Sarah Jane Rees (9 January 1839 – 27 June 1916), also known by the

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...

"Cranogwen", was a Welsh teacher, poet, editor, master mariner and temperance campaigner. She had two

romantic friendship A romantic friendship (also passionate friendship or affectionate friendship) is a very close but typically non-sexual relationship between friends, often involving a degree of physical closeness beyond that which is common in contemporary West ...

s with women, first with 'Phania' Fanny Rees, until her death from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, then with Jane Thomas, for most of the rest of Rees's life.

Early life

Sarah Jane Rees was born at

Llangrannog Llangrannog (; sometimes spelt as Llangranog) is a village and Community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales, southwest of New Quay. It lies in the narrow valley of the River Hawen, which falls as a waterfall near the middle of the villag ...

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

, the daughter of mariner John Rees. She received early education at the village school. A precocious child, she insisted she must accompany her father to sea rather than do sewing and cooking chores at home, which she hated. However, this was not so unusual: many wives and daughters accompanied men in local ships, trading up and down the coasts on family business. Rees was initially educated locally by an old schoolmaster called Hugh Davies, who taught her Latin and astronomy. She later attended school in Cardigan and

New Quay New Quay () is a seaside town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales; it had a resident population of 1,045 at the 2021 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, the town ...

, and for a time studied at a navigation school in London, where she gained her master's certificate, a qualification allowing her to command a ship in any part of the world. In 1859 Sarah Jane set up her own navigation school in her home village of Llangrannog.

Career

In 1865, competing at Aberystwyth against men such as

William Thomas (Islwyn) William Thomas, bardic name Islwyn (3 April 1832 – 20 November 1878), was a Welsh language poet and Christian clergyman. His best known poem is entitled ''Yr Ystorm'' The Storm' and was written in response to the sudden death of his young fia ...

and

John Ceiriog Hughes John Ceiriog Hughes (25 September 1832 – 23 April 1887) was a Wales, Welsh poet and collector of Welsh language, Welsh folk music, folk tunes, sometimes termed a Robert Burns of Wales. He was born at Penybryn Farm, overlooking the village of L ...

(Ceiriog), she won her first major

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

prize, for "Y Fodrwy Briodasol (The Wedding Ring)", in the Song category. A book of poems, ''Caniadau Cranogwen,'' followed this in 1870. Rees went on a tour of Wales in 1866–1867, giving lectures with a charge of 6d for a ticket. The profits from the sales to large audiences paid off debts for several chapels. The audience in the Brynhyfryd Chapel in Swansea numbered nearly 1,000 people. She was both a lecturer and a religious preacher. She gave a lecture entitled ''Yr Ieuengctyd a Diwylliant eu Meddyliau'' ''(''transl.''The young, and the culture of their minds)'' at the Independent Chapel, Bridgend (''Brynmenyn'') on 2 January 1867, and an admission ticket from the event is preserved in the collections of Amgueddfa Cymru, National Museum Wales. Contemporary reports in the Welsh-language newspapers indicated that her lecture was very well received and as her tour progressed she shared the stage with local dignitaries. While teaching navigation and other subjects, she also became editor of the Welsh-language women's periodical ''Y Frythones'' (1878–1889), a "platform for Welsh

bluestocking ''Bluestocking'' (also spaced blue-stocking or blue stockings) is a Pejorative, derogatory term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic El ...

s and proto-suffragettes". It had a problem page and also campaigned for girls' education. This periodical also provided the first opportunities for publication of work by significant authors including Mary Oliver Jones and

Ellen Hughes Ellen Hughes (1867–1927) was a Welsh-language writer, temperance reformer and suffragist from Llanengan in North Wales. Strongly influenced by Sarah Jane Rees, she had a poem published in the Welsh-language women's periodical ''Y Frythones' ...

. In 1869–1870, she toured the United States, addressing mainly Welsh emigrant communities as far west as California. She was one of the founders of the South Wales Women's Temperance Union (''Undeb Dirwestol Merched y De, U.D.M.D.'') in 1901, and by her death in 1916 there were 140 branches throughout South Wales.Deirdre Beddoe, ''Out of the Shadows: A History of Women in Twentieth-Century Wales''
University of Wales Press, 2000, p. 38.

Personal life

Rees had two significant same-sex relationships, previously described as

romantic friendships A romantic friendship (also passionate friendship or affectionate friendship) is a very close but typically non-sexual relationship between friends, often involving a degree of physical closeness beyond that which is common in contemporary West ...

. Her first was with Fanny Rees (1853-1874), a milliner's daughter from

Troedyraur Troedyraur is a small village, wider rural community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. The community consisting of several small villages, the population as of the 2011 UK Census was 1,310. The village is on a minor road about 3 miles (5 ...

, near Llangrannog. Rees called Fanny “Phania” but she contracted

and returned to Wales around 1874 to die. She moved into Rees' home rather than that of her family, and died in her arms, aged only 21. Rees was so affected that for 12 years she was unable to put flowers on Fanny's grave. She commemorated Fanny in one of her best-known poems, ''Fy Ffrind'' (My Friend). Her second relationship, with Jane Thomas (1850-?), lasted for most of her life. Open about this unconventional arrangement, Rees still remained a committed

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and toured giving lectures on education, temperance and other subjects. In the last twenty years of her life, she created and devoted a great deal of effort towards the 'Cymdeithas Merched y De' (Women's society of the South), a movement which supported sobriety. Rees died on 27 June 1916 at

Cilfynydd Cilfynydd is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, a mile from the South Wales Valleys town of Pontypridd, and 13 miles north of the capital city, Cardiff. Cilfynydd is also an electoral ward for the county council and Po ...

and was buried in St Crannogs churchyard, where her grave was marked by a large elaborate obelisk.

Legacy

A shelter for homeless women and girls, Lletty Cranogwen was founded in the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

valley in 1922 by the South Wales Women's Temperance Union and named to mark Rees's work to improve Welsh women's lives. There is a fisheries patrol vessel used by the Welsh Government based in

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

that has been named after Cranogwen. In 2019 Rees was among five women shortlisted as the subject for an artwork to be installed in Cardiff. In December 2021 Sebastien Boyesen was commissioned to create a figurative sculpture of Cranogwen in Llangrannog, the third commissioned by the Monumental Welsh Women statue campaign. The statue was unveiled in a ceremony commemorating her life on 10 June 2023. A theatre show about Cranogwen toured Wales in late 2022 to publicise the statue, involving Mewn Cymeriad Theatre Company,

Monumental Welsh Women Monumental Welsh Women is a project to provide the first five statues of real Welsh people, Welsh women in Wales. It was started by a group of women, including Helen Molyneux, in 2016 and later became formalised as the not-for-profit Monumental ...

and other organisations.Wales 247 website, ''New theatre production to showcase the history of monumental Welsh women'', article dated September 5, 2022
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References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Sarah Jane (Cranogwen) 1839 births 1916 deaths 19th-century Welsh poets 19th-century Welsh women writers 20th-century Welsh women educators 20th-century Welsh educators Welsh women poets Welsh activists Welsh women activists British temperance activists Welsh-language poets Welsh women editors Welsh magazine editors People from Ceredigion 20th-century Welsh women writers