Elizabeth May Watkin Mrowiec (née Jones; 10 May 1907 – 21 June 1965) was a Welsh teacher and campaigner. She was a leading figure in the protests over the flooding of the

Tryweryn Valley Capel Celyn was a rural community to the northwest of Bala in Gwynedd, Wales, in the Afon Tryweryn valley. The village and other parts of the valley were flooded in 1965 to create a reservoir, Llyn Celyn, in order to supply Liverpool and Wirr ...

Life

Jones was born in Capel Celyn where her family lived in the local post office. Her mother was Annie (born Thomas), who was a teacher. Her father, Watkin Jones (Watcyn o Feirion) was a

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

and singer who sang accompanied by a

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

. It was a home filled with culture—her father won prizes for his poetry at Eisteddfods. In 1960, a private member's bill was proposed by

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...

to create a huge reservoir in the

at the end of 1965. The development would include the flooding of Capel Celyn. As an Act of Parliament, the proposal did not need local support. The residents were initially reserved and shy, but they were encouraged by Jones, who was a local teacher. They became angry and protested, and

Dafydd Roberts Dafydd Roberts (18 August 1892 – 11 October 1965) was an activist and chairman of the Capel Celyn Defence Committee during the movement to save the village of Capel Celyn, which was flooded to create the Treweryn Reservoir. Life Roberts ...

was chosen as the executive of the Capel Celyn Defense Committee with Jones as the secretary. Jones coordinated the many letters they received with support, and with her harp, she appeared in television interviews. Jones went with Roberts and Welsh politician Gwynfor Evans to London and Liverpool to protest against the closure of the village. The fate of Capel Celyn was widely reported. In time, the cause was lost, and construction began on the dam, but the event was a significant event in Welsh politics. On 24 May 1958 she married a Polish soldier who had fled the Nazis and served in the British Army. She went to visit Poland with him in 1960 and 1962 and based on these visits she won the local eisteddfod category with her travel journal. Jones died in Wrexham in 1965. In that year her book, ''Teithio Pwyl'', was published.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Elizabeth May Watkin 1907 births 1965 deaths People from Bala, Gwynedd Schoolteachers