Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1932-1952 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
144 ff.
Placed in melinex sleeves within ringed box at NLW.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Geraint Dyfnallt Owen (1908-1993), historian and writer, was the son of poet, writer, journalist, Congregational minister and Archdruid John Dyfnallt Owen (Dyfnallt). He was educated at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and the University of Oxford. During the war years he worked for the BBC in London but also served with the armed forces in Romania. Owen travelled widely in Europe and was particularly interested in the politics and culture of Brittany; he corresponded with the Breton cultural and religious leader Abbé Jean-Marie (Yann-Vari) Perrot and met with many prominent Breton political activists. A prolific writer of historical, political and cultural significance, Owen's published works include Elizabethan Wales (Cardiff, 1962), Rwmania: Pennod Mewn Gwleidyddiaeth Grym (Aberystwyth, 1951), Crisis in Chubut: A Chapter in the History of the Welsh colony in Patagonia (Swansea, 1977) and Y Blaidd Hud a Chwedlau Eraill (Aberystwyth, 1949), the latter a series of folktales translated from the Romanian.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Some eighty-nine letters, copy and draft letters and related papers, 1932-1952, addressed to J. Dyfnallt Owen or accumulated by him, either from Breton nationalists or relating to the situation in Brittany.
The correspondents include Gildas Jaffrenou, Harlech, 25 March 1947 (f. 1), Cyril Jones, Wrexham, November 1945-May 1947 (ff. 4-28), Youenn Olier, Rennes and Quimper, August-October 1947 (ff. 48-55), Yann-Vari Perrot, Scrignac, June 1932-June 1935 (ff. 70-72), Paul Quentel (or Kentel, alias 'Llydawr'), London and Brittany, August 1945-June 1950 (ff. 16-18, 76-120), the Contesse Vefa de Saint-Pierre, St. Brieuc, 7 October 1952 (f. 123), and Roperzh (or Roparz) Steven, December [1946]-May 1947 (ff. 126-137). Also included are letters from Dyfnallt (ff. 2 verso, 58-62), including three sent to his wife from France, April 1947 (ff. 59-61), and letters from his daughter Meirion, August 1946 (ff. 63-69); one letter from Yann-Vari Perrot, [1930s], is addressed to Geraint Dyfnallt Owen (f. 70). Amongst several copy letters sent by Cyril Jones is one from Fanch Gourvil, dated 25 November 1945 (ff. 12-14), which led to the correspondence in NLW MS 23878E, ff. 90-125.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by sender at NLW.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Welsh, French, Breton.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 23879E.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Quentel, Paul, 1912-1989 -- Correspondence. (Subject)
- Dyfnallt, 1873-1956 -- Correspondence (Subject)