Fonds GB 0210 GEOIES - George M. Ll. Davies Papers

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0210 GEOIES

Title

George M. Ll. Davies Papers

Date(s)

  • 1826-1964 (mainly 1900-1947) (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

0.303 cubic metres (10 boxes, 2 parcels, 3 rolls, 4 volumes)

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

George Maitland Lloyd Davies (1880-1949) (name changed from G. M. Temple Davies), a Calvinistic Methodist minister, was born in Liverpool, the son of John Davies, a tea merchant, and his wife Gwen, the daughter of John Jones (1796-1857) of Tal-y-sarn, Caernarfonshire, the celebrated Methodist preacher. In 1913, George Davies left his job as the manager of the Wrexham branch of the Bank of Liverpool to become secretary of the Welsh Town Planning and Housing Trust. In 1914, he and Richard Roberts of Blaenau Ffestiniog formed Fellowship of Reconciliation (Cymdeithas y Cymod), a Christian society to promote peace. They published a monthly periodical called Y Deyrnas, 1916-1919. Davies married Leslie Eleanor Royde-Smith in 1916, and they had one child, Jane Hedd. Davies was imprisoned several times, 1917-1919, as a conscientious objector. In 1923, he was elected as MP for the University of Wales as a Christian Pacifist. He was not returned in the next election, and in 1926 he was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church of Wales. He was minister of the churches at Tywyn and Maethlon, Merionethshire, 1926-1930. He spent the following years working among the unemployed in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire. In 1932, he moved to the Quaker settlement at Maes-yr-Haf in the Rhondda. The Welsh National Pacifist Society was established in 1937, with Davies as president. A pamphlet was published to coincide with the launching, titled Ymorthodwn a rhyfel (We reject war). He retired to Dolwyddelan, Caernarfonshire, in 1946.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Donated to the National Library of Wales by Mrs George M. Ll. Davies, Dolwyddelan, 1951 (NLW, Annual report, 1950-51, p. 39).

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Diaries etc, 1903-1930; sermons; addresses and articles, 1916-1948; correspondence, notes and articles relating to penal reform, 1907-1917, Ireland, 1920-1924, education, 1925-1931, reparations, 1926-1931, Tom Nefyn Williams, 1926-1931, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1916-1947; poetry, 1900-1947; genealogical and miscellaneous notes and family papers, 1884-1926; articles and addresses by various authors, 1903-1949; letters to and from George M. Ll. Davies, other members of the family and others, 1826-1964.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Action: All records donated to the National Library of Wales have been retained..

Accruals

Accruals are not expected.

System of arrangement

Arranged into the following: Diaries etc.; Sermons, addresses, articles etc.; Penal reform; Ireland; Education; Reparations; Tom Nefyn Williams; The Fellowship of Reconciliation; Poetry; Genealogical and miscellaneous notes and memoranda; Certificates; Articles, addresses etc. by various authors; Miscellanea; Correspondence; Printed matter

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.

Conditions governing reproduction

Usual copyright regulations apply.

Language of material

Script of material

Language and script notes

English, Welsh.

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

A hard copy of the catalogue is available at the National Library of Wales. The catalogues can be accessed on-line from: www.library.wales

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

The National Library of Wales also holds the papers of his brother, John Glyn Davies (1870-1953), a group of papers purchased (1936-1938) from another brother, Captain A. Stanley Davies, and a group of letters, c.1900-1944, mainly from George M. Ll. Davies to Captain Davies (NLW annual report, 1960-61, p. 25).

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Title supplied from content of fonds.

Alternative identifier(s)

Virtua system control number

vtls003844099

Project identifier

ANW

Access points

Place access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales

Rules and/or conventions used

Description follows ANW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

February 2003

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: NLW Schedule of George M. LL. Davies Manuscripts and Papers; NLW annual report, 1960-1961; Dictionary of Welsh biography down to 1940 (1959); Dictionary of Welsh biography, 1941-1970 (2001).

Archivist's note

Compiled by Seri Crawley for the ANW Project.

Accession area