ONE of the most significant members in the first 100 years of the Women’s Institute was Oxfordshire businesswoman Sylvia Gray.
She devoted much of her life to the WI, both nationally and locally, while running two hotels and serving as a councillor and school governor.
WI members are reflecting on the immense contribution she and others have made as the movement celebrates its centenary this year.
WI members sing Jerusalem at Oxford Town Hall in 1979.
Miss Gray, who lived in Burford, was awarded both the MBE and CBE for her public service.
She joined the Burford and Fulbrook WI in 1929 and was chairman of the Oxfordshire Federation from 1951 to 1954.
She served as chairman of the National Federation from 1969 to 1974, during which she contributed greatly to the WI’s development.
With her business background, she successfully persuaded the WI to be more prudent with its money, improve its management, streamline administration, raise subscriptions and increase services.
She also pressed the WI to take on a more public role and be a powerful voice for women, particularly in rural areas.
Miss Gray was only 26 when she bought the Bay Tree Hotel in Burford, which she owned and managed for nearly 50 years.
She ran it with female staff and one male chauffeur/gardener.
After the Second World War, she acquired a second hotel, the Manor House in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.
Members in Wallingford plant a red oak tree at Castle Gardens in 1985 on the group’s 40th anniversary.
She became chairman of the board of governors at Burford Grammar School and was a member of Witney Rural District Council from 1943 to 1954, the last four years as vicechairman.
She also found time in her busy life to be involved with the Post Office Users’ National Council, the Women’s National Commission, the National Trust, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and the National Consumer Council.
When she died in 1991, aged 90, her obituary writer described her as “a woman ahead of her time, an inspiring example of what could be achieved”.
In a centenary year tribute to her, the Oxfordshire Federation, representing nearly 150 WI branches in the county, said: “She moved the WI forward in many ways, ensuring it was always in the public eye and developed more wide-ranging interests.”
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