1. The History of the WI
Joanne Patrick
January 2014

2. The WI is a Three Tier Organisation
N a t i o n a l F e d e r a t i o n o f W o m e n s I n s t it u t e s
H e a d q u a rt e r s in L o n d o n
C o u n ty
N o r t h u m b e r la n d F e d e r a t io n
C o u n ty
C o u n ty
W I
W h e y A ye W I
W I
W I

3. Adelaide Hoodless
• Canadian
• Married 1881
• 4 Children

4. Erland Lee – Secretary of the
Farmers Institute

5. Objects for the WI
•
•
•
•
•
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Domestic Economy
Architecture
Health
Floriculture and Horticulture
Music and Art
Literature

6. Madge Watt
1.
• Moved from
Canada to Britain
following her
husbands death in
1913

7. Llanfair PG WI
• Llanfair PG was the
first WI in Britain.
• Formed in 1915

8. WI through the years
• 1918 First resolution passed
• 1919 Home and Country, the monthly WI
magazine started
• 1919 Madge Watt formed a WI at
Sandringham with Queen Mary as President

9. WI through the years
• 1924 Jerusalem was first sang at the AGM,
a tradition that still continues today
• 1933 Resolution passed calling on all WI
members to support local efforts to deal
with unemployment and distress amongst
women
• 1943 Subs raised to 2shillings and sixpence

10. 1.
Denman College, Oxfordshire
• 1948 Doors
opened to students
for the first time

11. WI through the years
• 1955 Following the previous years
resolution the “Keep Britain Tidy” group
was formed
• 1955 Now a total of 8,296 WI’s
• 1962 Subs now 5 shillings

12. WI through the years
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•
•
•
1974 Record number of WI’s 9,309
1974 Subs raised to £15.00
1988 Total number of WI’s 9,108
1990 75th anniversary, Queen addresses
AGM

13. WI through the years
• 2006 Final issue of Home and Country
• 2009 5th October Tyneside Fed.
amalgamated with Northumberland Fed.
• 2013 New constitution detailing objects of
todays WI

14. Today’s WI
• Still campaigning for causes we believe in
• Total number of WI members stands at
215,230
• Total number of WI’s 6,542
• 2015 Centenary year
• www.thewi.org