THIS year is the 106th anniversary of the first Women’s Institute to be established in Britain.
The National Federation of Women’s Institutes is the largest organisation for women in the country.
Based in London, it has 215,000 members in England and Wales, most of whom live in the rural areas.
The work of the Women’s Institute, better known as “the WI”, is divided into several groups, each having a chairman and staff working at a central office.
The Hampshire Federation of Women’s Institutes was founded in May 1918.
Basingstoke is covered by an office at Winchester and the area has 16 WI branches.
In Basingstoke itself there are two branches, both of which meet in Church Square.
Close by are Cliddesden, Kempshott, Oakley, Old Basing and Sherborne St John branches.
Cliddesden WI was founded in 1922 and was one of the earliest in this area. Another branch at Worting village was established in 1918, and continued until 1997.
At Silchester, a branch was opened in 1918, at the same time as Tadley. The latter closed in 1924, reformed in 1933, then closed again in 1982.
The Baughurst branch was formed in 1927 but closed from 1935 until 1948, then reopened until 1994.
Once of the most recent to open was Pamber Heath, in 1977, but the branch closed in 1999.
The WI originated from an idea set into motion in Canada by Mrs Adelaide Hoodless in 1897 at Stoney Creek, in Ontario.
She grew up on a farm without a father. Then, after the birth of three children, her fourth child died at the age of 18 months from drinking contaminated milk, caused by careless hygiene.
Mrs Hoodless heard that other children had died this way, so she gathered as many women from the district as she could and educated them on the matter. This led to meetings about other subjects.
Eventually, the gatherings became a regular occasion and the first Women’s Institute was formed.
Eighteen years later, Mrs Alfred Watt, another Canadian, formed a WI at Llanfairpwll, in Anglesey, Wales, with the help of the Agricultural Organisation Society, which was determined to bring a new spirit into British farming communities.
In November 1915, the first WI was founded in England at Wallisdown, near Bournemouth, and the idea quickly spread across the country.
After the Great War of 1914-1918, the movement grew at a remarkable pace and its membership represented every class of the country’s women.
This sense of public service brought a new spirit in villages across the nation and it gained even more recognition during the Second World War (1939-45). In those six years of hostilities, food could not be brought into the UK from other countries, so the WI produced plenty to keep the nation fed.
In each village, WI members produced various foods for folk who had no gardens, and sold them at market stalls in nearby towns.
It has been estimated that over three years during the war, WI members made more than 4,500 tons of jam, 120 tons of bottled fruit and 150 tons of pickle in England and Wales.
Since the early beginnings of the WI, the vast organisation has promoted the education of rural women and communal activity.
Some of the activities have involved speakers and demonstrators on various topics, while crafts, discussions, drama groups and choral singing have also been on the programme.
Over the years, it has been the policy of the institute that no woman should be excluded from the group’s activities by creed or politics, while the habit of meeting each month to discuss questions of interest should always lead to a sense of co-operation and friendliness.
Throughout the country, the WI has proved to be an essential organisation in local matters.
Some WI groups have even prompted county and parish councils to change some aspects of country life, such as improving water supplies and preserving footpaths.
Much has been achieved by the Women’s Institute since 1915 and it should be proud of its activities over the past 106 years.
- This column has been updated and was originally published in The Gazette in August 2005. It was written by the late Robert Brown, a former photographer, columnist and historian at The Gazette. He wrote eight books on the town’s history and sadly passed away on March 25, 2019.
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