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Influential Women from CSSC's History
In 1923 the CSSC Women’s Advisory Committee was set up with a brief to advise on all matters affecting women’s sport. Matters moved surprisingly swiftly thereafter and on 27 October The Civilian (the accredited organ of the Civil Service) reported that ‘One of the most successful meetings ever held in connection with Sports Council took place last week when the Hon Maude Lawrence presided over a meeting composed of representatives of women in every department of the civil service’.
The Women’s Committee wasted no time in spreading the word and female members of the CSSC rose rapidly albeit from a small base to reach almost 4,000 by early 1927 or 15 per cent of the membership. Maude was made a Dame for her contribution to women’s sport.
Women’s hockey was well established in the civil service at the time of CSSC’s formation and it was the first dedicated women’s club to appear in the original roll call of sports associations affiliated to the CSSC. CSSC’s 1981 Yearbook includes this item on Katie Dodds who was awarded the Centels Salver for 1980 in recognition of her achievements in women’s sport. In more recent times Dr Katie Dodds MBE has been the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Hockey Museum, retiring in 2019; she remains a Trustee and an active volunteer.
During 1958 – 62, Joy Jordan (Ministry of Supply) was the untouchable force of middle distance running in Britain. Jordan first appears in the pages of the CSSC Journal in 1956 as a rising star in the 100 and 200 yards events. All of that changed when her husband, Dennis Jordan stepped in as her coach and by 1958 she was regularly leaving her mark in the half-mile(800m).
In 1959 she set a British record for half-mile at the Civil Service Athletics Championships. However, a short while later Welwyn Garden City would be the setting for her piece de resistance when on 24 September 1959 she set a new world record for the 800m thereby inviting the accolade that she was the first woman world record holder the civil service had ever had.
Dame Maude Lawrence
