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LLOYD GEORGE (FAMILY)

The family was established by the marriage of David Lloyd George and Margaret Owen, 24 January 1888.

MARGARET OWEN (1864 - 1941)

Born 4 November 1864. She was made Dame Grand Cross of the British Empire in 1918. She died 20 January 1941. She came of a family rooted in the rural life and Methodist nonconformity of Eifionydd. Her father, Richard Owen, was a well-to-do farmer who acted from time to time as a valuer. He was also an elder of Capel Mawr (CM), Cricieth; a disagreement arose between the members which was settled when the minister, John Owen, and about half the membership, including Richard Owen, left Capel Mawr to establish Seion (CM) in Cricieth. Margaret was educated at Dr. Williams' School, Dolgellau; she was a faithful member of Seion chapel, Cricieth, throughout her life. She remained faithful also to those values which she was taught to respect in her nonconformist upbringing. Before their marriage David Lloyd George and Margaret had a courtship which cut across denominational and social boundaries, and the story is now well known through books on the career of David Lloyd George Bryn Awelon, Cricieth, was the family home between 1908, when it was built, and 1941 when Dame Margaret died. Because of David Lloyd George's political career the family also had before 1908 and thereafter until his death in 1945, several homes at different times in London and its environs. Dame Margaret's particular contribution was keeping the unity of the family under difficult circumstances and seeing that Welsh was the mother tongue of all five children.

RICHARD LLOYD GEORGE (1889 - 1968), 2nd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor

The earldom was created in 1945 a few weeks before the death of the 1st earl, David Lloyd George on 26 March 1945. Richard was educated at Porthmadog secondary school and the University of Cambridge. He was an Associate Member of the Inst. of Civil Engineers; he was a major, Royal Engineers, in the two World Wars. He married (1), 1917, Roberta Ida Freeman, daughter of Sir Robert McAlpine, 1st bart. They had one son, Owen, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (born 1925) and one died Valerie, Lady Goronwy Daniel. The marriage was annulled, 1933. He married (2), 1935, Winifred Calve. He died 1 May 1968, after a long illness.

He published, in 1947, Dame Margaret - the life story of my mother, a warm-hearted tribute to the memory of his mother, and in 1960, Lloyd George.

MAIR ELUNED LLOYD GEORGE (1890 - 1907)

It is said that Mair Eluned was her father's most cherished child; he almost broke his heart when she died, 29 November 1907, following an operation for appendicitis. She was a beautiful and talented girl, especially so in music; she used to entertain her parents by playing the piano and her father could not be reconciled to the fact that ' the white hand was under a crust of earth '. A beautiful marble statue of her by W. Goscombe John was placed over her grave in Cricieth cemetery.

OLWEN ELIZABETH LLOYD GEORGE (Lady Olwen Carey Evans; 1892 - 1990)

GWILYM LLOYD GEORGE (1894 - 1894), 1st Viscount Tenby, created 1957 privy councillor, 1941, J.P.

Born 4 December 1894; educated at Eastbourne College and Jesus College, Cambridge (hon. Fellow, 1953); major Royal Artillery in 1914-18 war, M.P. (L) (1) 1922-24, (2) 1929-50, both terms for Pembrokeshire, (3) 1951-57 for Newcastle-upon-Tyne North (Nat. L. and Cons.). He held the following government posts: parliamentary sec. to the Board of Trade 1931 and 1939-41; Ministry of Food, 1941, Minister of Fuel and Power, 1942-45, Minister of Food, October 1951-54, Secretary of State for Home Affairs and Minister for Welsh Affairs 1954 (October) - 1957 (January). He was created Viscount Tenby in the New Year's Honours List, 1957. He was appointed chairman of the Council of Tribunals, 1961. He married, 1921, Edna Gwenfron, daughter of David Jones, Gwynfa, Denbigh; they had 2 sons, and David, born 4 November 1922, became the 2nd Viscount Tenby.

During his term as Sec. of State for Home Affairs and Minister for Welsh Affairs he publicly announced on behalf of the Government that Cardiff was to be capital of Wales; he was made freeman of the city; the degree of LL.D. honoris causa of the University of Wales was conferred upon him. He was the first chairman of the Pantyfedwen Trust. He died 14 February 1967 and was buried in Cricieth public cemetery.

MEGAN ARFON LLOYD GEORGE (1902 - 1966), M.P.

The youngest daughter of David Lloyd George and Margaret, his wife; born 22 April 1902. She was educated at Garrett's Hall, Banstead, and in Paris. She was elected M.P. for Anglesey (as a Liberal), 1929-31, and as Ind. Lib. 1931-45. At the General Election of 1951 she was defeated by Cledwyn Hughes (L). Between 1951 and 1957 she moved nearer the left in politics and joined the Labour Party. She was adopted as Lab. candidate for the Carmarthen constituency and was returned M.P. (Lab.) for that constituency in 1957. She held the seat until her death on 14 May 1966. She was buried in Cricieth cemetery in the family vault made when her sister Mair Eluned died. Her popularity and the respect for her was shown by the immense crowd which came to the cemetery on the day of her funeral, among them Gwynfor Evans who won the Carmarthen seat for Plaid Cymru at the by-election caused by her death.

On 1 July 1955 a conference of all parties and organisations was called under the auspices of the New Wales Union (Undeb Cymru Fydd) at Llandrindod to consider organizing a national petition for the campaign for a Parliament for Wales; T. I. Ellis, son of T. E. Ellis and Ifan ab Owen Edwards were on the platform to support the campaign, and in proposing a resolution for the establishment of a committee to promote the petition and the campaign, M. Ll.G. referred to this and said that the three of them were three branches of ' old oaktrees which had their roots deep in the soil of Wales '. She was appointed to be president of the committee which was established to arrange the petition; she addressed many meetings throughout Wales. Her name and the fact that she had inherited much of her father's gift of oratory ensured large audiences for these meetings, and through her leadership she was responsible for removing much prejudice against the idea of a parliament for Wales. She was a member of the deputation which presented the petition with a quarter of a million signatures to the government in April 1956. She was an active and conscientious M.P. on behalf of her constituents; but it is ironic that it was during the time that she was not an M.P. that she made her most substantial contribution to the politics of her time in Wales.

She was a member of Cricieth town council for many years, following her mother's example in this, and was chairman for a year; a J.P. like her mother before her, she also inherited much of her mother's love of the garden at Bryn Awelon, Cricieth, which she inherited after her mother's death. She was awarded the degree of LL.D. honoris causa by the University of Wales. She was unmarried but after her father received the earldom on 1 January 1945, she became known as Lady Megan Lloyd-George; she was also made a C.H. shortly before her death. She was also a member of the Gorsedd of Bards; and for a time she was an active president of the Society for the Preservation of Rural Wales.

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Published date: 2001

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/

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