Hull’s ‘WAGs’: Hull University Staff Wives Club

The influence of women

Look back through the correspondence of the first leaders of the University of Hull (at that time known as University College Hull) and you will find numerous instances in which Principals Morgan and Nicholson call on the practical aid of the wives of men employed in academic positions at the University. In some cases, these women are asked to play hostess to visiting dignitaries or candidates for interview. In other instances, they are asked to use their influence and social connections to drum up support for the work of the university. There are even examples in which their opinions of prospective interview candidates are sought and given. This appears to have happened in situations where a candidate was known to the wife of an existing academic by virtue of her own social, educational, or academic connections. Thus, at a time when academic and technical positions were largely held by men, we can detect evidence of female activity behind the scenes directed towards the functioning of the university.

It is perhaps unsurprising then that a University Staff Wives Club, later renamed the Staff Women’s Club, was formed, providing a place for these women to come together in a more organised manner. The formation of the club in 1955 aligns with the university being granted a charter with authority to award its own degrees. This marked a pivotal moment in the history of the University of Hull.

New research collection!

The activities of the University Staff Wives Club [RefNo. U DSWC] are documented in the latest of our newly catalogued University of Hull related collections to be made available at the History Centre. The records of the club cover the period 1955-2005; that’s 50 years of contributions to university life made by women associated with the institution. So what can we learn from these exciting ‘new’ records….

Members of the Staff Wives Club in the mid 1950s

Who were these women?

The collection includes a series of club minute books which begin at the formation of the club in 1955 and form a complete sequence through to 1995. The minutes reveal that initially the club consisted of only staff wives. From the club’s minutes, we learn that the first chair was Mrs P. Good, presumably the wife of Professor Good of the Biology Department. We learn that Mrs Brooks first acted as secretary, but that the first official secretary was Mrs Duffin. Mrs Symons was elected as the first treasurer, and Mrs King, Mrs Craig, Mrs Cook and Mrs Barker formed the remaining committee members. Mrs King was responsible, along with Mrs Craig and Mrs Cook, for drawing up rules for the club. The first annual report, issued in December 1956, recounts that about sixty people were present at the first ever meeting of the club, held 2 November 1955. Mrs Brynmor Jones, the wife of the university’s vice chancellor, is noted in the annual report as being one of the founding members of the club. The group assembled in November must then have represented most of the women directly associated with male employees of the university at this time. Membership of the club was later widened out to include female staff, along with female relatives of academic and academic related staff, and a name change to the University Staff Women's Club was made in 1988 to reflect this.

A social network

At the 2 November 1955 meeting, it was decided that the club’s ‘activities should be social rather than purely cultural’. A series of annual files, covering the period 1967-2005, contain circulars, officers’ reports, correspondence, and programmes of events providing further details about the club’s activities. Meetings of the club appear to have formed the heart of members’ activities. In addition to the business part of the meetings, time was carved out for refreshments and chatting, as well as specially arranged activities, such as the showing of films and musical evenings with members encouraged to bring their own records to play. The annual files also reveal that, in addition to ordinary meetings, members of the club held AGMs, arranged receptions and dinners, and negotiated the use of swimming baths at Newland Children’s Homes for the benefit of club members. The club also took part in visits to other educational institutions, including a school in Helmsley, Henry Cooper High School, and a reciprocal visit to Sheffield University arranged in conjunction with Sheffield’s University Wives Club. That these activities took place shows that the club played a role in providing for the social life of women associated with the University of Hull. As noted above, this is what had been hoped for at the outset, and must have helped to develop a network of female social contacts for those who involved themselves in the club’s activities.

Educational activities

The minutes also reveal an educational element to the activities of the club, including the arrangement of talks for the benefit of members. For instance, at a meeting held 29 May 1956, it was reported that Mr F.W. Brooks, Reader in Mediaeval History at the university, gave ‘a fascinating talk on the growth & development of the city of Hull’, and that arrangements were subsequently made to tour old Hull on the 12 June. The club also appears to have benefited from the university’s support for visiting scholarships, such as in May 1960 when they received a talk from Professor Natalie Darcy, a Fulbright Scholar from America, who spoke on ‘The effect of psychology on the education of children in the United States’. On a more domestic note, during a meeting held 31 October 1957, a cookery demonstration was arranged for club members, and it was noted that those present ‘picked up tips on certain aspects of cooking which should prove useful in the future'. Members of the club even offered to give talks themselves, such as one given by Dr Joan Kippling on her work with the Marriage Guidance Council in October 1959. Tours were also arranged for the benefit of members. The club visited university facilities, including the Audio-Visual Centre, Thwaite Hall, and Cleminson Hall, to better understand the work of the university. Trips to see local sites were also arranged, including visits to Hull Trinity House and the M.V. Spero, operated by Ellerman’s Wilson Line Ltd. Such activities gave women access to educational and enrichment experiences outside of the daily routine of their own work and lives.

Developing civic links

It’s perhaps worth highlighting that, through their interactions with civic organisations, business owners, and academics at the university, members of the club arguably contributed to the development and maintenance of informal links between the University of Hull and the local region. Additionally, the minutes of the club reveal that donations were made to local charities. For instance, in 1958, a collection raised as a result of an event at Burton Constable Hall was given to the Red Cross in 1958; and a year later, in 1959, a donation was made to the campaign group Aid for Refugees. This is an area that deserves more research. It would, for instance, be interesting to understand whether, and to what extent, the activities of the club might have contributed to the university’s reputation as a civically minded institution.

Photographs taken at a Staff Wives Club garden party arranged by Mrs Reckitt in 1976

Supporting the wider university community

The collection also contains evidence that the club had a role to play in supporting the university community outside of the immediate context of the club’s own membership. For instance, balance sheets record collections taken to provide flowers and gifts to support members of the university suffering sickness or bereavements. Members of the club arranged, at their own expense, an annual Christmas party for the benefit of staff members’ children. The minutes also contain mention of gifts given by the club to different parts of the university, such as the donation of 24 coat hangers to benefit the Senior Common Room in October 1962. Additionally, the minutes record that, in January 1963, a sub-committee was formed to consider ‘the accommodation problem of the newly appointed member of staff’, with it being considered that the club was a suitable body to ‘take over provision’. This reference to providing for new staff brings to mind the work that was undertaken by women associated with the very earliest years of the university’s operation, noted in the introduction to this blog.

Members of the Staff Wives Club at a tree planting ceremony to mark the retirement of Lady and Sir Brynmor Jones, Mar 1972

Final thoughts

From this very brief overview, we can see the types of details which are recorded in the surviving records of the University Staff Wives Club. We can learn of the membership’s activities to support each other; we can better understand the social interactions of women who were attached to the academic community by marriage rather than employment; and we can perceive instances in which the club’s members acted as a connection between the university and the wider local community. 

But, more importantly, we can start to identify individuals within a group of people who have remained largely hidden in the story of the university’s history. Given the timing of the club’s formation, the activities it undertook, and the relationships it helped to develop, it is likely that these women had a role to play in helping to create a sense of community within the newly independent University of Hull. This is surely worth further investigation.

Further information about the contents of this collection can be found on the History Centre’s online catalogue, where you can also download a PDF version of the collection catalogue. If you would like to view any of the records within the collection you can do so for free in our Searchroom. Visit our website to find out how to arrange a visit.

Claire (Archivist, Hull University Archives)