner
Known for	Founder of AEGIS
Spouse(s)	Brian Robb

Barbara Robb (née Anne, 15 April 1912 – 21 June 1976) was a British campaigner for the well-being of older people, best known for founding and leading the pressure group AEGIS (Aid for the Elderly in Government Institutions) and for the book Sans Everything: A Case to Answer.

A professional psychotherapist, Robb founded AEGIS after witnessing inadequate and inhumane treatment of one of her former patients, and other elderly women, during a visit to Friern Hospital. AEGIS campaigned to improve the care of older people in long-stay wards of National Health Service (NHS) psychiatric hospitals. In 1967, Robb compiled Sans Everything: A Case to Answer, a controversial book detailing the inadequacies of care provided for older people, which prompted a nationwide scandal. Although initially official inquiries into these allegations reported that they were "totally unfounded or grossly exaggerated", her campaigns led to revealing of other instances of ill treatment which were accepted and prompted the government to implement NHS policy changes.

Born into a landed Roman Catholic recusant family in Yorkshire, Barbara Anne had a privileged early life, a convent education, and attended finishing school in Kensington, London. She danced with the Vic-Wells company, the forerunner of the Royal Ballet, but an ankle injury ended her dancing career. Instead, she studied theatre and stage design at the Chelsea School of Art. At Chelsea she met Brian Robb, an artist, cartoonist and illustrator. They married in 1937.

Robb's grandfather, Major Ernest Charlton Anne (1852–1939) inspired her humanitarian outlook. Robb recalled his words many years later: "when you see somebody needing help – help him" and "wherever there were nettles there were sure to be dock leaves to cure the sting [...] Remember that everything in life is like the nettles, there are always dock leaves if only you look hard enough."

Amy Anne, Robb's mother, died of cancer in 1935, and her brother Robert Anne was killed on active service in the Second World War in 1941.

During the 1940s, Robb trained in Jungian psychotherapy with some guidance from psychoanalyst and Dominican priest Father Victor White. Robb undertook a "remarkable self-analysis", and mainly taught herself the techniques of the discipline. White corresponded and collaborated with Carl Jung. Letters between them refer to Robb's dreams and their interpretation, her personality and appearance; Jung wrote, "She decidedly leaves you guessing", and that she was "an eyeful and beyond!" White called her "quite a corker" and did not quite know how to "deal with" her.