WVS uniform, c.1941 (LMILC.1989.81, gifted)
Our exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024 included a Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) uniform.
It belonged to Maureen Louisa Crothers, who grew up at ‘Homradene’ on Lisburn’s Hillsborough Road, opposite what is now Lagan Valley Hospital. During the Second World War, she played an important part on the Home Front as the District Organiser of Lisburn’s WVS. You can learn more about the vital work of the WVS here.
After the war, Maureen took an active part in local charitable work and was the organist in Legacurry Presbyterian Church. She married the Rev. David McKinney of Dundrod in 1963. Following in the footsteps of her mother, Alderman Sarah Crothers, Maureen was an active member of the local council and was elected Mayor of Lisburn from 1983-5.
Maureen in her WVS uniform, 1941 (ILC&LM Collection)