Catherine Potter was born on 30 May 1847 in London, into the large and influential Potter family, sister of social reformer Beatrice Webb.
Catherine Potter (later known as Catherine, Lady Courtney of Penwith) was born on 30 May 1847 in London, one of the many daughters of the wealthy timber merchant and railway entrepreneur Richard Potter and his wife Lawrencina Heyworth.
The Potter family was large, intellectually vibrant, and socially connected, producing several notable daughters, most famously Beatrice Webb, the co-founder of the London School of Economics and pioneering Fabian socialist. Catherine grew up in this stimulating household, exposed from an early age to progressive political and social ideas, debate, and the expectation of civic engagement that was unusual for women of her era.
This upbringing set the stage for Catherine's later life as a committed social reformer, suffragist and political hostess who would use her position and connections to advance causes including women's suffrage, Irish Home Rule, and social welfare reform, working alongside her husband Leonard Courtney, 1st Baron Courtney of Penwith.
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