Fonds GB 0210 MSILYNR - Papurau Mary Silyn Roberts (Archif Menywod Cymru) = Mary Silyn Roberts Papers (Women's Archive of Wales)

Ganed Mary Silyn Roberts (1877-1972) (g. Parry) yn yr Wyddgrug a'i magu yn Llundain. 'Roedd yn un o'r merched cyntaf i ennill gradd ym Mhrifysgol Aberystwyth, lle'n ddiweddarach fe'i penodwyd yn ddarlithydd. Wedi ei phriodas â'r gweinidog Methodistaidd Calfinaidd, bardd ac athro Robert (Silyn) Roberts ('Rhosyr') (1871-1930) ym 1905, symudodd y ddau i Danygrisiau, lle 'roedd Silyn yn gweinidogaethu Capel Bethel. Yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, ymroddodd Mary i'w gwaith fel trefnydd Byddin Tir y Merched, gan fynd o amgylch yn annerch ei chynulleidfa i dyfu eu bwyd eu hunain. 'Roedd hefyd yn weithgar dros hawliau pleidleisio i ferched. Ym 1926, trefnodd orymdaith merched dros heddwch o Benygroes i Lundain, lle traethodd araith yng Nghymraeg mewn rali heddwch yn Hyde Park. 'Roedd Mary erbyn hyn yn ymgyrchu'n frwd dros heddwch yn Ewrop a daeth yn Ysgrifenyddes Cynghrair Ryngwladol y Merched dros Heddwch a Rhyddid, swydd a oedd yn golygu cryn dipyn o deithio. Yn dilyn marwolaeth disymwth ei gŵr ym 1930, ymaflodd Mary â'r awennau o fewn Cymdeithas Addysg y Gweithwyr a chafodd ei phenodi'n Ysgrifenyddes Ranbarthol Pwyllgor Gogledd Cymru, swydd a brofodd ei sgiliau trefnu ardderchog a'i gallu i ddatrys problemau i'r eithaf yn ystod cyfnod llwm yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Brwydrodd Mary a Silyn yn frwd ac ymroddgar gydol eu bywydau dros y dosbarth gweithiol a thros heddwch a chyfiawnder. = Mary Silyn Roberts (1877-1972) (née Parry) was born in Mold and brought up in London. She was one of the first female students to gain a degree at Aberystwyth University, where she would later be appointed lecturer. Following her marriage to the Calvinistic Methodist minister, poet and teacher Robert (Silyn) Roberts (bardic name 'Rhosyr') (1871-1930) in 1905, the couple moved to Tanygrisiau, where Silyn ministered at Bethel Chapel. During the First World War, Mary worked as organiser for the Women's Land Army, giving talks to encourage women to grow their own food, and was also active within the suffrage movement. In 1926, she organised a women for peace march from Penygroes to London, where she addressed the crowd in Welsh at a peace rally in Hyde Park. By this time, Mary was campaigning for the cause of peace in Europe and was appointed Secretary for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, a post which entailed a considerable amount of travelling. Following her husband's untimely death in 1930, Mary took up the post of District Secretary for the WEA North Wales Committee, where her excellent organisational and problem-solving skills were called forth to their maximum during the austerities of the Second World War. Mary and Silyn dedicated their lives to fighting the cause of the working classes and for worldwide peace and justice.

Ganed Robert (Silyn) Roberts yn Llanllyfni a'i addysgu yng Ngholeg Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor a Choleg y Bala. Bu'n gweinidogaethu yn Lewisham (1901-1905) ac yng Nghapel Methodistaidd Calfinaidd Bethel yn Nhanygrisiau (1905-1912). Ym 1900, cyhoeddodd gyfrol o'r enw Telynegion ar y cyd â'r ysgolhaig a'r bardd W. J. Gruffydd (gweler Gohebiaeth rhwng Robert (Silyn) Roberts a W. J. Gruffydd). Ennillodd goron Eisteddfod Genedlaethol 1902 gyda'i bryddest 'Trystan ac Esyllt', a chyhoeddwyd Trystan ac Esyllt a Chaniadau Eraill ym 1904. Fe'i etholwyd yn aelod Llafur ar gyngor Sir Feirionnydd ac, ym 1908, cyhoeddodd bamffled yn dwyn y teitl 'Y Blaid Lafur Anibynnol ei Hanes a'i Hamcan'. Bu'n darlithio yn yr Unol Daleithiau a Chanada dros y mudiad Cymreig yn erbyn y ddarfodedigaeth. Ym 1912 fe'i penodwyd yn ysgrifennydd cyntaf Bwrdd Penodiadau Prifysgol Cymru, a, phan ddaeth y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, fe ymdrechodd yn galed yn y swydd hon i benodi swyddogion o Gymry yn y lluoedd arfog (gweler Gohebiaeth rhwng Robert (Silyn) Roberts ac R. Williams Parry). Wedi'r rhyfel, bu'n swyddog dros Gymru er mwyn trefnu hyfforddiant ar gyfer milwyr anabl. O 1922 bu'n ddarlithydd dosbarthiadau allanol Coleg Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor ac, ym 1925, sefydlodd gangen Gogledd Cymru o Gymdeithas Addysg y Gweithwyr ym Mangor, cyn mynd ymlaen i sefydlu pedwar cangen ar ddeg arall o'r gymdeithas o fewn y pum mlynedd nesaf. Ysgrifennodd yn helaeth i'r Glorian (papur bro Llangefni), Y Dinesydd Cymreig a'r Welsh Outlook, ymysg papurau eraill. Cyfieithodd y ddrama Cross Currents gan J. O. Francis i'r Gymraeg dan y teitl Gwyntoedd Croesion (1924) a hefyd nofel Ffrangeg gan yr addysgwraig Lydewig Marie Souvestre dan y teitl Bugail Geifr Lorraine (1925). Teithiodd lawer ar y Cyfandir ac yn yr Unol Daleithiau. Priododd, ym 1905, Mary Parry, Llundain, a chawsant ddau fab ac un merch. Bu farw ym Mangor. Cyhoeddwyd Cofarwydd, detholiad coffa o'i farddoniaeth, ym 1930. = Robert (Silyn) Roberts was born in Llanllyfni and educated at University College of Wales, Bangor and Bala Theological College, going on to minister in Lewisham (1901-1905) and at Bethel Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Tanygrisiau (1905-1912). In 1900, he jointly published Telynegion, an anthology of poetry, with the scholar and poet W. J. Gruffydd (see Correspondence between Robert (Silyn) Roberts and W. J. Gruffydd). He won the crown at the 1902 National Eisteddfod for his strict-metre poem 'Trystan ac Esyllt' ('Trystan and Isolde'), and the poetic anthology Trystan ac Esyllt a Chaniadau Eraill was subsequently published in 1904. He was elected Labour member for Meirionethshire council and, in 1908, published a pamphlet titled 'Y Blaid Lafur Anibynnol ei Hanes a'i Hamcan' ('The Independent Labour Party its History and Aim'). He lectured in the United States and Canada on behalf of the Welsh campaign against tuberculosis. In 1912, he was appointed as the first secretary of the Welsh Appointments Board of the University of Wales, and, on the outbreak of the First World War, campaigned within this post to appoint Welsh-speaking serving officers in the military. After the war, he was appointed by the Government as Commissioner for Wales to organise training for disabled ex-servicemen. From 1922, he was extra-mural studies tutor for University College of Wales, Bangor and, in 1925, he established the North Wales branch of the Workers' Educational Association in Bangor, subsequently establishing fourteen further branches within the next five years. He wrote for, amongst other publications, Y Glorian (the community paper of Llangefni), Y Dinesydd Cymreig and the Welsh Outlook. He translated into Welsh J. O. Francis' drama Cross Currents under the title Gwyntoedd Croesion (1924) and, in 1925, Bugail Geifr Lorraine, a translation into Welsh of a French novel by Breton educator Marie Souvestre. He travelled extensively in Europe and the United States. In 1905, he married Mary Parry, London, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. He died at Bangor. A commemorative volume of his poetry, Cofarwydd, was published in 1930.

Corff i ddarparu addysg ar gyfer oedolion o'r dosbarth gweithiol oedd bwriad gwreiddiol Cymdeithas Addysg y Gweithwyr, a sefydlwyd ym 1903 fel yr Association to Promote the Higher Education of Working Men gan yr arloeswyr addysgol Albert Mansbridge (1876-1952) a'i wraig Frances (ganed Pringle) (1876-1958), cyn ei ail-enwi fel y Workers' Educational Association (WEA) ym 1905. Ar y dechrau, dim ond dwy gangen o'r gymdeithas oedd yng Nghymru - un yn y Gogledd, a sefydlwyd gan Robert (Silyn) Roberts, a'r llall yn y De. Ers 1992/3, mae corff Cymreig Cymdeithas Addysg y Gweithwyr wedi gweithredu'n gwbl ar wahân i gyrff Lloegr, yr Alban a Gogledd Iwerddon. Yn dilyn ei huniad efo Coleg Cymunedol YMCA Cymru ym 2015, fe ail-enwid y gymdeithas yn Addysg Oedolion Cymru = The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), originally established to provide education for working class adults, was founded in 1903 as the Association to Promote the Higher Education of Working Men by the educational pioneers Albert Mansbridge (1876-1952) and his wife Frances (née Pringle) (1876-1958), subsequently being renamed the Workers' Educational Association in 1905. Initially, only two branches of the WEA existed in Wales - the Northern branch, which was founded by Robert (Silyn) Roberts, and its Southern counterpart. Since 1992/3, the Welsh body of the WEA has operated completely separately from its sister organisations in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Following its merger with the YMCA Wales Community College in 2015, the Welsh branch of the WEA is currently known as Adult Learning Wales.

Nodyn iaith: Gohebiaeth rhwng Mary Silyn Roberts a Henni Forchhammer: Un llythyr ac un erthygl yn Naneg. = Language note: Correspondence between Mary Silyn Roberts and Henni Forchhammer: One letter and one article in Danish.

Nodyn iaith: Gohebiaeth rhwng Robert (Silyn) Roberts ac R. Williams Parry: Ambell ymadrodd yn Ffrangeg, = Language note: Correspondence between Robert (Silyn) Roberts and R. Williams Parry: A few phrases in French.