Photographic History of Eton Wick and Eton - Eton Wick and Boveney Women's Institute

The Eton Wick and Boveney Women's Institute was founded in December 1933, due largely, like many other village organisations, to the influence of Edward Littleton Vaughan. His wife Dorothea was the Institute's first President. The Women's Institute is a national educational charity and Mr Vaughan was an enthusiastic supporter of education for the working class.

Through the years Eton Wick and Boveney W.I. has gained a high reputation for its friendliness and standard of work in the many County and National competitions and events in which it has taken part. The Institute has made its voice heard on many local issues including the closure of Windsor Bridge, the proposed closure of the Library and, most recently, the construction of the Thames Flood Alleviation Channel. 

The Institute hosts events, both informative and purely entertaining for its members. To mark its 50th and 60th anniversaries in 1983 and 1993, Art and Craft exhibitions, open to all the village were organised. In 1983 members produced a Pictorial History of the village. The original is held in Eton College and a reference copy is available in Eton Wick Library. 

Photograph taken on the Institute's 40th Anniversary party in 1973. 

In the back row left to right: Unidentified, Mrs Greenwold, Mrs Paintin, Mrs Swatton, Mrs Harrison and Mrs Wyeth. 

Third row (standing behind table): Mrs Durbin (later Leary), Mrs Crook, Mrs Flint, Mrs Butler, Mrs Attride, Mrs Day, Mrs Tatham, Mrs Hessey, Mrs Harding, Mrs Ballhatchet (President), Mrs Kinross, Mrs Neate, Mrs Lund, Mrs Sharrat, Mrs Wilson, Mrs Joan Bond and Mrs Charlton (later Moss). 

Second row (either side of table): Mrs Millis, Mrs Elsie Bond, Mrs Friend, Mrs Jacobs (Past President), Mrs Borrett, Miss Bannister, Mrs Beckett, Mrs Jones and Mrs Ash. Front row (seated): Mrs Cutler, Nurse Lee, Mrs Wickens (Past President), Mrs Hartley (Past President), Mrs Pat James and Mrs Cooley. 

This article was first published in A Pictorial History of Eton Wick & Eton.