Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Cymorth chwilio | Finding Aid - Winifred Coombe Tennant Papers, (GB 0210 WINCOOANT) Cynhyrchir gan Access to Memory (AtoM) 2.3.0 Generated by Access to Memory (AtoM) 2.3.0 Argraffwyd: Mai 05, 2017 Printed: May 05, 2017 Wrth lunio'r disgrifiad hwn dilynwyd canllawiau ANW a seiliwyd ar ISAD(G) Ail Argraffiad; rheolau AACR2; ac LCSH Description follows ANW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH https://archifau.llyfrgell.cymru/index.php/winifred-coombe-tennant-papers-2 archives.library .wales/index.php/winifred-coombe-tennant-papers-2 Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Allt Penglais Aberystwyth Ceredigion United Kingdom SY23 3BU 01970 632 800 01970 615 709 [email protected] www.llgc.org.uk Winifred Coombe Tennant Papers, Tabl cynnwys | Table of contents Gwybodaeth grynodeb | Summary information .............................................................................................. 3 Hanes gweinyddol / Braslun bywgraffyddol | Administrative history | Biographical sketch ......................... 3 Natur a chynnwys | Scope and content .......................................................................................................... 4 Trefniant | Arrangement .................................................................................................................................. 5 Nodiadau | Notes ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Pwyntiau mynediad | Access points ............................................................................................................... 5 Disgrifiad cyfres | Series descriptions ............................................................................................................ 6 - Tudalen | Page 2 - GB 0210 WINCOOANT Winifred Coombe Tennant Papers, Gwybodaeth grynodeb | Summary information Lleoliad | Repository: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Teitl | Title: Winifred Coombe Tennant Papers, ID: GB 0210 WINCOOANT Virtua system control vtls003844328 number [alternative]: Project identifier ANW [alternative]: Dyddiad | Date: 1897-1957, 1973 / (dyddiad creu | date of creation) Disgrifiad ffisegol | 0.3105 cubic metres (16 boxes). Physical description: Lleoliad ffisegol | ARCH/MSS (GB0210) Physical location: Iaith | Language: English Iaith | Language: Welsh Iaith | Language: French Dyddiadau creu, golygu a dileu | Dates of creation, revision and deletion: Nodyn | Note Title supplied from contents of fonds. One printed item post-dates [generalNote]: the creator's death. Hanes gweinyddol / Braslun bywgraffyddol | Administrative history | Biographical sketch Nodyn | Note Winifred Coombe Tennant ('Mam o Nedd', 1874-1956), art patron and political activist, was born in Gloucestershire, the daughter of George Pierce-Serocold and Mary Richardson. Her upbringing was very cosmopolitan, as the family moved home regularly, living at numerous locations in England, Wales, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. By the time she married Charles Coombe Tennant in 1895, settling at Cadoxton Lodge, Neath, Winifred had acquired an international outlook and a strong interest in history, art and politics. Her marriage brought her a network of relatives in influential intellectual, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Tudalen | Page 3 GB 0210 WINCOOANT Winifred Coombe Tennant Papers, political and cultural circles, and she met many prominent contemporary writers and artists. In time, she became an influential patron of art and craft in Wales. - Winifred’s attitude towards cultural life, politics and society was informed by a deep sense of the spiritual and its close connection with the physical, and she was fascinated by the idea of genius. In particular, she saw artists as special, standing apart from the rest of humanity, their art a transcendent medium through which the everyday concerns of ordinary people could be communicated. To this was added a love of the power of religious symbolism (especially Roman Catholic), an affinity for her adopted homeland, and a profound regard for tradition and historical continuity. - Winifred took a deep interested in Welsh culture and identified herself strongly with it, particularly in the field of arts and crafts. From 1911 onwards, her patronage was directed towards Welsh artists, and it became her goal to educate the people of Wales in artistic sensibility and the Welsh arts and crafts tradition. To this end, she worked towards acquiring a body of fine modern art that she initially hoped to make publicly accessible, and in 1931 she became an official buyer for the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea. She also involved herself in organising events at the National Eisteddfod, becoming initiated as an Honorary Member of the Gorsedd in 1918, taking the bardic name ‘Mam o Nedd’ and gaining full membership in 1923, and holding the office of Mistress of the Robes from 1928. - In politics, Winifred Coombe Tennant was a radical. She campaigned for female suffrage, Welsh Home Rule and international peace, and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as the Liberal candidate for the Forest of Dean in 1922. Through her links with David Lloyd George, she was appointed as a British delegate to the League of Nations, and she also organised war work during the Great War, strove to improve conditions for prisoners in Swansea Gaol, and became one of the first women magistrates in the country. - Winifred also became interested in spiritualism as a young woman, and gained a reputation as a pre-emininent psychic medium, working under the pseudonym ‘Mrs Willett’. This aspect of her life was particularly important to her after the deaths of her baby daughter, Daphne, in 1908 and her son, Christopher, at Ypres in 1917. - Winifred Coombe Tennant left Cadoxton for London in 1931, retaining an interest in Welsh cultural affairs but becoming less active in the public arena. She died in Kensington in 1956. Hanes Gwarchodol | Custodial history Many of the letters and documents accumulated by Winifred Coombe Tennant while living at Cadoxton were destroyed by her in 1931. The greater part of the surviving archive was transferred to the Library soon after her death. The rest was kept at the family home under the care of her son, Alexander Coombe- Tennant, who in turn bequeathed it to his own son, Mark, on his death in 2003. Further donations were made to the Library by Jenifer, the widow of Alexander Coombe-Tennant. Natur a chynnwys | Scope and content Papers of Winifred Coombe Tennant, 1897-1957, relating to her activities with Gorsedd y Beirdd and the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and also including correspondence with artists, patrons and art administrators and related material concerning her patronage of the arts in Wales; together with her diaries, 1897-1955. Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Tudalen | Page 4 GB 0210 WINCOOANT Winifred Coombe Tennant Papers, Nodiadau | Notes Nodiadau teitl | Title notes Ffynhonnell | Immediate source of acquisition Winifred Coombe Tennant; Kensington; Bequest; 1958 Mrs Jenifer Coombe-Tennant; Godalming; Donation; September 2007 Mrs Jenifer Coombe-Tennant; Godalming; Donation; November 2008 Mark Coombe-Tennant; Toorak, Melbourne; Donation; December 2014 Trefniant | Arrangement Arranged at NLW into three groups: Gorsedd y Beirdd and the National Eisteddfod; Art patronage; and 2014 Donation: Diaries. Cyfyngiadau ar fynediad | Restrictions on access Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers’ Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library. Amodau rheoli defnydd | Conditions governing use Usual copyright regulations apply. Ychwanegiadau | Accruals Accruals are not expected. Nodiadau eraill | Other notes • Statws cyhoeddiad | Publication status: Published • Dynodwr sefydliad | Institution identifier: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Pwyntiau mynediad | Access points • Coombe Tennant, Winifred, 1874-1956 -- Archives. (pwnc) | (subject) Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales Tudalen | Page 5 GB 0210 WINCOOANT Winifred Coombe Tennant Papers, Disgrifiad cyfres | Series descriptions Cod cyfeirnod | Ref Teitl | Title Dyddiadau | Statws mynediad | Cynhwysydd | code Dates Access status Container 1958 Bequest. Otherlevel - Gorsedd y Beirdd and the 1917-1957. 1958 Bequest. vtls006070481 National Eisteddfod, 1-2968. vtls005582894 File - Correspondence with Winifred 1917-1954. 1-2968. ISYSARCHB30 Coombe Tennant ('Mam o Nedd'), 'Mistress of the Robes', relating to matters concerned with the Gorsedd ceremony ..., 2969-3527. File - Letters (A-z) to Winifred Coombe 1918-1954. 2969-3527. vtls005582895 Tennant on various matters unconnected ISYSARCHB30 with the Gorsedd or Eisteddfod. The correspondents include Geoffrey Crawshay ..., 3528-3557. File - Correspondence And Memoranda 1940-1941. 3528-3557. vtls005582896 concerning the plight of British Prisoners ISYSARCHB30 of War in Germany and the efforts made by Winifred Coombe ..., 3558-3562. File - Copies Of Letters from Winifred 1928-1947. 3558-3562. vtls005582897 Coombe Tennant to K. L. Kendrick,