Sybil Margaret Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda, (née Haig; 25 February 1857 – 11 March 1941) was a British

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Early life and marriage

She was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, the daughter of George Augustus Haig, a merchant and landowner from Pen Ithon,

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and his wife, Anne Eliza Fell. Her father was of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent and was a cousin of

Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...

. Her sister was the

Janet Boyd. On 27 June 1882 she married David Alfred Thomas, a wealthy Welsh industrialist who later became Liberal Member of Parliament for Merthyr Boroughs. Their principal residence was

Llanwern Llanwern is a village and community in the eastern part of the city of Newport, South East Wales. The name may be translated as "the church among the grove of the alders". Location and populace Llanwern is bounded by the M4 and Langstone t ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

Politics

In the 1890s Sybil Thomas became president of the Welsh Union of Women's Liberal Associations, which was strongly feminist and pro-

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...

. She was also a prominent moderate in the

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In March 1919 it w ...

. Her sisters

Janet Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psychologist and psychotherapist * Maur ...

and Charlotte were also prominent suffragettes and both went to prison for acts of violence in the name of the cause. Her daughter, Margaret Haig Thomas, became one of the most prominent British feminists of the inter-war years. Under their influence, Sybil joined the more militant

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...

. In 1914 she was sentenced to one day's imprisonment after holding a public meeting outside the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

First World War

In 1916 her husband was ennobled as Baron Rhondda. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Lady Rhondda served as chairman of the Women's Advisory Committee of the National War Savings Committee and turned part of Llanwern into a military hospital, as well as assisting her husband in his war work (as Food Controller from 1917–18). In 1918 her husband became Viscount Rhondda. He died shortly afterwards and Lady Rhondda devoted the rest of her life to feminist and philanthropic projects.Biography, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

Honours

Lady Rhondda was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours for her work with the National War Savings Committee. She died on 11 March 1941.

Footnotes

References

*Biography, ''

'' *Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 12 March 1941 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhondda, Sybil Thomas, Viscountess 1857 births 1941 deaths Activists from Brighton People from Radnorshire British suffragists British philanthropists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire British viscountesses Women of the Victorian era British women in World War I Members of the Workers' Socialist Federation British socialist feminists