Alice Brown Caine (née Brown; also known as Mrs. W. S. Caine; 21 February 1849 – 28 January 1918) was an English temperance leader. She served as president of the Women's Total Abstinence Union,[1] the Liverpool Ladies' Temperance Association,[2] and the Deaconesses' National Total Abstinence League.

Alice Brown Caine
Born
Alice Brown

21 February 1849
Liverpool, England
Died28 January 1918(1918-01-28) (aged 68)
Other namesMrs. W. S. Caine
Occupationtemperance leader
Spouse
(m. 1868; died 1903)
Children5
Parents
RelativesRuth Caine (daughter)
William Caine (son)
John Herbert Roberts and John Herbert Lewis (sons-in-law)

Early life and education

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Alice Brown was born in Liverpool, England, 21 February 1849. A daughter of Alice Chibnal Brown (nee Sirett; 1821-1863) and the Baptist preacher, the Rev. Hugh Stowell Brown (1823-1886), she developed a profound sympathy with the efforts against the liquor traffic.[1] Caine had six younger siblings, Robert, Hugh, John, Dora, Bertha, and Eleanor.[3]

She was educated privately in Liverpool.[1]

Career

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William and Alice Caine at home (1898)

In 1868, she married William Sproston Caine, a prominent iron merchant and active temperance leader, and afterward Member of Parliament.[1] A painting by Edwin Long of Mrs. Caine and her eldest daughter hung in the dining room of the family home in Clapham Common.[4]

The couple devoted time, energy, and their substantial means to the cause. At Wheatsheaf Hall, a mission building opened in South Lambeth by Mr. Caine about 1884 and rebuilt in 1898 at a cost of £5,000, Mrs. Caine conducted a large mothers’ meeting there, and was otherwise unceasingly active at that Hall,[1] including the Alice Caine Tent of the Independent Order of Rechabites,[5]

Caine was introduced and spoke briefly at the Third Biennial Convention and Executive Committee Meetings of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union in London in June 1895, where she represented the Girls' Guild of Good Life.[6]

She was affiliated with a number of temperance organizations, becoming president of the Women's Total Abstinence Union, and also of the Auxiliary of the Free Church Council. Caine was also an active member of the Committee of the Young Abstainers' Union,[4] besides holding membership and official relations in various other subordinate organizations; for example, Caine served as president of Deaconesses' National Total Abstinence League, federated to the Women's Total Abstinence Union.[7] One of her most responsible positions was that of treasurer of the Anglo-Indian Temperance Association, of which her husband was the founder; and she assumed that additional office after his death in 1903.[1]

An interesting and convincing lecturer, she also wielded influence in the various social circles where much of her effective work was done.[1]

Personal life

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(1898)

Mr. and Mrs. Caine had five children:[3]

Alice Brown Caine died in London, 28 January 1918.[1] A memorial service was held in her honour at Wheatsheaf Hall on 10 February 1918.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cherrington, Ernest Hurst (1925). "CAINE, ALICE (BROWN)". Standard Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem. Vol. 2. Westerville, Ohio : American Issue Publishing House. p. 472. Retrieved 23 December 2022 – via Internet Archive.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Beckingham, David (2017). The Licensed City: Regulating Drink in Liverpool, 1830-1920. Oxford University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-78138-343-8. OCLC 1011398589.
  3. ^ a b "Alice Brown". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b Skinner, J. Martin, ed. (January 1898). "Our Portrait Gallery". The Abstainers' Advocate. 9 (1): 2–6. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  5. ^ William Kent (1938). The Testament of a Victorian Youth: An Autobiography. Heath Cranton. p. 45. OCLC 1008201700.
  6. ^ World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union Convention (June 1895). Minutes of the Third Biennial Convention and Executive Committee Meetings of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union. London: Woman's Temperance Publishing Association. pp. 86, 118–19. Retrieved 23 December 2022. spoke briefly 86
  7. ^ Mitton, Geraldine Edith; Hubbard, Louisa M.; Janes, Emily (1899). The Englishwoman's Year Book and Directory for the Year ... Vol. 1. F. Kirby, Publisher. p. 23. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  8. ^ John Newton (1907). W. S. Caine, M.P.: A Biography. James Nisbet & Company, Limited. p. 3. OCLC 1016336984.