Crawshay, Rose Mary

Abstract

Mrs. Rose Mary Crawshay, née Yeates (1828-1907) was a feminist activist and literature lover best known for employing distressed gentlewomen as "lady-helps" and for endowing the Byron, Shelley, Keats "In Memoriam Prize" for women writers. Married at the age of 18 to a millionaire ironmaster in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, her domestic life deteriorated significantly when her husband suffered a series of strokes. She championed women's suffrage as early as 1867; in 1871, she became the first woman member of a School Board in Wales. Besides women's education, health and employment, she espoused causes including cremation, euthanasia, and antivivisection. She engaged in debates about these matters in letters to the press, and presented the results of her lady-help initiative at two social science conferences, self-publishing the papers in conjunction with prize-winning essays, autobiographical material, a record of interview, and reviews.