Intro:
To recognise this year’s International Women’s Day, we trawled the archives to research one of our most inspiring members. Dame Hon. Maude Lawrence DBE.
Intro:
To recognise this year’s International Women’s Day, we trawled the archives to research one of our most inspiring members. Dame Hon. Maude Lawrence DBE.
Today, it’s hard to imagine life for UK women in 1921, when CSSC was formed. Women under 30 couldn’t vote. Despite holding the nation together during the war, many returned to low-paid jobs or domestic service. Paths to higher education were limited, and they still suffered many legal restrictions. So, imagine the bravery and determination it must have taken for CSSC member, Maude Lawrence to fight for women’s equality!
Dame Hon. Maude Agnes Lawrence DBE
Born in 1864, Maude Lawrence was among the first women to serve in the UK Government. At the age of 41, she was appointed the first Chief female Inspector of the Board of Education in 1905, where she led the first ever female team of inspectors to ensure children, girls, and women’s welfare and curriculum standards were being met, from elementary schools to technical schools.
In 1920, Maude Lawrence was appointed to the new role of Director of Women's Establishments at HM Treasury, to advise on all issues affecting female civil servants. It was during this time, Maude took special interest in the newly formed Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC), recognising the importance of organised sport and recreation in improving physical and mental health, teamwork and camaraderie. Maude organised women's teams for field hockey, golf, and swimming. Regularly competing in golf tournaments as a member of the Denham Golf Club.
Her work laid the foundations for cross-department sporting competitions, affiliated clubs and societies and a broader focus on the wellbeing of all civil servants, which still underpins CSSC today. And it was for Maude’s vision and determination that she was rightly created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1926 Birthday Honours.
We are grateful to Dame Maude Lawrence for her unwavering passion for CSSC and women’s equality. And we are proud to continue her legacy, in everything we do, over a century later.
100 Years of CSSC
You can read more about Dame Maude Lawrence and her fellow female members’ incredible stories, together with a complete history of CSSC, in our coffee table book – 100 Years of CSSC, with a few remaining copies still available to purchase.