Plea for help on background of two forward thinking Redditch women - The Redditch Standard

Plea for help on background of two forward thinking Redditch women

Redditch Editorial 18th May, 2018   0

AN appeal has been launched for information on two forward thinking Redditch women.

Kathleen Harris and E. Maude Batty were active in the town more than 50 years ago and their names have come to light as part of an investigation by Redditch Local History Society.

The story begins with Councillor Pattie Hill, who had asked for work done at St David’s House, the retirement complex in Batchley.

Containing 35 flats, it was built on the site of the former St David’s Church in 1990.




The adjacent 19 bungalows that form Queens Cottages are so named as they were built in the year of the Coronation, 1953.

The work was to clear an overgrown area in the gardens.


There workers discovered two dilapidated bench seats and on one there was a plaque which read: ‘Presented to Queens Cottages by the Business and Professional Women’s Club to commemorate the Coronation of……’ the next part was virtually unreadable but deciphered as …’HM Queen Elizabeth II – 2nd June 1953’.

Coun Hill knew of the Business and Professional Women’s Club and this year being the centenary of the Votes For Women movement, she asked the local history society to get involved.

Their work led to the ‘National Federation of Business & Professional Women’s Clubs of Great Britain & Northern Ireland’, an organisation that had its origins in America, part of an effort to mobilise the energies of women on the home front in the First World War.

The trail then led to Kathleen Harris and E Maude Batty, both from Redditch and both former chairs of the West Midlands division of the organisation, holding office in 1953-55 and 1957-59 respectively.

“We believe Kath Harris was a school teacher and we have a video and audio interview with her by Mike Johnson and Gordon Anstis but there’s no mention of the Business & Professional Women’s Club,” said Derek Coombes, chair of Redditch local History Society.

“So we have pieced some of the story together, but we are still missing those vital links to Redditch and how, when and by whom the bench was presented to Queens Cottages. Can any readers help?”

Anyone with any information can contact Derek at [email protected] or call 07860 325582.

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