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A card for Mothers Day

Published: 16/02/2016

Flintshire Record Office has produced a Mothering Sunday card celebrating a well-known Flintshire mother and daughter, Ruth and Kitty Lewis of Plas Penucha, Caerwys Ruth Lewis (1872-1946) was born in Liverpool and educated in London but, following her marriage to J Herbert Lewis and her move to Caerwys, she adopted Wales as her country and within a few years could speak Welsh fluently. She travelled the county collecting Welsh folk songs which she published in 1914, a copy of which is preserved at Flintshire Record Office (D/L/816). Ruth campaigned for Welsh devolution and in 1921 was appointed the first woman magistrate in the London Borough of Westminster. Ruth was also the first woman magistrate in Flintshire, holding that office for nearly 25 years. Alice Catherine ‘Kitty’ Lewis (1898-1984), their only daughter, was a strong supporter of Welsh Devolution and a member of Plaid Cymru. Educated at the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth (1916-18) she participated in local and national Eisteddfodau and became President of the Caerwys Eisteddfod when it commemorated its centenary. Cllr Chris Bithell, Cabinet Member for Education, said ‘Mothering Sunday is a long established festival. Once it was the only day in the year when girls and boys in service, perhaps far from home, were given the opportunity to visit their mothers. The delightful image on this card captures perfectly the bond between a mother and her child.” The card costs £1.50 and can be purchased at the Record Office in Hawarden and at the shop in Theatr Clwyd.