Clara Collet, (1860-1948) was pivotal in affecting many reforms which greatly improved working conditions and pay for women (and some men) during the early part of the twentieth century. She worked for Charles Booth helping in his great investigative work on the conditions prevailing in late nineteenth century London. To this end she took up residency in the East End during the autumn of 1888 possibly brushing shoulders with Jack the Ripper himself.
Collet was probably George Gissing's closest friend during the last ten years of his life, providing the intellectual stimulation he lacked in his marriage.
