34 St Michael's Street

This stop looks at Felicia Skene (1821-1899), a prison reformer and friend of the poor. The first woman in England to be appointed Prison Visitor, she pleaded for prisons to be places of reform and believed in individual counseling. She devoted time to translating and writing on social problems. She took much interest in rescue work in Oxford, working with prostitutes and the homeless. For most of her life, she lived on St Michael’s Street in the centre of Oxford, the nickname of which was ‘The Street of Seven Deadly Sins’. Her home was known as ‘The Skene Arms’, because it was always open to beggars, clergymen, prostitutes, politicians, and students.