Village Institute Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, Gwynedd

MR LLOYD GEORGE’S GIFT TO WELSH VILLAGE - The plans prepared by Mr Taliesin Rees, architect of Liverpool, of an institute which Mr Lloyd George intends to present to the village in which his boyish days were spent were considered and approved by a local committee of which Mr William George, the Chancellor’s brother, is a member. Tenders for the erection of the building are being invited. The site is in the village of Llanystumdwy, midway between the house where the Chancellor lived with his uncle and the school in which he received his education. The institute is to be built in half-timbered style. It will comprise a hall for public meetings and entertainments, a vestry room, kitchen, and tea room. [Observer 5 November 1911 page 11]

The plans prepared by Mr. T. Taliesen Rees, F.R.I.B.A., North John-street. Liverpool, of an institute which Mr. Lloyd George intends to present to Llanystumdwy, the village in which his boyhood days were spent. were considered and approved on Saturday night by a local committee. Tenders for the erection of the building are being invited, with the intention of carrying out the work forthwith. It will comprise a hall for public meetings and entertainments, a vestry, kitchen, and tea-room. [Building News 10 November 1911 page 654]

LLANSTUMDWY, CRICCIETH – The little village institute which Mr Lloyd George has had built for presentation to the village where he spent his childhood has been erected from designs by Mr Taliesin Rees FRIBA of Liverpool. The institute consists of a large hall, capable of seating about three hundred people, which can be divided into two rooms by means of a folding screen; a games room, also a committee room, and a kitchen with facilities for cooking. The base wall of the institute is of local stone, carrying solid wood framing, backed up with stonework and finished between timbers with cement panels. [Building News 27 September 1912 page 451]

On Saturday 21 September 1912 Lloyd George formally presented the hall to the village of Llanystumdwy, his childhood home, having contributed £1,000 awarded to him in a libel action some three years before towards the building of the institute. However, the opening ceremony  was  disrupted when at least five suffragettes attempted to protest, their actions resulting in a violent and aggressive confrontation between them and a crowd who had gathered to witness the event made angry. With the headline 'Suffragettes mobbed and beaten in Wales: Hair torn from the heads of Lloyd George's Interrupters,' page 1 of the Daily Mirror showed a photograph of a suffragette surrounded by police and angry members of the public.  Three further photographs appeared inside captioned: “The police had a very anxious time at Llanystumdwy on Saturday protecting the suffragettes from the attack of the angry crowd. They had indeed, great difficulty in preventing them receiving serious injury. (1) Crowds endeavouring to reach a suffragette, who was partially stripped of her clothing. She was taken to a cottage for safety, (2) A suffragette in the charge of the police. A moment later she was struck a violent blow on the face and lost consciousness. The crowd, however continued to hit her, despite all efforts by the police to protect her.  (3) Being helped along after coming to.” [Daily Mirror 23 September 1912 page 1]

Reference    Observer 5 November 1911 page 11
Reference    Building News 10 November 1911 page 654
Reference    Building News 27 September 1912 page 451]
Reference    North Wales Weekly News 10 November 1911 page 7
Reference    Cambrian News 25 September 1912 page 2 and 5 – opening
Reference    Daily Mirror 23 September 1912 page 1 – photos of “riots"