Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith

Catherine Courtney
Catherine Courtney in 1883
Born	Catherine Potter (1847-04-04)April 4, 1847 Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom
Died	February 26, 1929(1929-02-26) (aged 81) Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	English
Other names	Baroness Courtney of Penwith
Occupation	Social worker

Catherine "Kate" Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith (née Potter; 4 April 1847 – 26 February 1929), was a British social worker and internationalist. Active in charitable organisations in her early life, she later campaigned with her husband Leonard Courtney to end the Second Boer War and the First World War. She sought to bring attention to the plight of citizens of the enemy nations and was denounced as being overly sympathetic to the enemy during both wars.

Catherine Potter was born at Gayton Hall, Herefordshire. She was the second daughter of the businessman Richard Potter and his wife Lawrencina (née Heyworth), daughter of a Liverpool merchant. Her seven younger sisters included the social reformer Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, while Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor, and Henry Hobhouse were among her brothers-in-law. Mostly educated at home by tutors, she briefly attended a London boarding school for girls in the 1860s. She was not regarded as particularly clever or beautiful, and strongly disliked seasons and socialising with the upper class. After her coming out party in 1865, she strived for independence and resisted her parents' attempts to marry her off.

In 1875, after a particularly difficult year, the 28-year-old Kate Potter left her family home and went to London to enlist in the activities of Octavia Hill and started training for the Charity Organization Society in Whitechapel, as well as working as an organiser of an East End boys' clubs, before joining Samuel Augustus and Henrietta Barnett in their philanthropic work. Her parents frowned upon her decision, as did her elder sister Lawrencina, but ultimately granted her a small allowance which enabled her to settle in Great College Street in Westminster. She stayed in touch with her family and they often complained about her forcing them to attend "poor people's parties", which they escaped as soon as they could.