Bridget Bevan ‘MADAM BEVAN’

PHILANTHROPIST, EDUCATION PIONEER

Brought up in a religious family in Derllys Court near Carmarthen, Bridget Bevan was an early pioneer in the provision of literacy in Wales through the movement of Welsh circulating schools. Founding schools of her own at Llandilo-Abercowin and Llandybie, she was also entrusted to continue the programmes instituted by prominent Welsh preacher education pioneer Griffith Jones after his death. She did with some success: under her watch, 242 schools helped 13,205 pupils to learn how to read.