Watt, Margaret 'Madge' Robertson National Historic Person
Victoria, British Columbia
Placeholder
(© Parcs Canada // Parks Canada)
Address :
4430 Happy Valley Road, Metchosin, Victoria, British Columbia
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
2007-06-08
Life Date:
1868 to 1948
Other Name(s):
-
Watt, Margaret 'Madge' Robertson
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
2005-090
Importance:
Key driving force in the foundation of the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) in 1933, first president from 1933 to 1947
Plaque(s)
In 1909, Madge Watt helped found the first Women's Institute in British Columbia, bringing rural women together to learn agricultural and domestic skills and to promote civic reform. After moving to Britain in 1913, she used the Canadian model to establish Women's Institutes there, leading women during the First World War in a critical campaign to alleviate food shortages. Following the war, Watt became a driving force behind the foundation of a major international rural women's organization, the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW), serving as its first president from 1933 until 1947.