Eluned Allen-Williams

Eluned Allen-Williams (1 May 1916 – 26 December 1989) was a Girl Guide Association (GGA) executive. Between 1945 and 1946 she was a Guide International Service (GIS) volunteer, serving in post-war Europe and providing relief work in Waldbröl and Dickhause, Germany. She was heraldry advisor to the GGA from 1967.^[1] She was a magistrate in East Preston, West Sussex for 27 years,^[2] and was the first woman to hold the position of chair of the Arundel bench in 1975.^[3]

Eluned Allen-Williams
Allen-Williams from a 1990 issue of The Guider magazine
Born	Eluned Jocelyn Allen-Williams (1916-05-01)1 May 1916 Littlehampton, England
Died	23 December 1989(1989-12-23) (aged 73) Newport, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Education	London University
Occupations	Girl Guide executive Magistrate

Personal life and education

Born to Brigadier General Sir Arthur Allen-Williams KBE, CMG (1916 – 1949) and Ursula Mary Allen, Allen-Williams had one brother and one sister.^[4] She attended Rosemead School in Littlehampton^[5] and Downe House School in Berkshire. She then studied science at London University. She was a "qualified hospital almoner",^[6] her role being "to determine the patients' ability to contribute towards their own medical care". She spent much of her life in Littlehampton, West Sussex.^[7]

In the 1930s she was an active member of the East Preston Rifle Club in Littlehampton, winning several shooting competitions.^[8][9] In 1938 she was a member of the City of London Rifle Club and at that point had the best average score in the national ladies' league.^[10] She was also a member of the Seagulls Ladies' Lacrosse Club and was a keen tennis player and sailor, owning an 18-foot centreboard sailing boat.^[11]

She moved to Newport, Pembrokeshire, where her family came from, in 1979.^[12][13]

Girl Guides

Allen-Williams joined the Girl Guide movement as a Brownie. She moved through the organisation into leadership positions which included: ^[14]

• Sea Ranger crew, captain, Littlehampton^[15]
• 2nd Apsley Company, captain
• 2nd Sussex Lone Rangers, lieutenant
• Sussex County boating advisor
• Sussex division Guide commissioner^[16]
• Sussex County ranger advisor^[17]
• Headquarters Ranger trainer^[18]
• Arts committee, member^[19]
• Chair and subsequently president of East Preston and Rustington Girl Guides from 1973 to 1979.^[20][21] When she resigned in 1979, she donated £500 to the local association. She also made an interest-free loan to help fund the building of their new headquarters.^[22]

During a 16-month trip to Australia and New Zealand she attended New Zealand Guide's centenary camp and trained Girl Guide leaders in Australia.^[23]

Her principal passion was sailing. She became lieutenant of Sea Ranger Ship (SRS) Victor in 1942, captain of SRS Vigilant in 1947 and lieutenant of Lone SRS Opportune in 1948. ^[24] She published The Girl Guide Knot Book in 1962.

Allen-Williams became heraldry consultant to the GGA in 1967.^[25][26]

World War II and Guide International Service

During WWII Allen-Williams worked as an almoner in London hospitals, including Brookwood Emergency Hospital, Woking, Kingston County Hospital and Hemel Hempstead Base Hospital.^[27]

In 1945 Allen-Williams volunteered with the Guide International Service. She joined Relief Section 131, working with displaced people in Waldbröl and Hanover in Germany. ^[28][29]

Littlehampton

Allen-Williams became a justice of the peace (JP) on the Arundel bench in Littlehampton in 1949, serving for 27 years.^[30] In 1975 she became the first female chair.^[31]

She was a vice-president of the East Preston Cricket Club. In 1962, when the club was unable to find an eleventh player for a match, she joined the team, having not played since she was at school, and "proved a valuable asset [...] especially when fielding at mid-off."^[32]

She was president of the Littlehampton Dramatic Society for 12 years, having taken on the role from her mother,^[33] and a member of the Rustington Horticultural and Allotments Holders Association for ten years.^[34]

Allen-Williams was a regular speaker for local organisations such as the Women's Institute, the Trefoil Guild and East Preston & Kingston Preservation Society. Topics included "The History of East Preston",^[35] "Introduction to heraldry",^[36] "Sharing the experiences of a JP",^[37] "Norwegian coastal trip",^[38] "A walk along the Sussex Downs",^[39] "My world tour",^[40] and "Birds of Australia and New Zealand".^[41]