Other notable women who were part of BFWG in its early years included Winifred Cullis, Rose Sidgwick and Caroline Spurgeon.
Associations were set up across Britain to pursue these aims by lobbying government and by fulfilling the BFUW motto: "Let us perfect the art of friendship".
Equal pay was an important focus between the wars, particularly with relation to teaching and the civil service; as was the abolition of the marriage bar for working women.
Caroline Spurgeon was the first recipient and she was followed by many notable women, including Ursula Dronke, Philippa Foot, Christine Hamill and Eila Campbell.
In 1919, Caroline Spurgeon and Rose Sidgwick from BFUW and Virginia Gildersleeve, Dean of Barnard College and a representative of the American Association of Collegiate Alumnae, were instrumental in setting up the International Federation of University Women (IFUW).