Welsh Journals

THE REMINISCENCES OF DAME MARGARET LLOYD GEORGE Margaret Owen, born on 4 November 1866, was the only child of Richard and Mary Owen of Mynydd Ednyfed Fawr, Criccieth, substantial tenant farmers whose holding of rather more than one hundred acres was relatively large by the standards of Caernarfonshire. Richard Owen had also invested money in the Porthmadoc trading fleet and was a highly respected individual in the close community of Criccieth, proudly claiming descent from Owain Gwynedd, one of the Welsh rulers of the twelfth century. He was also highly regarded as a land valuer and was an esteemed deacon at Capel Mawr, the Calvinistic Methodist chapel at Criccieth. This privileged background he shared with his wife Mary, also a strong-willed, capable, lively individual who, however, remained totally illiterate throughout her life. Their devotion to their only daughter was absolute, reflected in a determination that she should receive the best possible education available locally. Consequently Maggie became one of the earliest female boarders to attend the notable Dr Williams's School at Dolgellau, from which she emerged fully able to read and write, something of an amateur artist, with a passionate love of gardening (which was to remain with her throughout her days), but with markedly little aptitude for cooking and other household chores (which also remained with her). Even as a teenager, she was supremely self-confident, with an uncanny knack of placing other people at their ease. For the whole of Margaret's life, Criccieth was to remain 'the centre of the universe'.1 From her privileged home at Mynydd Ednyfed, she enjoyed magnificent views in all directions. Predictably Maggie's rather snobbish parents held very firm views about desirable suitors for their adored, genteel, relatively well-educated daughter. Aspiring candidates for their daughter's hand in marriage were given careful scrutiny (and often short shrift) by Richard Owen. Young Davy George of Llanystumdwy, undoubtedly seen locally as an up-and-coming solicitor, was considered firmly beyond the pale, viewed as persona non grata by the Owens because of his relatively humble origins, as a Campbellite or Free Baptist (very much a minority sect viewed with some suspicion locally), his outspoken radical opinions which he had freely expressed, and his already growing reputation as something of a ladies' man. David Lloyd George had first come across the highly eligible Margaret Owen in June 1884, to his mind 'a sensible girl without fuss or affectation about her'.2 There are no further references to