7 remarkable women who shaped Welsh history

Yet Wales has long been shaped by remarkable women whose stories deserve recognition. Here are seven trailblazing Victorian Welsh women you’ve (probably!) never heard of…

Elen Egryn (1807–76)

Poet Elen Egryn holds the distinction of being the first woman to publish a secular book in the Welsh language.

Born as Elin or Elinor Evans, she grew up in Llanegryn, a rural parish in the historic county of Merionethshire, she developed her poetic skills from a young age. Her father, John Evans, the local schoolmaster, was a highly cultured man and firmly believed in the importance of providing girls with a well-rounded education. Evans also received some poetic instruction from Gwilym Cawrdaf (William Ellis Jones, 1795–1848) in the nearby town of Dolgellau.

Published in 1850, her groundbreaking Telyn Egryn (Egryn’s Harp) is a refreshingly modern anthology of poems that explore challenging themes such as grief, depression, loneliness and companionship between women. They also cover the poignant notion of hiraeth – a Welsh word with no direct English translation that captures an indescribable longing for something, especially one’s home or family.

Evans also composed some politically motivated material that opposed the findings published in The Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales, a governmental investigation that publicly condemned the character and morals of Welsh women in 1847.

The report, widely recognised in Wales as the Treachery of the Blue Books (due to the blue covers of all government reports), determined that the Welsh people, because of their allegiance to the Welsh language and their nonconformist religious beliefs, were a primitive and immoral nation. Welsh women in particular were shamed due to the prevalence of illegitimate births in the country and their ‘inability’ to conduct themselves as respectable wives and mothers.

While details of her life are sparse, its known that Evans spent the last year of her life living with her brother and sister-in-law at Chester House in Caerleon, near Newport. She died there in 1876 and was buried in the local cemetery.

Mary Jane Innes (1852–1941)

Entrepreneur Mary Jane Innes was born as Mary Jane Lewis at Millbrook House Farm in Llanfaches, Monmouthshire, in 1852. She and her siblings endured the heartache of losing both parents before they reached adulthood. After inheriting the family farm, her brother Thomas opted to sell it, setting his sights on a new life with his wife and sisters in New Zealand.

The group arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, aboard the Asterope in October 1870. While searching for a place to settle, Mary met Scottish businessman Charles Innes in the town of Ngaruawahia on the north island. The two tied the knot in Auckland on 30 April 1874, before relocating to Te Awamutu.

Prior to this, Charles had launched a brewery, but it struggled under a hefty mortgage and a limited local clientele, leading to its eventual failure and Charles's bankruptcy.

Mary Jane was instrumental in helping Charles secure funding for a new brewery, but by October 1888, Charles Innes was once again declared bankrupt. Soon after, Mary announced through a public notice that she had assumed control of the brewery, where she began brewing ale and producing sparkling waters.

In the wake of her husband’s death in 1899, Innes took her involvement one step further. She cleared all his debts and launched the successful CL Innes and Company with her eldest son, Charles Lewis Innes. The Innes enterprise became distinguished for its production of alcoholic beverages and "aerated waters," laying the groundwork for the soft-drink industry in New Zealand.

In recognition of her achievements, Innes was posthumously inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2013, 72 years after her death.

Dorothy Bonarjee (1894–1983)

Dorothy Bonarjee was born in Bareilly, India, in 1894, but her family relocated to Dulwich, south London, when she was just ten years old.

In 1912, she and her brother Bertie began their studies at The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Dorothy achieved significant recognition in 1914 by becoming the first woman to win the University Eisteddfod bardic chair at Aberystwyth. During the ceremony, her father delivered an impromptu speech, proclaiming "if India had given birth to a poet, Wales had educated her".

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Bonarjee played an active role in student life at Aberystwyth. She was the treasurer of the Literary and Debating Society and also served on the editorial board of the student magazine, The Dragon, where she had the opportunity to publish several of her poems.

After earning her BA in French in 1916, Bonarjee continued her education at University College London, where she made history in 1917 as the first woman to receive an internal law degree from the Faculty of Laws. A passionate advocate for women's suffrage, she spoke at a 1919 meeting of the British Dominions' Women Citizens' Union (Indian Section), an international feminist organisation dedicated to promoting women's rights throughout the British Empire.

Today, she is honoured with a place in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography – the only individual of Indian descent among more than 5,000 entries.

Ellen Edwards (1810–89)

Born in 1810 in Amlwch on the Isle of Anglesey, Ellen Edwards was the daughter of Captain William Francis, who ran a prominent navigation school at Parys Lodge Square. When she turned twenty, she moved to the thriving port town of Caernarfon, where she opened her own navigation school on New Street.

Edwards was a remarkable figure in the world of navigation, teaching more than a thousand mariners during her lifetime. In the 19th century, navigation became a recognised profession, and Edwards played a pivotal role in its advancement in north Wales.
Among her most distinguished students were Captain John Pritchard, who helmed the steamship RMS Mauretania, and Captain Robert Thomas, who set a world record for the fastest voyage to San Francisco and back in the 1880s.

Women in maritime communities often grappled with loneliness and anxiety, as their husbands and sons often spent months, or even years, at sea. Edwards’s life took a devastating turn when her husband, Captain Owen Edwards, perished on 22 January 1860, when his vessel, The Patrick, sank during a fierce storm off Colwyn Bay beach. Following his death, Ellen was awarded a pension of £6 10s from the benevolent funds of the Shipwrecked Mariner’s Society.

When Edwards turned 70, the Caernarfon Harbour Trust advocated for her to receive an honorary pension from the Government. Although she did not obtain a pension, she was honoured with a £75 award from the Royal Bounty Fund for her invaluable work in the field of navigation.

Frances Hoggan (1843–1927)

Frances Hoggan (born Frances Morgan) was a pioneering medical practitioner, researcher and social reformer from Aberhonddu, Brecon. Her efforts were instrumental in the battle for women in the UK to study medicine during the 19th century.

In 1867, Hoggan enrolled at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, which was the only European university at the time to admit female medical students. Graduating in March 1870, she became the second woman in Europe to be awarded a Doctor of Medicine degree. After furthering her education in Vienna, Prague and Paris, she settled in London and became a member of St Mary's Dispensary in Seymour Place.

In 1874, Frances married Dr George Hoggan, and together they founded the first husband-and-wife medical practice in the UK. They made significant contributions to medical literature and specialised in conditions impacting women and children.

Throughout her life, Hoggan maintained a strong connection to her Welsh roots. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, she participated in discussions concerning intermediate and higher education in Wales, placing particular emphasis on the necessity of educational opportunities for women and girls. Hoggan repeatedly stressed that the existing provisions for their education were wholly inadequate.

A purple plaque commemorating the birthplace of Hoggan was unveiled on Aberhonddu High Street in 2023, as part of a campaign to improve the recognition of remarkable women in Wales.

Mary King Sarah (1885–1965)

Mary King Sarah made history in 1906 by becoming the first individual to win three competitions at the National Eisteddfod in Caernarfon, outshining a young Ivor Novello in the process.

Celebrated as ‘The Welsh Nightingale,’ songstress Sarah hailed from a musically gifted family in the slate-quarrying village of Tal-y-sarn, north Wales. Following her stunning victory at Caernarfon, she embarked on an exhilarating six-week tour throughout England and Wales.

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In 1909 Mary agreed to join the Moelwyn Male Voice Choir from Blaenau Ffestiniog as a soloist on their upcoming tour to America. Over the course of five months, Sarah showcased her talents in venues across seven states: Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

She spent the remainder of her life in the United States, primarily residing in Wisconsin, where she became a notable figure in Welsh circles. As a dedicated member of the Oconomowoc Music Society, she also established the Cymric Choral Society, the Wisconsin Assembly Society, and the St David Society in Waukesha.

Sarah’s life was also marked by considerable adversity and heartache; she was widowed three times, buried two children and had to juggle various jobs to support her family.

Ruth Mynachlog (1856–1940)

Not every woman has the opportunity to claim a bardic chair, relocate to New Zealand, or pursue medical studies in Switzerland, yet their stories are equally important and worthy of recognition.

In 1939, at the ripe age of 83, Ruth Mynachlog (her real name was Ruth Jones) decided to write her autobiography and her community’s history during a period of abysmal poverty.

Born in 1856 in a thatched cottage in the small village of Talgarreg, Ceredigion, Jones was a woman of remarkable resilience and intelligence. Despite having minimal access to formal education, she seized every opportunity to expand her knowledge through the local Chapel and the supportive network of her rural community.

While her life may appear quite ordinary, Atgofion Ruth Mynachlog (Ruth Mynachlog’s Memories) serves as an essential record of the lives of women in the Welsh countryside during the 19th century.

In her writing, Ruth sheds light on the roles of women in agriculture, the wave of Welsh emigration to the USA, the Liberal landslide in the 1868 general election, and the various diseases that plagued her community – including her own battle with typhoid.