and

CHALTON

ELIZABETH BARRANCE MBE

Elizabeth Barrance (nee Craft) was born on the 25th October 1930 at 2 St John’s Road, Moggerhanger.  Her mother ran the Post Office and shop there. The shop was on the main road and the house attached to it was in St John’s Road. Betty, as she has always been known, married Clifford Street in 1953 and later married Ted Barrance, in 1994. Both ceremonies took place at St John the Evangelist’s Church in Moggerhanger.  

She went to school in Moggerhanger from 1936 to 1944, leaving when she was 14.  During her time at school she became the National Savings Monitor, selling savings stamps to the children and being responsible for the monies she collected. She went to her first meeting aged 13 as the representative of Moggerhanger Lower School on the Biggleswade National Savings Committee. Later, she became a member of the Committee and attended regional meetings.

On leaving school she worked in Bedford and after about 10 years became Clerk to the Governors of Moggerhanger Lower School, and then became the School Secretary working at the school in the afternoon and working at Bryant & May in Willington as a secretary in the morning. She was at Bryant and May from 1957 until 1978, after which she worked full-time as the School Secretary. Altogether, she was School Secretary for 40 years until she retired in 1995.

From her early start as the National Savings Monitor she has been involved in almost every committee and organisation in the village. She joined the Parochial Church Council when she was 18 years old and served as Assistant Secretary, Assistant Treasurer and Church Warden. More recently she was honoured by being appointed Church Warden Emeritus.

In the 1940s  she became involved with the Village Hall. She  recalls cycling down the road of a morning to the old Village Hall with a basket of coal and kindling to light the open fires to warm the place for the evening bingo.

Betty was made a Member of the British Empire by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1996, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, having been nominated by numerous people from Moggerhanger and elsewhere. She went to Buckingham Palace for her investiture in July 1996. In May 2000 she was summoned to attend the Order of the British Empire Service of Dedication in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

In 2000 she applied for a Millennium Award from The Scarman Trust to fund the setting-up of the Moggerhanger Meeting Place and Shop. She became a founding member of the management committee and served as its chairman for many years.

President

Moggerhanger Village Hall

Betty has served Moggerhanger community well for many many years, including holding the office of Trustee at the Village Hall. As a mark of respect for her many years’ service the Trustees voted to elect her as the Village Hall President, a decision supported unanimously at the AGM on 26 April 2014.

Here we see Betty being presented with a framed certificate to mark the occasion by Mr Chris Bashford, Chairman of the Village Hall Managing Trustees.