DAVIES
,
MARY
(
1855
-
1930
),
singer
;
b. in
London
,
27 Feb. 1855
, daughter of
William
Davies
(
Mynorydd
,
1826
-
1901
, q.v.)
. Her singing at the
Welsh
concerts in the capital brought her into prominence while she was still young; her first teachers were
Henry Brinley
Richards
and
Megan Watts
Hughes
(qq.v.)
. She joined the
Welsh Choral Union
which was then under the conductorship of
John
Thomas
(
Pencerdd Gwalia
,
1826
-
1913
, q.v.)
, and, in
1873
won a
scholarship
, given by the Union, to the
Royal Academy of Music
; this was originally tenable for three years but, owing to her success in the Academy, was extended to five. She made her first professional appearance as a singer at a concert organized by
Brinley
Richards
in
1873
; the same year she appeared at the
national eisteddfod at Mold
and at the
Harlech music festival
. She became celebrated and her services were in demand for leading parts in the complete works of the masters as well as for concerts at
S. James's Hall
,
London
, and the
Hallé
,
Manchester
. In
1888
she m.
W. Cadwaladr
Davies
(q.v.)
,
registrar
of
University College
,
Bangor
, and after his death in
1905
went to live in
London
. In
1906
she took the lead in founding the
Welsh Folk Song Society
, of which she was elected
president
. In
1916
the
University of Wales
conferred on her the honorary degree of
Mus. Doc.
and in
1929
she was awarded the
medal
of the
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
for her services to music. She d.
22 June 1930
and was buried in her husband's grave in
Glanadda
cemetery,
Bangor
.
Bibliography:
-
Hearth and Home
,
1892
;
-
Y Cerddor
,
Nov. 1892, Oct. 1900, 1930
.
Author:
Robert David Griffith, M.A., (1877-1958), Old Colwyn
