Lady Llanover and the Creation of a Welsh Cultural Utopia
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Lady Llanover and the Creation of a Welsh Cultural Utopia Celyn Gurden-Williams Thesis Submitted in Candidature for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Cardiff University 2008 UMI Number: U585187 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U585187 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Form: PGR_Submission_200701 NOTICE OF SUBMISSION OF THESIS FORM: CARDIFF POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY PRIFYSGOL CaeRDY[§> APPENDIX 1: Specimen layout for Thesis Summary and Declaration/Statements page to be included in a Thesis DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed (candidate) Date ...... STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of .........................................(insert MGh, MD, MPfril, PhD etc, as appropriate) Signed ..C.. (candidate) Date STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. Signed .^...^^rcW ^...r.....^G ^_£2^<^candidate) Date . STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed (^.. (candidate) Date . STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Graduate Development Committee. Signed (candidate) Date Summary of Thesis Lady Llanover (1802-1896) was one of the most important female contributors to the nineteenth century Welsh cultural revival and although historians have paid her a certain amount of attention, her life and works have never before undergone a full study. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse her place in the history of nineteenth century Wales and to consider the view that her life’s actions ultimately led her to attempt to create a Welsh cultural utopia for the Welsh tenants on her estate at Llanover in Monmouthshire. This study is not a conventional biography and therefore not every detail of Lady Llanover’s life can feature, rather this thesis thematically explores her fascination with Wales, Welsh traditions and culture in order to throw light on what became a full and life long project. This thesis will focus on Lady Llanover’s tenacious personality and explore her identity. It will take into account the economic, social and political changes that occurred in nineteenth century Welsh society and consider how Lady Llanover reacted and responded to such changes. Moreover, it will ask what influenced Lady Llanover’s cultural ideals and reveal how her home was transformed into a centre of Welsh cultural scholarship. It will be revealed how she used her position of power to influence others and how this became an important aspect of her campaigns to safeguard her version of Welsh culture. She famously showed a special interest in the Welsh costume, triple harp and the Welsh language and therefore no work written on her could omit a discussion of those topics but what this thesis seeks to demonstrate is that even though Lady Llanover eventually came to be regarded by some, as an obsessive eccentric, she pored her energy into creating a haven for her version of Welsh culture. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the History and Archaeology Department at Cardiff University Special thanks are due to Bill Jones for all his help and guidance and to my parents Jean and Wyn, my brother Owain and my husband David for their love, support and patience. I would also like to thank all the helpful staff at the National Library of Wales, Gwent Record Office, Cardiff Central Library, the National Museum of Wales St Fagans and Abergavenny Museum. In addition I would like to thank Francis Younson, Helen Forder, Michael Freeman and Rachael Rogers for sharing their knowledge with me. Contents Summary of Thesis.................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements................................................................................................................ii Introduction............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 - The Personality Behind the Project ...............................................................21 Chapter 2 - Lady Llanover’s World: Wales in the Nineteenth Century ........................43 Chapter 3 -The Road to Llanover ....................................................................................... 79 Chapter 4 -The Queen Bee in a Hive of Cultural Activity ............................................I l l Chapter 5 - Costumes, Triple Harps and Welsh Speaking Clergy: Lady Llanover’s Symbolic Welshness .......................................................................................................... 145 Chapter 6 - Life on the Llanover Estate: Lady Llanover’s ‘Welsh Colony’ ...............194 Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 230 Appendix ............................................................................................................................. 238 Plate 1: Lady Llanover.......................................................................................................238 Plate 2: Lady Llanover.......................................................................................................238 Plate 3: Lord Llanover ........................................................................................................239 Plate 4: Llanover Hall ........................................................................................................239 Plate 5: Examples of Costume Designs Accredited to Lady Llanover .......................240 Plate 6: Harpist and Triple H arp ...................................................................................... 241 Plate 7: Tea Drinking in Costume .................................................................................... 241 Plate 8: Mrs Herbert and Betha Johnes ........................................................................... 242 Sources and Bibliography ..................................................................................................243 Books.................................................................................................................................... 250 Articles.................................................................................................................................255 1 Introduction In 1911 a Welsh-American newspaper, the Druid remarked that, ‘among the Welsh women of the past century, Lady Llanover must be assigned a leading place.’1 Lady Augusta Hall of Llanover2 (1802-1896) certainly deserved the attention dedicated to her. Now there is renewed interest in this remarkable character and the time has come to reassess her impact on the history and culture of Wales. This work will explore the idea that Lady Llanover’s primary goal in life became to create a Welsh cultural utopia at her country estate in Llanover near Abergavenny. Contrary to most individuals of her position in Wales, Lady Llanover used her influence as a member of the iron and coal master aristocracy in industrial Monmouthshire to support Welsh culture in an area of Wales that was ever increasingly becoming Anglicised. Lady Llanover is celebrated as a promoter of the Welsh language, literature, music, Eisteddfod and the creator of the Welsh costume. The passion and devotion with which she vehemently defended her construction of Welsh culture and identity earned her a valiant if somewhat forceful reputation. These elements of her personality are reflected by her rather apt bardic name, Gwenynen Gwent [the Bee of Gwent]? Despite the fact that Lady Llanover’s efforts on behalf of her Wales are well known to historians, her life’s cultural works have never before undergone full study. Moreover, her wide and varied cultural activities have never before been examined as an overarching, serious and ambitious cultural project. This thesis will highlight Lady Llanover’s important part in influencing the national culture of nineteenth century Wales and will reveal how she used her power to promote her idyllic and romanticised view of what she believed Welsh culture ought to be. Finally, it will explain how and why she applied her ideas to the Welsh microcosm that was Llanover. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to assess what I view as Lady Llanover’s attempt to uphold and reinvent Welsh culture, to create an ideal and 1 1 The Druid, 21 September 1911. 2 Lady Llanover is known by various names including,