Rose Mary Crawshay (1828–1907) was a British philanthropist. She commissioned free libraries and a non-fiction prize for women.

Life

Crawshay was born Rose Mary Yeates in Caversham Grove in Oxfordshire to Wilson Yeates and his first wife. She married the 29-year-old

Robert Thompson Crawshay Robert Thompson Crawshay (3 March 1817 – 10 May 1879) was a British ironmaster. Life Crawshay, youngest son of William Crawshay by his second wife, Bella Thompson, was born at Cyfarthfa Ironworks. He was educated at Dr. Prichard's school at ...

on 15 May 1846 at

St Peter's Church, Caversham St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church in Caversham, a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated close to the River Thames in Caversham Heights. History The church dates to 1162. Royalists statio ...

. He was the last of the Merthyr Tydfil

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

s. She became the mistress of the 72 roomed and 15 towered

Cyfarthfa Castle Cyfarthfa Castle ( cy, Castell Cyfarthfa; ) is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which � ...

The marriage was not happy but they did have five children William Thompson in 1847, Rose Harriette Thompson the following year, Henrietta Louise in 1851, Robert Thompson in 1853 and Richard Frederick in 1859. The following year her husband had a stroke which left him deaf. She involved herself in public life and encouraged the idea of reforming matrimonial law. She was not keen on Welsh culture and she joined the

National Society for Women's Suffrage The National Society for Women's Suffrage Manchester Branch The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker, the organ ...

founded by Lydia Becker in 1867. She became a Vice President of the Bristol and West of England National Society for Women's Suffrage. In 1870 women were first allowed to become members of school boards. The following year she had joined the school board in Merthyr Tydfil and she not only joined but chaired the school board at

Vaynor Vaynor ( Welsh: ''Y Faenor'', meaning "The Manor") is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551. Location It is about f ...

. No woman before 1900 sat on two school boards, and Crawshay chaired one and was re-elected twice retiring in 1879. Meanwhile, in 1872 she had helped form the Swansea Training College which was the first facility in Wales where women could train to be qualified teachers. She created the Byron, Shelley, Keats in Memoriam Prize Fund in 1888, stated by the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

to be the only UK literary prize for female scholars. The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize is now "only" £500, but it provides a valuable recognition for non-fiction women writers. It has been awards since 1916 by the

. A philanthropist, she paid for part of Vaynor and Penderyn High School in about 1861. Crawshay opened seven free libraries which she opened on Sundays and insisted that they were open to men and women. When 49 local miners died in a disaster she visited each family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawshay, Rose Mary Welsh philanthropists British suffragists 1828 births 1907 deaths 19th-century British philanthropists