Rose Crawshay

SUFFRAGIST, CAMPAIGNER FOR EDUCATION FOR GIRLS

Moving to Merthyr Tydfil after marrying, unhappily, into a wealthy industrial family, Rose Crawshay was a prominent advocate for marriage reform, suffrage and broader women’s rights. As a regional Vice-president for Women’s Suffrage for the area that encompassed South Wales, she spoke regularly at meetings in favour of women having the vote, arguing that the success of this campaign would mark only the beginning, not the end, of widening equality for women. She was also one of the first women to sit on an education board after the 1870 Education Act, and established seven free cottage libraries herself to promote the benefits of literacy.