Alice Gray Jones ( Jones; December 1852 – 17 April 1943),

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

writer and editor, known by the pseudonym Ceridwen Peris (referencing

Saint Peris Saint Peris was a little-known Welsh saint of the early Christian period, possibly 6th century. He is referred to in the Bonedd y Saint as a 'Cardinal of Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populat ...

, the origin of placenames from her native region, such as

Llanberis Llanberis () is a village, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activity, outdoor ac ...

and

Llyn Peris Llyn Peris is a lake in Snowdonia, Wales, approximately 1.8 km long and situated close to the villages of Llanberis and Nant Peris, and the smaller twin of Llyn Padarn. The lake was formed glacially and is an example of a moraine-dammed la ...

). She was an active temperance campaigner, and a co-founder of the North Wales Women's Temperance Union (Undeb Dirwestol Merched Gogledd Cymru).

Early life and career

She was born to David and Ellen Jones in the village of

Llanllyfni Llanllyfni () is a village and a community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, Wales. It is in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. The community consists of the villages of Drws-y-coed, Nantlle, Nasareth, Nebo, Gwynedd ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, near Llanberis, close to where her father's family owned a

woollen mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods s ...

. Her mother was a cousin of the prominent minister and writer John John Roberts, known as Iolo Caernarfon. After being educated at Dolbadarn Primary School and at Swansea Training College, she worked as a schoolteacher, eventually becoming head of the school at Dolbadarn which she had attended as a child. In 1881, she married the Rev William (or Williams) Jones. They had 4 children. His ministry was at Four Crosses, Pwllheli, Caernarfonshire, where she was involved in organising the local Temperance Union. In 1893, she became a governor of Pwllheli County School.

Literary career

The earliest of her poems in print were published in 1874, and by 1880 she was recognised as a poet, journalist and contributor to many periodicals. As "Ceridwen Peris", Jones wrote regularly for Welsh-language periodicals, including ''Y Frythones'' (edited by

Sarah Jane Rees Sarah Jane Rees (9 January 1839 – 27 June 1916), also known by the bardic name "Cranogwen", was a Welsh teacher, poet, editor, master mariner and temperance campaigner. She had two romantic friendships with women, first with 'Phania' Fanny Ree ...

, a.k.a. Cranogwen) and ''Y Traethodydd''. She also wrote, spoke and campaigned on behalf of the women's

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

. She became editor of the Welsh-language periodical ''Y Gymraes'' (''The Welshwoman'') from 1896, when the publication (founded in response to the

Treason of the Blue Books The Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales, commonly referred to in Wales as "The Treason of the Blue Books" or "The Treachery of the Blue Books" () or just the "Blue Books" is a three-part publication by t ...

) was revived. In 1901, the magazine established worthwhile links with the trade union movement, that helped to increase its circulation. Sometime before 1917 she translated Alice Williams' play into Welsh and as a result Alice was made a

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...

at the 1917 Eisteddfod in Birkenhead.Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan, ‘Williams, Alice Helena Alexandra (1863–1957)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 20 October 2017
/ref> She gave up the editorship of ''Y Gymraes'' in 1919, when her husband retired from the ministry and the couple relocated to

Criccieth Criccieth, also spelled Cricieth (), is a town and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, Wales, on the boundary between the Llŷn Peninsula and Eifionydd. The town is west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It had a ...

. In 1921, she was awarded the

. She died, aged 90, at her daughter's home in Bangor, and her papers were donated to

Bangor University Bangor University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 ...

Works

* ''Caniadau Ceridwen Peris'' (1934)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Alice Gray 1852 births 1943 deaths 19th-century Welsh educators 20th-century Welsh educators 19th-century Welsh poets 19th-century Welsh women writers 20th-century British translators 20th-century Welsh writers 20th-century Welsh women writers People from Caernarfonshire Welsh editors Welsh women poets Welsh women editors Welsh-language poets British temperance activists Pseudonymous women writers Welsh translators Officers of the Order of the British Empire 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers People from Criccieth 19th-century Welsh women educators 20th-century Welsh women educators People from Pwllheli