International Women’s Day 2025

Image in the public domain

A founding member of the Women’s Social and Political Union which campaigned for women’s suffrage in the UK, the “Suffragettes”.  She was imprisoned three times and force fed, and received the Hunger Strike Medal (held at the Godalming Museum) for her dedication to the cause.  She later joined the Women’s Police Service and, with her partner Violet Croxford, set up a refuge for former sex workers.   They moved to Farncombe where they lived for 18 years before Clara’s death. Clara worshipped at St John’s Church and joined the Women’s Club there.

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In 1890, Edith with Emily Marion Ritchie, established a home in Chiddingfold for orphan girls, many of them from the Whitechapel Workhouse.  The 1891 census recorded a matron and 5 children (the youngest 4 months old and “name unknown”) at the home, which later moved to Hambledon.  Edith and Emily, who had met in London working for the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants, moved to Hambledon themselves and continued to run the home until Edith’s death.  Girls from the home were often given the surname Hope and were trained for domestic service as a way out of poverty.

Lyn Cornick with Al the Albino hedgehog (photo Pete Gardner)

With her partner, Graham, Lyn Cornick set up the Hydestile Wildlife Hospital (now known as Hydestile Resident Animals) after taking in their first animal, an injured deer, in 1978.  Lyn had worked as a veterinary nurse for nine years and has used her experience and knowledge to devote her life to caring for and rehabilitating wildlife in the Godalming area.  Lyn and Graham were awarded a lifetime achievement award at the International Fund for Animal Welfare 2021 Animal Action Awards for a lifetime of dedication to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing sick, injured or orphaned wildlife.

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Lady Meath dedicated her life to helping others, particularly children.  In 1885 she set up the Ministering Children’s League which helped children at the margins of society.  It was in the workhouses that Lady Meath first saw children and adults with epilepsy.  She was a very early pioneer in the care of people living with various challenging conditions.  She travelled widely and observed how other countries cared for people.  In 1892 she opened the Meath Home of Comfort for Epileptics at Westbrook Place in Godalming for women living with epilepsy.  Today the Meath Home still cares for people aged 18 to 80 plus living with epilepsy and her legacy lives on.

Isobel moved to Godalming in 1963 and very soon made an impact on Godalming’s life by establishing activities available for all children.  Holiday Fun was a scheme of exciting holiday pursuits and Music for Youth introduced children to all sorts of music and instruments in Saturday morning concerts.

Most notably in 1978 in Godalming, Isobel set about, single handed, to set up the Citizen’s Advice Bureau which she ran until she retired in 1985.  By this time the CAB was well established and has since grown from strength to strength.

Working with great energy, humanity, integrity and determination Isobel turned her ideas into reality.

© Watts Gallery Trust, “Giving money is one thing, but giving ourselves is the one great and necessary gift”. Mary Seton Watts

Mary Seton Watts was a central figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, living and working for many years in Compton, close to Godalming.  With her husband, painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts, Mary created  Watts Chapel in Compton, employing and training local people to make the intricate terracotta mouldings.  She thought graveyards should not be ugly places and encouraged people to design their own gravestones to go in the chapel’s grounds.  In 1904 she formed the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild, which promoted traditional crafts and created jobs for the local community.  She was also president of the Godalming branch of the Woman’s Suffrage Society and advocated tirelessly for social reform, particularly in the areas of women’s rights and education.

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Gertrude was a passionate advocate for women’s rights, championing better protection for working women in particular.  In 1909 Gertrude became President of the National Federation of Working Women, striving to protect women from industrial injuries.  She highlighted the awful conditions in sweatshops, which predominantly employed women, and pressed for better pay and industrial conditions.

In 1928 Gertrude formed the Maternal Mortality Committee to campaign for better conditions for working women during pregnancy and childbirth and later became the first woman Justice of the Peace for London.

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Helen Allingham is regarded as one of the finest watercolour artists of Victorian times.  She was born in Derbyshire and studied art, painting illustrations for periodicals and books, including for Thomas Hardy’s novel, Far From the Madding Crowd.  In 1874 she married the poet William Allingham and the couple moved to Sandhills near Witley, from where Helen painted the images of rural life in Surrey for which she became famous, with her work being recognised as an important record of village life.  In 1890, she became the first woman to be admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society.

Julia Frances Huxley, pictured with son Aldous Huxley.  © Prior’s Field Archive

 In 1889, Julia Huxley and family moved to Farncombe Hill (now Huxley Close) with her husband Leonard, a teacher at Charterhouse.  A legacy gave her the chance to open her own school and in 1901 she bought Priors Garth at Hurtmore and five plots of land, formally of Newark Priory in Ripley.  The school opened in January 1902 with six girls and one boy, Julia’s son Aldous.  The school grew with an extra wing in 1904 and a gym in 1906.  Prior’s Field School now caters exclusively for girls aged 11-18 and currently has over 400 pupils.

Bassano Ltd, half-plate film negative, 22 May 1939 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The daughter of an Army officer, Enid attended Prior’s Field School near Godalming. She became a journalist and during the First World War, a nurse with the British Women’s Services.  In 1920 she married Sir Roderick Jones the Chairman of Reuters, the international news agency.  Enid wrote a number of plays including Lottie Dundass (1941), The Chalk Garden (1955) and The Chinese Prime Minister (1964).  The latter two plays were also made into films.  She also wrote National Velvet (1935) which was made into an Oscar winning film in 1944.  14 year old Velvet Brown, played by Elizabeth Taylor, trains and rides her horse, The Piebald to victory in the Grand National.

Mary Wondrausch at work, August 2006 © Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

Mary Wondrausch was a potter, painter and writer and was particularly well known for her slip-decorated earthenware, commemorative plates being her speciality.  After training at Farnham School of Art, Mary set up her own pottery, first in Godalming and later in Farncombe.  In 1955 she bought ‘Brickfields’ in Compton and in 1984 moved her pottery there.  Mary received the OBE in 2000 for services to the arts and wore a papier-mâché hat based on one of her slipware plates to receive the honour, a demonstration of her eccentricity and exuberant personality.

By John Singer Sargent, 1898. Image in the public domain

Octavia Hill grew up with a strong commitment to alleviating poverty.  Her main concern was the welfare of city dwellers and her campaign work focused on housing, women’s education and poverty.  She also was a pioneer of the Army Cadets.  She was concerned about the availability of open spaces for poor people and was a founder member of the National Trust.  Hydon’s Ball and Heath in Godalming is one of the earliest acquisitions of the National Trust.  It has a memorial to Octavia Hill. It’s one of the highest points in Surrey with magnificent views towards Sussex.