Lyceum Club Luncheon Talk

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1076, 13 September 1930, Page 20

Lyceum Club Luncheon Talk

Activities of British 1 Vo men At the monthly luncheon talk given at the Lyceum Club on Thursday, Airs. E. G. B. AlcWilliam, of Sheffield, gave a vivid description of the activities of British women. Mrs. AlcWilliam said on looking back over the last ten years she was amazed at the extent, variety and scope of the new activities British women had entered upon. She mentioned that the first women’s institute in Britain was opened in 1915 by Airs. Watt, a Scots Canadian who had been inspired by the success she had when she started an institute in Vancouver Island in 190 S. In Britain she was helped by the Board of Agriculture, which donated £IO,OOO, and the institutes had gradually grown until now there were over 500 in England and Scotland. Old handicrafts are revived at these institutes and the villagers are taught folk dancing. This year an enormous pageant. Inaugurated by Aliss Gwen Lally. who has organised a number of pageants in various countries, was held in Warwickshire, in which all the institutes took part. Two important episodes in the pageant, said Airs. AlcWilliam. who for nine years had been in charge of the Sheffield branch of the British Shakespearian Society, were the representations of plays by Shakespeare, and a representation of the Kenilworth Revels, which were held in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Two other Important gatherings of women held last July were the worldwide conference of the Alothers’ Union, at which a service was held in Westminster Abbey in memory of Miss Alary Sumner, the founder of the union, and the Girl Guide Conference, where 30 countries were represented. The first international conference of rural women was held in 1919 and was organised by the Marchioness of Aberdeen and Airs. Watt, and was most successful, said Mrs. AlcWilliam. In October she represented Sheffield at a National Council of Women, held in Manchester. Airs. AlcWilliam assisted last year at the Toe II bazaar, at which £2,550 was raised. In conclusion, Mrs. AlcWilliam quoted the inscription under the great brass plaque in the chapel of the Edinburgh War Alemorial, commemorative of the women who worked in the war. “Whether their names shall ring down tho ages they cared not, but to serve the King and their God they cared greatly.’’ Airs. W. 11. Parkes accorded the speaker a hearty vote of thanks. A defence of New Zealand women in regard to their alleged inactivity in public affairs in this country was made by Airs. W. H. Parkes. “A pan-Pacific delegate is reported to have said that women have lagged behind and failed to take the prominent part in public affairs that the women in other countries have so eagerly grasped,” she said. “In other words, although the women of the Dominion were the first to obtain the franchise, they have not made the most of their golden opportunity. I have hero a small but interesting brochure enumerating th© various humanitarian Acts which New Zealand women have gained since the franchise was granted in 1893. No less than 42 measures have been placed upon the Statute Book, every one for the betterment. directly or indirectly, of women j and children. “It is quite true that so far we have failed to return a woman to Parliament, but with so much accomplished for the advancement of the community by a small country in a comparatively short period, surely it cannot be contended that we have been lazy or indifferent. Meanwhile we are gaining wisdom and experience, which are among the essential qualifications required of the women whom we certainly hope will soon worthily represent us in Parliament.”