Caroline Colman

Caroline Cozens-Hardy (1831-1895) was born in 1831 to William Hardy and Sarah Cozens of Letheringsett Hall in North Norfolk. Caroline was an activist and writer from an early age, and published articles in Wesleyan magazines. Throughout her life she campaigned for religious and political freedom. In 1856 she married Jeremiah James Colman, and they settled down at Carrow House, beside the newly established mustard factory. All of their six children were born here.

Soon after her arrival at Carrow, Caroline got involved in the daily business of the company and in the lives of the factory workers. She initiated most of the pioneering welfare schemes at the company and remained in charge of their welfare provisions for many decades of her life. She oversaw the Carrow Day and Sunday Schools, the Carrow Works Kitchen, and the Home for Girls (accommodation for young women employed at Carrow), as well as supporting the employment and work of a trained sick nurse, and taking part in many other schemes dedicated to the welfare of the workers. Despite her ongoing work on behalf of the Carrow workers and the company, her role remained unofficial and unpaid. (In a letter to her brother, Caroline described herself as a 'kind of lady superintendent' of the newly established Carrow Works Kitchen.)

Caroline's welfare work at the company left little time for involvement in local charities, but she still subscribed to many. She was a keen supporter of the Jenny Lind Infirmary for Sick Children, and became a life governor of the hospital after her young son Russell suffered a very serious lung illness. Her successful fight for his recovery made her realise that good care was decisive when it came to children's chances of survival.  

Caroline's health suddenly deteriorated in the early months of 1895, and she was moved to the family's seaside retreat at Corton, in the hope of enabling her rest and recovery. She died at Corton in July of the same year, at the age of 64.