Muriel Lester

I am a professor of history at Rutgers University in New Jersey. I am completing a book, "The Match Girl and the Heiress" about the remarkable friendship of Muriel Lester and Nellie Dowell, a half-orphan worker in the match industry in Bow from 1887 onward. Nellie was a key partner with the Lester sisters in creating Kingsley Hall; she functioned as a mediator between the sisters and the local community in Bow and was a gifted problem solver to whom Muriel always turned in times of need. Nellie knew the entire Lester family well -- she even went on holiday with Muriel and her parents. Nellie's extended family lived in Bromley-by-Bow and included Endersbees and Dellars. I would love to hear from any family members or others who might have information to share. For the last 13 years of her life, Nellie lived at 58-60 Bruce road, the original site of the Kingsley Rooms. She died in 1923.
I can be reached at skoven@history.rutgers.edu