Author: Williams, Jane
Biography:
WILLIAMS, Jane (1806-85: ODNB)
She was born at London, the second of seven children of Eleanor (Marsh) and David Williams, an employee of the naval office. Her father was descended from the Williams of Ysgafell and Jane Williams later adopted Ysgafell as her bardic name. Her early years were spent in a comfortable home, well-provided with books, where she was encouraged to read and develop a love for Welsh literature and history. Her interests and education were nurtured in particular by a family friend, Lady Llanover. The family suffered a financial reversal in 1820 and suddenly left their house in Chelsea; nothing is known about her between then and 1824 when she published her Miscellaneous Poems and dated the preface from Pipton Cottage in Glasbury-on-Wye. She had a legacy from her Marsh grandmother but publishing her verse was undoubtedly a matter of financial necessity; the book was issued by subscription and attracted two hundred subscribers. By the 1830s she had moved from Pipton Cottage and was working as a lady’s companion to Isabella Hughes in Glasbury. Hughes died in 1845 and left a substantial legacy to Williams which ensured her financial security. The main foci of her interests and writing were Welsh culture and society, but she was also concerned that women’s role be recognised: her Artigall, or, Remarks on the Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales (1848) champions Welsh women. In the 1850s she moved back to London where she remained. She died at home in Oakley Crescent and was buried in Brompton Cemetery; her will left money to her companion and caregiver, Mary Willey. Her two major contributions to Welsh scholarship are The Literary Remains of the Reverend Thomas Price (Carnhuanawc) (1854-5) and A History of Wales Derived from Authentic Sources (1869). She also published An Autobiography of Elizabeth Davis, Betsy Cadwaladyr: a Balaclava Nurse (1857) and The Literary Women of England (1861). (ODNB 16 Dec. 2020; Gwyneth Tyson Roberts, Jane Williams Ysgafell [2020])