W.D.F.F. HAS GOOD REASON TO FEEL PROUD OF WORK

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 65, 5 July 1950, Page 5

W.D.F.F. HAS GOOD REASON TO FEEL PROUD OF WORK

Old minute books, notebooks, memories and letters were searched to recall the early history of the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers.

Strange as it may seem, a man suggested the formation of this organisation. He was Mr L. McAlpine, a Farmers’ Union organiser. At his invitation 16 women, in Wellington with their husbands, who were attending a ‘Farmers’ Union conference, met on July 28, 1925, and found what was to .become a powerful countrywomen’s movement. The late Mrs M. J. Poison, of Manurewa, near Wanganui, was chosen Dominion president. The first branch formed was at Oakura, near New Plymouth, under Mrs Helen Harris. It was officially opened in June, 1926. Wanganui was the second branch, formed under Mrs R. Lilburn. When the first annual conference was held in Wellington on July 26, 1926, 32 members attended, and Mrs J. G. Coates, wife of the then Prime Minister, opened it. The following year, when. Mrs Coates again opened the conference, membership had risen from 100 to 1250.

By July, 1928, membership had doubled. The four strongest branches were Wanganui, Invercargill, Hawera and Taumarunui. In 1932, the membership was 10,164. Through the years the division has maintained this steady growth and today there are 25,000 members of 658 branches.

In response to letters asking for reliable help when women were ill or had to leave home, there came into being in 1927 the W.D. emergency housekeeper scheme. It was realised that wages for housekeepers would/often be beyond the resources of the struggling farmer, so the new organisation founded a fund, the “community chest,” from which, when necessary, housekeepers’ wages were provided or subsidised.

Last year the total wages paid to housekeepers employed by the division was £9OIO for 2433 weeks worked and the total assistance from the community chest was £2OBO.

The division rightly feels that 2433 weeks of service is a splendid contribution toward the health and welfare of countrywomen. In this way the W.D.F.F. is still providing a substantial measure of help for countrywomen in times of difficulty.