Written by Tanishka Vashee, Edited by Esmée Koppius
We all know the story of Sir Frank Williams and the creation of the legacy team Williams, however there is one name that doesn’t get its due credit. That name is Lady Virginia Williams, often referred to as Ginnie.
She met Sir Frank Williams in 1967, when she was working as a receptionist in London. She actually sold her apartment so that Frank had the funds to chase his dreams of running a racing team.
Lady Virginia Williams and Sir Frank Williams
They were married in the year 1974 during the month of August and ever since then she played an integral part at Williams; Being Sir Frank’s pillar of support in every way, financially as well as emotionally. She gave him all the support required and was hands on in the process of creating Williams. She was intelligent, headstrong and very tactful.
It is thanks to her that the Williams Grand Prix team had an engineering factory in 1997 as she was the one who arranged for the warehouse in Didcot for them.
In 1991, she wrote a memoir called “A different kind of life” where she opened up about the sacrifices the family had to make in order to be able to chase their dream of running the team, especially the financial struggles in their initial days. Ginnie also revealed about the obstacles she and Sir Frank had to overcome in their relationship after his life altering car accident in 1986.
They remained together until 2013 when Lady Virginia died at the age of 66, after a two year fight against cancer.
It is strong, tactful and brilliant women like her, who need to be brought into the spotlight more to inspire young girls and women to take up careers in the field of motorsport. Because without Lady Virginia, Williams would’ve never come into existence. She believed in Sir Frank’s vision of running a team and supported him all the way.
Read our first WCW article here about Angela Cullen
