The Scottish Rural Women’s Institutes SWRI, “the Rural” which was formed in 1917 was part of the movement of rural woman’s institutes that started in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada in 1897. The first SWRI meeting in Scotland look place at Longniddery in East Lothian, creating the chance for rural women to meet and share their skills with one another. Locally there were three branches of the SWRI :- Dores & Scaniport , Foyers and Stratherrick . The Peoples Journal a weekly newspaper long since defunct, used to have page dedicated to reports of the Highland regions, local WRI groups activities and events.
The Dores and Scaniport WRI was formed in 1938 and it ran from then through the Second World War years till 1948. It ceased for a period then reformed in 1954 and lasted as a group until it finally folded in 2003 . They held their monthly meetings in Dores Hall, as well as guest speakers/ demonstrations at the meeting they would have a competition involving either craft or culinary delights. Dores & Scaniport WRI were particularly active in producing plays, some self written and also concerts . The Group with less than 30 members gave a concert in aid of R.N.L.I. and WRI Help Ourselves Appeal including performing a play the Mistress of Shuma, written by their Hon president Kathleen Macpherson and produced by Jessie Jappy. Also featured in the evenings entertainment was a “Highland Minstrel Show “produced by Barbara Hiddleston. They entered WRI Drama competitions, their play Beggar my Neighbour won the Drama Final at Kirkhill . At the Inverness-shire group rally of 15 institutes held in Kiltarlity, the Dores & Scaniport WRI scored a great success with their hilarious skit on the Miss World Competition. The Dores & Scaniport WRI also won a baking National Competition at Dunoon with their Easter Tea display.
D&S WRI 10th Anniversary Judith Cameron (President) cutting cake. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum ,
D&S WRI 10th Anniversary Back L-R 1 Evelyn Insch, 2 Grace Riddle ,3 Peggy Macintosh,4 Mrs Maclennan , 5 ??, 6 Elspeth Luke , 7 Jessie Jappy.. Mrs Grosman., Front L-R 1 Mrs Maclure , 2 Susan Dodd,3 Mrs Macpherson, 4 Mary Macintosh, 5 Judith Cameron, 6 Mary Macdonald , 7 ? , 8 ? . Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores
Back L-R 1 Jessie Jappy, 2 Mary Macdonald, 3 Alice Mackay, 4 Evelyn Insch, 5 Grace Riddle, 6 Mrs Maclennan, 7 Elspeth Luke, 8 Mary Macintosh.
Seated L-R 1 Beatrice Fawkes, 2 Peggy Macintosh, 3 Mary Macphee, 4 Isabel Luke, 5 Mary Murdoch, 6 Susan Dodd, 7 Mrs Macpherson. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores
Back L-R 1 Jessie Jappy, 2 May Macphee, 3 Grace Riddle, 4 Elspeth Luke, 5 Mrs Maclennan, 6 Mary Macdonald.
Front L-R 1 Evelyn Insch, 2 Isabel Luke, 3 Beatrice Fawkes, 4 Alice Mackay, 5 Peggy Macintosh, 6 Susan Dodd, 7 Mary Murdoch, 8 Mary Macintosh, 9 Kathleen Macpherson. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores
Standing L-R 1 Beatrice Fawkes, 2 Alice Mackay, 3 Jessie Jappy, 4 May Macphee, 5 Susan Dodd, 6 Grace Riddle, 7 Peggy Macintosh, 8 Mrs Maclennan, 9 Mary Macintosh, 10 Elspeth Luke.
Front L-R 1 Kathleen Macpherson, 2 Mary Macdonald, 3 Mary Murdoch, 4 Evelyn Insch, 5 Isabel Luke. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores
L-R 1 Beatrice Fawkes, 2 Susan Dodd, 3 Mary Macdonald, 4 Isabel Luke, 5 May Macphee, 6 Kathleen Macpherson. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores
Back L-R 1 Evelyn Insch, 2 Grace Riddle, 3 Mary Macdonald, 4 Elspeth Luke, 5 Jessie Jappy.
Front L-R 1 Mrs Maclennan, 2 Mary Murdoch, 3 Mary Macintosh ,4 Alice Mackay. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & SC WRI Pitlochry and Dundee 1969 outing. L-R as mainly full heads appear 1 Marge Cameron/ Alice Mackay, 2 ?, 3 ?, 4 Helen Macnaughton, 5 Judith Cameron, 6 Morag Batchen, 7 Beatrice Fawkes, 8 Sadie Hipkins, 9 ?, 10 Mrs Johnstone (policemans wife Foyers), 11 Anne Macdonald, 12 Pauline Johnstone, 13 Mrs Riddle, 14 Rio Murdoch, 15 Bessie Ferguson/Ann Cameron, 16 ? , 17 Mrs Cameron PO Foyers, 18 Evelyn Insch?, 19 Mary Murdoch, 20 ?, 21 ?, 22 ?, 23 Mary Macintosh, 24 Susan Dodds, 25 ?, 26 Isabel Luke, 27 Margaret Gualt, 28 May Macphee. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI 31th Anniversary Dec 1975 dinner Springfield Hotel Inverness . Back L-R 1 Alice Mackay, 2 Margaret Gault, 3 Mrs Pullar, 4 Mina Maclennan, 5 Elspeth Luke, 6 Muriel Robertson, 7 Sheena Kent, 8 Moira Macallum. Front L-R 1 Mrs Fraser Tytler, 2 Betty Pethick, 3 Beatrice Fawkes, 4 Mary Murdoch, 5 Jessie Jappy, 6 Evelyn Insch, 7 Isabel Luke. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI Jubilee a skit on the Miss world contest Kiltarlity 1977. (cook of the year, nurse of the year, ect). L-R 1 Isabel Luke, 2 Eva Valentine, 3 Jessie Jappy, 4 Muriel Robertson, 5 Elspeth Luke, 6 Judith Cameron, 7 Margaret Gualt, 8 Rammie Curry, 9 Betty Pethick, 10 Evelyn Insch, 11 Moira Macallum. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI Mistress of Shuma cast. Standing L-R 1 Margaret Gualt, 2 Alice Mackay, 3 Betty Jessiman, 4 Barbara Campbell. Seated L-R 1 Beatrice Fawkes, 2 Moira Macallum. Kneeling 1 Jessie Jappy. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI Highland Minstrel Show. Back L-R 1 Betty Jessiman, 2 Babs Campbell, 3 Evelyn Insch, 4 Betty Pethick, 5 Judith Cameron, 6 Elspeth Luke, 7 Jessie Jappy, 8 Muriel Robertson, 9 ??? . Middle L-R 1 Margaret Gualt, 2 Beatrice Fawkes, 3 Alice Mackay, 4 Moira Macallum , 5 Isabel Luke. Front L-R 1 Jean Fraser, 2 ?? , 3 ?? , 4 Barbara Hiddleston, 5 Sandra Peterkin. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI car treasure hunt . Standing L-R 1 Muriel Robertson, 2 Susan Dodd, 3 Ella Macrae, 4 Stella Fraser, 5 Betty Pethick, 6 Mary Macintosh, 7 Aileen Drummond, 8 Judith Cameron. Seated L_R 1 Betty Jessiman, 2 Elspeth Luke. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI Beggar my Neighbour . Back L-R 1 Betty Jessiman, 2 Jessie Jappy, 3 Evelyn Insch, 4 Beatrice Fawkes, 5 Margaret Gualt. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Beggar my Neighbour play won by Dores an Scaniport WRI at Drama Final Kirkhill. Cast Mary Macintosh, Jessie Jappy, Evelyn Insch, Betty Jessiman producer, Margaret Gualt, Beatrice Fawkes. Back L-R 1 Mary Macintosh, 2 Jessie Jappy, 3 Evelyn Insch, 4 ??? , 5 Betty Jessiman, 6 Margaret Gualt. Seated with cup Beatrice Fawkes. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Beggar my Neighbour play won by Dores & Scaniport WRI at Drama Final Kirkhill . Back L-R 1 Judith Cameron, 2 Isabel Luke, 3 ? , 4 ? , 5 Mrs Fraser Tytler, 6 ? . Middle L-R 1 Betty Jessiman, 2 Elspeth Luke, 3 Aileen Drummond, 4 Jessie Jappy, 5 Betty Pethick, 6 Moira Macallum . Front L-R 1 Kathleen Macpherson, 2 Alice Mackay, 3 Mary Macintosh ,4 Margaret Gualt , 5 Evelyn Insch , 6 ?? , 7 Beatrice Fawkes, 8 Mary Murdoch. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI winning entry in Easter tea national WRI competition in Dunoon, Argyle. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI 40th Anniversary 1990. L-R 1 Margaret Reid, 2 Margaret Mearns, 3 Mrs Trail, 4 Judith Cameron, 5 Moira Macallum, 6 Mary Macintosh, 7 Penny Schofield, 8 Evelyn Insch, 9 Elspeth Luke, 10 Hazel Campbell, 11 Rammie Curry. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI Sep 1995 Penny (Schofield )Smith being toasted and given a wedding gift from the WRI. Clockwise L-R 1 Margaret Mearns, 2 Bella Robertson,3 Penny Schofield, 4 Rammie Curry , 5 Moira Macallum, 6 Elspeth Luke, 7 Hazel Campbell. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Dores & Scaniport WRI 1997 Programme. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
The Foyers WRI was formed around 1929 with Mrs Skelton its first President, going by their fiftieth anniversary party which was held in Foyers Church Hall in October 1979. Their meetings were held in the Foyers Church Hall . Sadie Hipkins was President of the W.R.I. for 20 years. One of their founding members Maimie Gibson was there to cut the fiftieth anniversary celebration cake at Foyers Church Hall.
Foyers WRI bus trip c1950. Bus driver Jack Maclean . Back L-R 1 Mrs Riach?, 2 Kit Munro, 3 Ellen Williamson , 4 ? , 5 Mrs Finlayson, 6 Margaret Ross, 7 ? . Front L-R 1 Mrs May Maclean, 2 Catherine Maclean ? , 3 ? , 4 Emma Maclean, Photograph courtesy of Kenny Ross
Foyers WRI c1960 Back L-R 1 Mrs May Maclean, 2 Kitty Munro, 3 Mrs Georgie MacCrimmon / Cameron Inverfarigaig , 4 Christeen Chris (peem) Cameron , 5 Margaret Ross , 6 Kay Cameron. Middle L-R 1 Morag Batchen, 2 Violet MacIntosh, 3 Mrs Batchen sen , 4 Mrs Macmillian , 5 Sadie Hipkins, 6 Anne Macdonald, 7 Helen Macnaughton, 8 Mary Kennedy , 9 ? . Mrs Carlins or Mrs Menzie . Front L-R 1 Mrs Walls, 2 Chrissy Mackay, 3 Mrs Macphee ? , 4 Maimie Gibson,
Margaret Ross . Photograph courtesy of Kenny Ross
Foyers WRI Fiftieth Anniversary Oct 1979 Maimie Gibson founder member cut cake at Foyers Church Hall 1 ?, 2 Marjory Grant, 3 Mrs Scott, 4 Mami Gibson, 5 Sadie Hipkin, 6 ?, 7 ?, 8 Chrissy Mackay,9 Morag Batchen, 10 Annie Mackenzie, 11 Mrs Walls, 12 Sandra Forbes, 13 ? , 14 Loraine Fraser, 15 Joan Cameron, 16 ?. 17 ?, 18 ? ,19 ?, 20 ? , 21 ?, 22 May Ross, 23 ?, 24 ?, 25 Mary Kennedy?, 26 ?, 27 ?, 28 ?, 29 ?, 30 ?. Photograph courtesy of Loraine Fraser
Foyers WRI Xmas dinner c1990 at Bay house . L-R clockwise 1 AnnTottie, 2 ???, 3 Mrs Walls, 4 Ann Christy , 5 Annie Mackenzie, 6 ???, 7 Loraine Fraser, 8 Joan Macpherson, 9 Sadie Hipkins, 10 Hanna Cameron, 11 Muriel Macintosh, 12 Mrs Scott. Photograph courtesy of Alison Parkhouse
The Stratherrick WRI was formed around the Fifties and continued till the mid Eighties as far as known . Their meetings were held in the Gorthleck Hall . Unfortunately no photos to date have appeared of the group , but six items, :- a committee Voting slip, two entries in the Peoples Journal and three program’s of their 1979-80 events . Will give an indication of their activities during the years.
Stratherrick WRI voting slip to select committee, also list of members, possibly 1976 . Photograph courtesy of Sadie Chisholm
Stratherrick WRI May 1977 . An extract from the Peoples Journal's WRI page in May 1977 relating to the activities within the Stratherrick WRI recently. Photograph courtesy of Moira McCallum.
Stratherrick WRI program of events for 1977-78 including list of office bearers for that year . Photograph courtesy of Sadie Chisholm
Stratherrick WRI May 1978 . An extract from the Peoples Journal's WRI page in May 1978 relating to the activities within the Stratherrick WRI recently. Photograph courtesy of Sadie Chisholm
Stratherrick WRI program of events for 1978-79 including list of office bearers for that year . Photograph courtesy of Sadie Chisholm
Stratherrick WRI program of events for 1979-80 including list of office bearers for that year . Photograph courtesy of Cathy Stoddart
We had hoped to have a more comprehensive insight into the WRI branches in our area but due to COVID and lack of reference libraries being open , getting information from newspapers ect is not available . Perhaps when this pandemic is over, someone will write a more comprehensive story on the WRI in our area. If you recognise anyone in the pictures that is named wrongly or are able to identify unknown persons please get in touch with the group. Also if you have any picture associated with the WRI’s in our area please get in touch . Thanks to Moira McCallum , Jessie Jappy, May and Kenny Ross , Murial and Maureen Macdonald, Isabell Allen and Rio Macnaughton for putting names to pictures.