The Montgomery County Times and Shropshire and Mid-Wales Advertiser

ALEXANDRA HALL OF RESIDENCE "n FOR WOMEN STUDENTS. no classic stream where nymphs and naiads ttoam' bellowed by Time's touch till sagely hoar, 0Ine shall tower in pride by the Western wlers' si.de' te wild waves surge against the shore." -OLD SONG. THE MAYOR OF ABERYSTWYTH, by H. if. Davies, Aberystwyth. vVo aMs' lndebted to Professor J. R. Ainsworth of 8 excellent article in the University College *hi Magazine for some of the particulars i print below, relating to this handsome ^ding, which was gracefully opened on tlaltieY H.R.H. the Princess of Wales, after whose Tho s^reet will take its title. e"^cation of women in Britain has made A^^ridcs during the last twenty years, and ,^Tth deserves honourable mention for a full 8 hard work in the good cause. Looking ^Me f^ flourishing women's side, about 200 ago th seems scarcely credible that 13 years were no women students at all. Not that in the constitution of the College forbade 'n a | there were at one time women-students olae defunct musical department; but no the jeen,s to have thought of it, perhaps because 'es8 t^^d for higher education of women was er b Cen then than now. Lent Term, 1884, will >t u, Memorable in the annals of the College, for the enrolment of the first woman-student In n ordinary College course. 2Ctober> 1885, Abergeldie House, at the Cliff H«8jj the Terrace, was chartered as a Hall of for women-students, under the manage- a Lady-Superintendent, assisted by a 0,1 and full staff of servants. Residence, how- made compulsory, and the inmates ,'vfere not made compulsory, and the inmates (},¡:1t11 C. S. Dennis Esq., r of the Cambrian Railways Company). of h!Culia Were few' and as kthis"meant ry *088> fche experiment was not prolonged Nttien_ f°ne Session. Compulsory residence for t» ^88 dent8 was decided upon for Session ^ent apd Abergeldie House was once more Z1^8 Session was a^s0 marked by the ap- I'P^I QR °f Miss E. A. Carpenter as Lady-Prin- i he Hall, a post which she still holds, and ti, 0 e, for the sake of the College, will long ^8, a hold. The present article is a record of the most prominent fact of all is that not <J n'8 e(^ucation at Aberystwyth, but ta °f & Vcafcion in general, owes a very great org ^^titude to Miss Carpenter—whose energy, ?ls*n £ power, and versatility have been l) ^her Wers of strength, as it is obvious to j)6-8 of ?^wythians,—for the educational useful- M^cipgif^ystwyth is by no means limited to the i both r, y- Women-students come from all parts an,nSland and Wales, and some from Scot- s ^re^an<^> while many former women- Ca,^ere j holding important appointments, are jAber 0Ver a still wider area. of^n^e proved no "abiding city," and the ih^een ^.s'der|ee oscillated, session after session, (?) v • & S* encls of the Terrace, with pleas- groy,tll iy. Later on it came to be Halls, for a i n numbers soon made one house,— large one—quite insufficient. And then, ABERYSTWYTH COLLEGE, Photo by J. Owen, Newtown. by the time Session 1891-92 was on the wane, came the momentous, not to say daring step of taking the Queen's Hotel for the following Session. Can we fill so stupendous a pile with women-students ? queried the more cautious ones. Yes!" said Miss Carpenter-and they did. Now they do more for Balmoral House, the twin-sister of Abergeldie, is too small to serve as an overflow Hall," and a third building is appropriated, not to count an Infirmary," for that is generally empty, since only the physically fit are admitted to the College, besides which points can be given to most places on the score of healthy conditions. But it fol- lowed, from the nature of the case, that no combi- nation of hotels and lodging-houses, however excel- lent these might have been for their special ends, could meet all the needs in a satisfactory way, and a permanent Hall of Residence, belonging to the College had been a desideratum. The women's side had, Sessions since, passed the experimental stage, and constituted a large fraction of the entire undergraduate contingent, which at present num- bers about 400. The Aberystwyth women- students have attained many academic successes, a fact gracefully alluded to by the Rt. Hon. A. H. D. Acland, at the time when he opened the new Library. The success of Aberystwyth as a centre for the higher education of women is due to many causes, of which may be mentioned :—(1) The close union between Hall and College; (2) the reasonable fees, £45 being about the average total payment made for board, residence, and tuition during the whole Session (3) the healthy environment; and (4) the thorough way in which the mixed" system is carried out. The women-students attend the same classes as the men, and take their full share in the social life of the College. And lastly, it is well worth noting that the University of Wales, though the youngest of its kind, is the most liberal of all the resident British Universities in its recognition of educatioual claims of women. What has been said abundantly proves that a permanent Hall of Residence was not merely a desideratum, but an absolute necessity. Late in 1891 an Appeal Committee was appointed by the I H.R.H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES. College Council with the view of collecting funds for the purpose. Considerable interest was excited, and the scheme was patronised by a number of influential ladies. The attempt was not, however, a pecuniary success, though donations were given and promises made to the amount of some C300. For a time, chiefly owing to the financial diffi- culties of the College resulting from a heavy building debt, the Hall Scheme remained in abey- ance; but in 1893 new life was infused into it. Owing mainly to the untiring exertions of Mr Lewis Morris, a grant was secured of z62,000 from the Pfeiffer Bequest, a fund of C70,000 left in trust for the advancement of women's education by a Welsh lady, Mrs Emily Pfeiffer (nee Davies). This piece of good fortune turned the scale in favour of the proposed Hall, and the next step in advance was due to the Aberystwyth Corporation, by whose generosity a site was provided on the sea-front at the extreme north end of the Terrace. Then came the appointment as joint-architects of Mr C. J. Ferguson, F.S.A., of Westminster and Carlisle, and Mr T. E. Morgan, of Aberystwyth, and this started a further chain of events, as the result of which the foundation of the new Hall was laid on Wednesday, March 13th, 1895, by Lady Hills-Johnes, who laid two stones, one on behalf of Lady Aberdare; Mrs Principal Roberts, on behalf of Mrs Wynford Philipps and Mrs Jessy Williams, Bronhaulog. The date of the ceremony was in the first place fixed for St David's Day, the laying of the four foundation stones being allotted to Lady Aberdare, Lady Hills- Johnes, Mrs Wynford Philipps, and Mrs Jessy Wil- liams, but the lamented death of Lord Aberdare intervening, the proceedings were consequently postponed to the dates above-mentioned. The contract for the erection of the building was secured by Mr David Lloyd, of Aberystwyth. The College Council also took the wise step of purchas- ing Balmoral House, which adjoins the site on the south:side, so that future extension in that direction will be a possibility. I. ALEXANDRA HALL Of RESIDENCE, Photo by H. H. Davies, Aberystwyth.

THE MAYOR OF WELSHPOOL. Mr. W. Forrester Addie, the Mayor of Welshpool, is agent to the Powis Castle Estate, and was elected to the Mayoralty in November last on the termina- tion of Mr. C. E. Howell's year of office. Mr. Addie is also chairman of the Welshpool Governing i Body of the Intermediate Schools, a member of the' Montgomery County Council, and churchwarden of, the Parish Church, Welshpool. W. FORRESTER ADDIE ESQ. (Mayor of Welshpool).

MAJOR E. PRYCE-JONES, M.P. Major Edward Pryce-Jones (C), who succeeded his father in the representation of the Montgomery Boroughs, is the eldest son of Sir Pryce Pryce- Jones, of Dolerw, Newtown, M.P., for Montgomery Boroughs 1885-86 and 1892-95, by Eleanor, second daughter of the late Mr Edward Rowley Morris, of Newtown, born 1861, educated at Jesus College, Cambridge (B.A. 1890, M.A. 1893), and called to the Bar at the Inner Temble in 1892, Is a J.P. and County Councillor for Montgomeryshire, was Chairman of the Newtown Local Board of Health 1892-93-94, and was a captain in the Montgomery- shire Yeomanry Cavalry from September 1893 (having passed the Staff College), and retired with the rank of honorary major in last. He was lately nominated by the Duke of Devonshire as a mem- ber of the University Court of Wales, Aberystwyth. Married 1886, Beatrice, second daughter of the late Mr Herbert Hardie, Orford House, Cheshire, and Cruwys Morchard, Devonshire.

MR. C. E. HOWELL. Mr Charles Edward Howell was born in Welsh- pool in 1846. His father, the late Mr Abraham Howell, was elected a member of the Town Council on the 1st November, 1848, and on the 9th of that month succeeded to the office of Mayor for the first time, that being the only case in this borough in KEY TO OPEN WOMEN'S HALL OF RESIDENCE. Photo by Qgde, Aberystwyth. which a councillor has been appointed during his first year of office. Mr C. E. Howell was not a member of the Council when he was made Mayor, and this was the first appointment in the borough under the clause in the Municipal Corporations Act of 1882, introduced by the late Earl of Powis extending the choice of Mayor from among the Aldermen and Councillors to those outside the Council qualified to be such. He was educated at Cheltenham College and Oswestry School, and was admitted a solicitor in 1868, and is a member of the Incorporated Law Society. lIe was associated with his father in the heavy work connected with the completion of the railway system throughout the district and the Welsh Coast, the business being carried on in Welshpool and Westminster Chambers, London. In 1872 he was appointed clerk to the Justices of the Llanfair and Llandysilio divisions, and subsequently in 1875, succeeded to the office of Clerk to the Second (or Welshpool) District of Montgomeryshire Turnpike Roads, com- prising 100 miles of the main roads between Shrewsbury and Machynlleth, and this appoint- ment he hold up to the expiration of the Trust in 1885. In April 1894 he was unanimously appointed by the Town Council as representative Governor of the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, and in November last he was appointed by the same authority to a similar position on the Univer-* sity College of Wales, Bangor.

K distress Miss Anna Rowlands, B.A. (Cant°b) 'Q ^U8*c: Jen^ns> Mns. Bac. ^rOctor in Drawing: J. Clark, Art Master, South InSf!n8in^°n (Certificate). n U°tress in Needlework Miss M. A. Nicklin, Jo^ted Mistress. LIH RAR T. Mortimer Green. pa.n E. P.Jones, M.A., B.D. 8t ^nnciPal of the Hall of Residence for Women l^ enta •' Miss E. A. Carpenter. no entrance examination, though the aro o» ^as Power to prescribe one. Scholarships at the commencement of each session, a^ov 6 °Pen to men and women candidates alike, tlje He^ aSe °f 16 at time of examination. Some of o larships are confined to Welsh candidates, of (-i ession consists of 41 weeks, with an interval ree Weeks at Christmas, and a fortnight at Coitper" Evening classes are conducted at the and are taught by the College lecturers.