How Grace Hadow OBE and Violet Butler Changed the World

The Schemes in Oxfordshire that pioneered Rural Community Councils across Britain and the world.

We are delighted to welcome Liz Peretz, Associate Research Fellow at the Department of Social Policy & Intervention, University of Oxford. Liz will talk about the lives of these two inspiring Oxfordshire women, Grace Hadow OBE and Violet Butler who pioneered rural community councils across Britain and the world.

In the early 1900s there was growing concern about England’s rural life. The countryside was emptying; old ways were giving way to industrial cities. There was a movement to change this; farmers cooperatives were encouraged, village libraries, coalitions of village clubs, adult education. The heart of this movement began in Oxfordshire, at the end of WW1, under the leadership of three remarkable people: Grace Hadow, Violet Butler, and Professor WGS Adams. Their headquarters throughout the 1920s was Barnett House in Oxford, but their net was…