Archives

The archives held by the Cornwall Federation of WIs, both at Chy Noweth an Conteth and at the County Records Office, are a veritable Aladdin’s cave of treasures.

Ingeborg, Lady Molesworth-St Aubyn, First President of the Cornwall Federation of WIs

Under the careful eyes of Federation Archivist Judith Williams and Assistant Pam Northover, our archive materials are kept safe and secure. Unfortunately, due to space constraints, it’s not always possible for most WI members to easily access these wonderful documents, photographs, etc. 

By including our archives here on our website, you’ll be able to see them from the comfort of your sitting room! And the bonus is that, once they’ve been scanned and uploaded, some of our very old original documents will not need to be handled.

This is an ongoing project, and one that will take some time. For the moment, a taster of some of our archive material has been uploaded. Please do check back as more will be added in the future.

In the meantime, if you recognise anyone in this undated photo of a WI banner procession, please let us know! Either ring the CFWI office or email us

For ease of navigation, we’ve organised material by decade, starting with the 1920s.

1920s

1930s

1950s

1960s

1970s

County Newsletters

If you have any photographs of Cornwall WIs through the years that you’d like to share with other members, please drop us a line!