Jan Bateson Archive

The papers include:

1. Letters that ask permission to nominate her to NFWI committees and correspondence to congratulate her on appointment/election to them or commiseration on non- re-election in 1956.

2. Letters from various National Chairmen and past Chairmen that reflect on problems with running the WI and the College containing some comments on elections and also on the working relationship with staff.

3. Correspondence concerning the illness of Elizabeth Christmas.

4. Letters that refer to running Denman College and letters to Mrs Bateson when she was acting Warden.

5. Various papers, including some press cuttings that relate to Mrs Bateson's speaking engagements on behalf of NFWI, training days, and conferences.

As far as possible they are arranged in chronological order.

These documents were given to the College by Jan Bateson's daughter after her Mother's death, via Jean Baxter the College Librarian, an old family friend.

Married to a tutor at Corpus Christi College in Oxford, Mrs Jan Bateson lived at Brill not far from Denman and was a member of the Buckinghamshire Federation of the Women's Institute. She became a member of the Denman College Committee and subsequently its Chairman from 1949 - 1957. Co-opted to NFWI executive committee in 1950, she was subsequently elected as a member of NFWI drama subcommittee from 1950 to 1956. She resigned from the executive committee when she was going with her husband to America. However, around this time Elizabeth Christmas, the Warden of Denman College, became ill and as Chairman of the Denman committee Mrs Bateson was active in dealing with the running of the college in this period. This was a very difficult period for the college and from Jan 1959 the college had no Warden. At first Lesley Ferguson took on the role, but found it too much and gave up in Apr, which is when Jan Bateson took over. In that year she agreed to be acting Warden of the College from Easter (Apr 13th) until 1 Oct 1959 when Marjorie Moller took over.