Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1919-1964 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
1 envelope
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mary Williams (1883-1977), from Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, was a Professor of French at the University of Durham, having previously taught at University College Swansea, University of Durham, and King's College, London. She studied German and French at University of Wales Aberystwyth, and wrote her thesis on the French sources for Wolfram von Eschenbach's poem Parzival; she had a working knowledge on many languages, including Provençal, Italian, Latin and Welsh. From 1961 until 1963, she was the President of the Folklore Society. In 1922, she married Dr George Arbour Stephens. She researched Arthurian topics, corresponding with Jessie Laidlay Weston. She acquired some papers relating to her father, the Rev. John Williams, her mother, Mrs Jane Williams, and her sister, Jennie Williams, later Mrs R. Ruggles-Gates, and Professor Victor Julian Taylor Spiers (d. 1937), King's College, London. She was a keen supporter and benefactor of the National Library of Wales and took part in meetings of the Celtic Congress.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated by Mrs Gwen Davies, Machynlleth, February 1999.; A1999/14
Content and structure area
Scope and content
An additional group of papers of Professor Mary Williams (1883-1977), French scholar (see Annual Report 1968-69, p 35; 1974-75, p 45; 1977-78, p 50), including letters to her, 1931-64; notes in French relating to romanticism in poetry and the romantic school, 1919 and undated; 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight', a paper read by Richard Fritzschd to the Folk Lore Section of the Devonshire Association, 1962 (Dr Williams was president of the Folk Lore Society, 1961-3); and a reprint of Alfred Adler, 'Sovereignty in Crétien's Yvain', Publications of the Modern Language Assiociation of America, volume lxiii, June 1947.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions
Conditions governing reproduction
Normal laws of copyright apply
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English; French
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Preferred citation: NLW ex 1952