Eluned Morgan (20 March 1870 – 29 December 1938), was a

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has al ...

author from

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

. She was raised in

Y Wladfa Y Wladfa (, "The Colony"), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, "The Welsh Settlement"), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh immigrants in Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of the lower Chubut Valley. I ...

, a Welsh colony in Patagonia, and was taught to speak both Welsh and Spanish. Her father eventually enrolled her in Dr Williams' School in Wales, where she had to learn the English language. She led student protests against the school's English-only policy, which prohibited the use of Welsh by its students. As a writer, Morgan is primarily remembered for two travel books which described journeys to Patagonia and to the Andes. Her book ''Dringo'r Andes'' also covered in detail the relations between different ethnic groups. Otherwise, Morgan is remembered for writing a history of the

Incas The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...

. After spending a few decades in Wales, Morgan returned to Patagonia in 1918. She spend the rest of her life there.

Biography

Morgan was born aboard the ship ''Myfanwy'' in the Bay of Biscay. The ship was ''en route'' from Great Britain to

in South America. She was the daughter of Lewis Jones who gave his name to the city of

Trelew Trelew (, from cy, tref "town" and the name of the founder, Lewis Jones) is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the Chubut River, wi ...

, in

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes rang ...

, Argentina. Her father's family name was Jones, but she received the surname Morgan at her christening. She was raised in the Welsh colony of

in Patagonia. She was educated at a Welsh school operated there by Richard Jones Berwyn. She learned to speak Welsh and Spanish, but not English. Morgan first visited Wales in 1885. In 1888, Morgan was sent by her father, Lewis Jones, from Patagonia to be educated at

Dr Williams School Dr Williams' School was a school founded in Dolgellau in 1875. It opened its doors in 1878 and continued until it was closed in 1975. Samuel Holland was actively involved in setting the school up and became its first Chairman of the Board of Gov ...

in Dolgellau. In the Welsh colony in Patagonia, education was through the medium of Welsh. In Wales itself, English was used in schools due to the demands of the community and the use of Welsh was discouraged, including by the use of the controversial

Welsh Not The Welsh Not was a token used by teachers at some schools in Wales in the 19th century to discourage children from speaking Welsh at school, by marking out those who were heard speaking the language. Accounts suggest that its form and the natu ...

. Eluned arrived in Wales speaking Welsh and Spanish and very little, if any, English. Winnie Ellis, sister of the Meirioneth MP, T. E. Ellis, who would translate for her from English, recalls her as 'walking like a prince'. According to Ellis, Morgan stood out with her

dark skin Dark skin is a type of human skin color that is rich in melanin pigments. People with very dark skin are often referred to as " black people", although this usage can be ambiguous in some countries where it is also used to specifically refer to ...

and eyes. Upon arriving at the school, Morgan led a procession out of the class in protest at the English-only policy and attitude of the school. The dispute was only settled when Michael D. Jones, the founder of the Welsh colony in Patagonia, traveled from Bala to mediate. Morgan stayed at the School for two years, and finished her education c. 1890. She then returned to the Welsh colony in Patagonia, and started operating a boarding school for girls. The school closed c. 1892. In 1891, Morgan started her literary career by submitting her essays to the colony's

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, ac ...

(a literary competition). She competed for the essay prizes. In 1893, Morgan became an editor for the Welsh-language newspaper called ''Y Drafod'', which was founded that year by her father in order to promote Welshness in Y Wladfa. Morgan also helped with the newspaper's composition. In 1896, Morgan briefly returned to Wales. In 1897, the Welsh periodical ''Cymru (O.M.E.)'' started publishing her articles. At the time, she also attempted to establish

intermediate school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

. In 1898, Morgan travelled to the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. She wrote down an account of her journey, which was published in ''Cymru (O.M.E.)'' from 1899 to 1900. In 1903, Morgan was hired as an assistant by

Cardiff Central Library Cardiff Central Library (now Cardiff Central Library Hub) ( cy, Llyfrgell Ganolog Caerdydd) is the main library in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. It offers a public library service and is open six days a week. Four buildings have been nam ...

. She worked there until 1909. During this period, Morgan delivered a series of lectures throughout Wales. She left Wales for a few years to travel the Middle East. Her journey to

Ottoman Palestine Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...

was described in her book ''Ar Dir a Môr'' (1913). After another stay in Patagonia, Morgan returned to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in 1912. She lived in the city from 1912 to 1918. She then returned to the Welsh colony in Patagonia, where she lived until her death in 1938. During the last decades of her life, Morgan served as a leader in the religious life of the colony.

Literary career

She wrote numerous articles on Y Wladfa (the Welsh settlement in Patagonia) for Welsh periodicals such as Cymru, edited by Owen Morgan Edwards, but is chiefly remembered for her two travel books, ''Dringo'r Andes'' (1904), about a journey across country from the Welsh Settlement to the Andes, and ''Gwymon y Môr'' (1909), about a sea voyage from Britain to Patagonia. She also wrote a book on the history of the

, ''Plant yr Haul'' (1915). Morgan wrote ''Dringo'r Andes'', an account of early Welsh life in the Patagonian settlement including accounts of the relations between the Welsh, and the

indigenous peoples in Argentina Argentina has 35 indigenous groups (often referred to as Argentine Amerindians or Native Argentines) according to the Complementary Survey of the Indigenous Peoples of 2004, the Argentine government's first attempt in nearly 100 years to recogni ...

(which were good on the whole), the ruling Spaniards, and the immigrant Italians.Eluned Morgan, Bibliography "''Dringo’r Andes''" ("Climbing the Andes"), Published by Honno, 2001. First published in Wales in 1904.

Books

*''Dringo'r Andes'' (1. Y Brodyr Owen, Abergavenny, 1904; 2. Southall & Co., Newport, 1907; 3. Southall & Co., 1909; 4. Southall & Co., 1917; 5. Southall & Co. n.d.) *''Gwymon y Môr'' (Y Brodyr Owen, Abergavenny, 1909) *''Ar Dir a Môr'' (Y Brodyr Owen, Abergavenny, 1913) *''Plant yr Haul'' (1. Evans & Williams, Cardiff, 1915; 2. Southall & Co., 1921; 3. Southall & Co., 1926)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Eluned 1870 births 1938 deaths 19th-century Argentine writers 19th-century Argentine women writers 19th-century Welsh writers 19th-century Welsh women writers 20th-century Welsh women writers 20th-century Argentine writers 20th-century Argentine women writers 20th-century Welsh historians People from Chubut Province Welsh emigrants to Argentina Welsh-language writers Welsh settlement in Patagonia Welsh travel writers British women travel writers Argentine travel writers Welsh women historians 20th-century Argentine historians Welsh newspaper editors Welsh women editors People born at sea Women non-fiction writers

Biography

Literary career

Books

Further reading

References