On February 17th 1926 a form was signed and sent to the General Secretary of Women’s Institutes in London to register the birth of Tickenham WI.
On April 15th the signed Constitution and Rules with a registration number of 4443 was returned to London. Meetings were planned to be held on the first Tuesday of each month, except April when it would be the second Tuesday. The President was Mrs Brown who lived at South View, the Vice President being Mrs Roberts who lived at Woodcroft and the Secretary / Treasurer a Miss E M Lewis who lived at Middletown. All homes which can still be found, although some look vastly different from 1926.
Unfortunately the committee minutes book and record of members meetings were destroyed (various verbal accounts say fire, some say water – putting the fire out perhaps?). So we don’t know how many ladies were at the first meeting, how those numbers increased in the first decade, where they met or the topics the ladies discussed.
The badge you may have been wearing in 1926 was likely to be a “For Home and Country” one probably made by Fattorini and Sons Bradford (the makers mark on the back in a straight line). It was oval made of gilded brass with the letters WI in the open centre. On the left was a red enamel rose to represent Britain and on the right a maple leaf to represent the original WI which began in Canada. In the centre of the rose was a pentangle which is believed to be a method of making the badge rather than meaning anything else. The design changed very slightly between 1928 and 1932, when the makers mark on the back was curved around the edge of the badge. The 1928-1932 ones are rare, so rummage in your drawers ladies!
Between 1917 and 1919 members shared the publication “The Landswoman” with The Women’s Land Army. Then came the “Home and Country” magazine between 1918 and 2006 which was published monthly. It wasn’t until 2007 it became the “WI Life” and was received 8 times a year (until Spring 2026 when it will become a quarterly magazine).
WIs Nationally:
Membership numbers:
1915 – 12 WIs had been formed with the rule that WIs could only be formed in places with a population under 4,000!
Federations started when there were enough WIs in an area to warrant one and the NFWI was created in 1917 when there were 140 WIs.
1920 – 1,914 WIs with a total of 99,418 members
1930 – 4,654 WIs with a total of 291,570 members
Key Dates:
1926 Last grant received from the Development Commissions for general organisation. Between 1920-1927 NFWI had received grants for core funding, the amount gradually decreased until they stopped in 1927. From 1927 income to run NFWI came from: share of annual membership subscriptions; grant-making bodies, educational trusts; commercial sponsors; WI Enterprises trading arm; investments; gifts, donations, and legacies.
1926 NFWI’s claim for exemption from Income Tax allowed on appeal.
1928 First National Drama Festival.
1928 Review of the Constitution. (The first WIs had adopted rules based on the Canadian model and agreed that they would: “a) Study home economics; b) Provide a centre for educational and social intercourse and for all local activities; c) Encourage home and local industries; d) Develop co-operative enterprises; e) Stimulate interest in the agriculture industry”. But from 1917-1919, under the Board of Agriculture, WIs had concentrated on food production to help the war effort and a new constitution had been agreed in 1919.)
1932 AGM decided that fares of all delegates to the annual meeting should be pooled.
1932 NFWI received a 3 year grant from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust to expand the Women’s Institute Markets (first started in Lewes in 1919 to sell surplus produce) and they were formally registered as co-operatives under the Industrial Provident & Friendly Societies Act. Neither NFWI nor the County Federations had legal control over markets but had the responsibility to encourage their formation and development and to provide marketing education for all WI members wishing to participate.
1933 Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) started. The NFWI affiliated to it and sent delegates to Area Conferences and to Triennial meetings. This is the charity we donate to annually using the money collected from our monthly flower competition.