Elizabeth Brunner

Champion of the WI and Keep Britain Tidy

Dorothea Elizabeth Irving, actress and voluntary worker: born London 14 April 1904; Chairman, Oxford Federation of Women's Institutes 1941-42, 1945-47, 1949-50; Chairman, National Federation of Women's Institutes 1951-56; Founding Chairman, Keep Britain Tidy Group 1955-56, President 1966-85, Senior Vice-President 1985-2003; OBE 1964; married 1926 Felix Brunner (succeeded 1929 as third Bt, died 1982; three sons, and two sons deceased); died Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire 9 January 2003.

Elizabeth Brunner was an actress, the granddaughter of Sir Henry Irving, when she married Felix Brunner, grandson of Sir John Brunner Bt, founder of Brunner Mond, in 1926 – the year that Brunner Mond combined with three other chemical companies to form ICI. Eleven years later they bought Greys Court, at Rotherfield Greys in Oxfordshire, the handsome house, originally 14th-century, which they gave to the National Trust in 1969. But it is for her active involvement in the Women's Institute, England's largest women's organisation, and the Keep Britain Tidy Group, now a major campaigning arm of the environmental charity EnCams (Environmental Campaigns) that Lady Brunner will above all be remembered.

She was born in London in 1904, the daughter of H.B. Irving, himself an actor and the son of the actor-manager Sir Henry (who died the year after she was born). Her mother, Dorothea Baird, created the parts of Trilby in George du Maurier's 1895 play and, eight months after her daughter's birth, Mrs Darling in Peter Pan.

Elizabeth left Wycombe Abbey School at 16 and studied acting in Oxford, working as an actress until she married, with parts in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Titania), Trilby (taking her mother's role), J.M. Barrie's Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire, Ian Hay's The Happy Ending, Ibsen's The Pretenders and A.V. Bramble's silent film of Charlotte Brontë's Shirley (Caroline Helston, 1922). In later years, when her work with the WI involved giving many speeches, her husband Sir Felix remarked that her theatrical background "gave her timing and taught her to use her hands".

The Brunners honeymooned in Switzerland (a country to which she became devoted) and lived in London, Wiltshire and Sussex before buying Greys Court. There the walled garden, renowned for its roses, wisteria and herbaceous border is testimony to Elizabeth's great love of plants and gardens. The peony border, one of her favourite spots in the garden, is a tribute to her belief in the importance of preserving the old whilst continuing to develop the new. True to her abiding belief in progress, the vegetable garden is in the process of becoming organic.

Life in Oxfordshire introduced Elizabeth Brunner to the organisation that was to become her lasting passion and joy – the Women's Institute. One of its keenest champions and ambassadors, she was elected National Chairman from 1951 to 1956. Earlier, as president of her village WI, and later, as Chairman of the Oxfordshire Federation, she was interested in all aspects of WI life, the educational as well as the practical. She recognised the importance of this balance and once said, "I can't think how you would live in a village if you didn't belong to the WI. It would be like eating bread and milk instead of a good balanced meal."

Of particular interest to her was the cultural life of a community which, she believed, contributed to spiritual well-being. She actively promoted and made available art, music and drama to a wider audience through membership of the WI.

Her gaiety, enjoyment of life and sense of fun, combined with her conviction in the educational purpose of the WI and its role in the community, created in members an eagerness and willingness to take part and a wish to extend their horizons. These skills were clearly apparent when, at the 1945 AGM in London, she proposed the successful resolution "That this meeting welcomes the suggestion of a Women's Institute College . . . and instructs the Executive Committee to make the necessary arrangements".

From the first suggestion in September 1943, that a Women's Institute College be created, Elizabeth Brunner, now a member of the National Executive, had felt "on to an important thing – it was a new and exciting challenge – just what the WI needed". At a time when there was no provision for adult education in the country there was strong support among many academics for the creation of adult residential colleges similar to the Scandinavian Folk Schools and in 1947 she travelled with a friend (through war-torn Germany) to Denmark, to visit their Folk Schools.

Imagination, courage and tenacity were needed if the college was to become a reality. Elizabeth Brunner had such qualities and largely through her drive and, determination to overcome all obstacles, the 1945 resolution became reality. Denman College, named after the first NFWI National Chairman, Lady (Trudie) Denman, was opened in 1948. For over 50 years Lady Brunner continued her interest in the college and its development; today almost 6,000 students pass annually through its doors.

The Keep Britain Tidy Group was formed in 1955 as a result of a WI resolution passed in 1954 asking "that this meeting requests the NFWI Executive Committee to inaugurate a campaign to preserve the countryside against desecration by litter of all kinds". Elizabeth Brunner was the first chairman of the group, initially consisting of over 20 national organisations with many different interests. On being asked whether, because she was the NFWI National Chairman, she felt that this had been "foisted on her" she replied, typically, "No, it was something very dear to my heart and I felt it had to be done."

Thanks to her guiding spirit, sense of duty and commitment and love of both urban and rural landscape, Keep Britain Tidy is still the leading campaign on litter. WI members continue to play an important role at local level in improving the quality of life of their local communities with litter reduction and recycling projects.

Elizabeth Brunner had the ability to see the "big picture" as well as to enjoy the simplest domestic details of everyday life, and a gift for friendship that made everyone feel special. So far as the circle of friends in her village was concerned, their lives revolved round the WI – during the Second World War they were a group of women who believed that, at a time of great national need, they could, together, make a difference to the life of their village.

Helen Carey