Sarah Jane Rees

Sarah Jane Rees

Rees circa 1875
Born Sarah Jane Rees
(1839-01-09)9 January 1839
Llangrannog, Wales
Died 27 June 1916(1916-06-27) (aged 77)
Cilfynydd, Wales

Sarah Jane Rees (9 January 1839 – 27 June 1916), also known by her bardic name of "Cranogwen", was a Welsh teacher, poet, editor and temperance campaigner.[1]

Early life

Sarah Jane Rees was born at Llangrannog in Cardiganshire, the daughter of a mariner John Rees, and received her early education at the village school.[2] She was a precocious child and insisted that she accompany her father to sea rather than undertake sewing and cooking chores which she hated.[3] She was initially educated in her local village by an old schoolmaster called Hugh Davies, who taught her both Latin and astronomy.[1][2] She later attended school in both Cardigan and New Quay and at one time she studied at a navigation school in London.[2]

Career

In 1865, competing at Aberystwyth against men such as William Thomas (Islwyn), she won her first major Eisteddfod prize, for "Y Fodrwy Briodasal (The Wedding Ring)", in the "song" category.[2] A book of poems, Caniadau Cranogwen, followed this victory, in 1870.[4] In addition to teaching navigation and other subjects, she became editor of the Welsh-language women's periodical Y Frythones (1878–1889), a "platform for Welsh bluestockings and proto-suffragettes." [5][6]

Rees lived with her friend Jane Thomas in a romantic friendship in their hometown.[7] Open about her unconventional domestic arrangement, Rees was nonetheless a committed Methodist, and toured giving lectures on education, temperance and other subjects. In 1869–1870, she toured the United States, addressing mainly Welsh immigrant communities as far west as California.[8] She was one of the founders of the South Wales Women's Temperance Union (UDMD), when it formed in 1901.[9]

Legacy

Rees died at Cilfynydd[10] and was buried in the churchyard at St. Crannogs, her grave marked by a large and elaborate obelisk.[11][12] A homeless shelter for women and girls named "Lletty Cranogwen" was founded in the Rhondda valley in 1922, by the South Wales Women's Temperance Union, and named in memory of Rees' work to improve Welsh women's lives.[1][13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rees, Sarah Jane". Welsh Biography Online. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Noted Welshwoman: Death of Cranogwen". The Cambrian News. 30 June 1916. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  3. ↑ John (1991), p.80
  4. ↑ Carradice, Phil (25 April 2013). "Sarah Jane Rees, Schoolteacher and Poet". BBC Wales. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Jenkins, Geraint H. (2007). "A Concise History of Wales". Cambridge University Press. p. 220. ISBN 9780521823678.
  6. ↑ "Welsh Women Writers (1700–2000)," in John T. Koch, ed., Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO 2006): 1787.
  7. ↑ Davies, Russell (2005). Hope and Heartbreak: A Social History of Wales, 1776–1871. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 320.
  8. ↑ Hughes, David (1969). Welsh People in California, 1849–1906. R & E Research Associates. p. 119.
  9. ↑ Deirdre Beddoe, Out of the Shadows: A History of Women in Twentieth-Century Wales (University of Wales Press 2000): 38.
  10. ↑ Obituary, Cymru 1914, 30 June 1916. Accessed 16 Sept 2014
  11. ↑ Barnes, David (2005). The Companion Guide to Wales. Companion Guides. p. 30. ISBN 9781900639439.
  12. ↑ "Image of the Cranogwen Memorial at Llangrannog churchyard". Ceredigion County Council. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Rhondda Cynon Taf Libraries Digital Archive, "Mrs M Griffiths JP, opening 'Lletty Cranogwen', 144 Kenry Street, Tonypandy, 21st June 1922" (photograph).

Bibliography

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