Who is Sybil Margaret Thomas?

 

Most notably, Sybil Thomas was known for her role in women's rights pre-World War One. Her daughter Margaret Haig Thomas was a prominent figure during the suffrage movement and went on to become the secretary of the Newport (south Wales) branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) 

Image depicting Sybil and her husband David found here (c. 1910-1915)

    You can find a portrait of Sybil here which is located in the Amgueddfa Cymru collections. The portrait was done by Solomon Joseph Solomon, who was a British painter and a founding member of the New English Art Club. Solomon also painted a portrait of Sybil's husband, David Thomas. (David Thomas' portrait can be found here) David Thomas had an interest in pursuing a political career and became a Liberal MP for Merthyr until 1910. He inherited Cambrian Collieries in Clydach Vale which belonged to his family. In 1916, David was ennobled as Baron Rhondda, and in 1918 became Viscount Rhondda, but unfortunately died shortly after. 

    Born Sybil Haig, she married David Thomas in 1888. Sybil became the wife of a prominent man who had interests in coal, shipping and publishing. Her own interests reflected a strong feminist agenda and promoted the cause for female suffrage pre-WWI. She was born in Brighton, and her father George Augustus Haig was a merchant and landowner from Radnorshire. 

    During the 1890s, Sybil was actively involved in women's rights, she became the president of the Welsh Union of Women's Liberal Associations which were strongly feminist and pro-female suffrage. She was also prominent in the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Her family were involved in the suffrage movement, including her daughter Margaret, and sisters Janet and Charlotte was also involved and they joined the WSPU which was more of a militant approach. As a result of this, Sybil was arrested and imprisoned in 1914 for one night after she held a meeting outside the Houses of Parliament. 

    The outbreak of the First World War saw Sybil as Chairman of the Women's Advisory Committee of the National War Savings Committee, which as a result turned part of her hometown Llanwern into a military hospital. She supported her husband in his role as food controller. In 1920 Sybil was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DME) for her war efforts and her work with the National War Savings Committee, she died on the 11th of March 1941 after a life dedicated to women's rights and the suffrage movement. 

After the death of her husband in 1918, Sybil devoted the rest of her life to feminist 'projects', her name must be remembered. 

Liberal History https://liberalhistory.org.uk/timeline/on-this-day-11-3-1941/ 

Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ggbain.19439/

Our Mothers' Land, Chapters in Welsh Women's History, 1830 - 1939. Edited by Angela V. John

Out of the Shadows, A History of Women in Twentieth-Century Wales, Deidre Beddoe. 

Rocking the Boat, Welsh Women who Championed Equality, 1840 - 1990. Angela V. John