Jane Wynne Willson

Jane Wynne Willson (born 1933)[1] is a British teacher, writer, campaigner and humanist. She was a vice-president and is now a patron of Humanists UK.[2]

Biography

She worked as a teacher, first becoming actively involved in the secular humanist movement when her oldest child was attending school.^[citation needed]

She established local humanist groups in Bristol and Cheltenham, and has since been an officer of Birmingham Humanists for over 30 years. She was a member of the BHA Executive Committee from 1966 to 1972, and again from 1988 to 1994, chairing the committee from 1989 to 1992. She was a Chair of the International Humanist and Ethical Union from 1993 to 1996, and its Vice-President until 2002. She served as a Director of the Rationalist Press Association.[3] Her mother was a barrister, Theodora Llewelyn Davies.[4][5]

In September 2021, the Jane Wynne Willson Celebrant Training Bursary was announced, to be awarded annually to help more people in the West Midlands, especially those from low income socio-economic backgrounds and currently underrepresented groups, train as Humanist celebrants.[6]

Books

Her books on non-religious ceremonies, such as funerals, weddings, and baby namings include:[3]

• Sharing the Future (first published as To Love and to Cherish, 1988, several later editions)
• Funerals Without God (first published 1989, several later editions; ISBN 0-901825-14-X)
• New Arrivals (first published 1991; later revision with Robert Ashby, 1999)
• Parenting without God: Experiences of a Humanist Mother (1998)[7]
• The Chain of Love - A Victorian Family History (2007)[8]

References

1. "Jane Wynne Willson at ISBNdb.com". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
2. "Humanists UK Patron: Jane Wynne Willson".
3. British Humanist Association: Jane Wynne Willson Archived 30 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
4. "1920-1939 Maurice Llewelyn Davies". Broad How.
5. Logan, Anne (2008). Feminism and Criminal Justice. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. doi:10.1057/9780230584136. ISBN 978-1-349-36426-8.
6. "Bursary launched in honour of humanist ceremonies pioneer as she retires from Birmingham Humanists Committee". 28 September 2021.
7. Wynne Willson, Jane (1998). "Parenting without God: Experiences of a Humanist Mother", Educational Heretics Press, Nottingham; ISBN 1-900219-11-5
8. W H Smith: The Chain of Love Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine