Joyce Grenfell : comedian, singer, actor and monologist
George Bernard Shaw : Irish playwright and political activist
Dame Isobel Baillie : Scottish soprano
Paul Nash : painter and war artist
Elsie Suddaby : English lyric soprano
Stanley Baldwin : three times UK conservative prime minister
Nancy, Viscountess Astor : first elected female MP to take her seat
Sir Henry Wood : English conductor and founder of the annual Promenade Concerts
Violet Markham : social reformer and campaigner against women’s suffrage
Ralph Vaughan Williams : English composer
Dame Sybil Thorndyke : actor
Sir John Barbirolli : English conductor of the Hallé Orchestra and cellist
Toni von Sender MP : German-born socialist and feminist
Lascelles Abercrombie : poet and literary critic
Jelly d’Arányi : Hungarian violinist
Thomas J. Watson Sir : Chair and CEO of IBM
Agnes Miller Parker : wood engraver
Gwendoline and Margaret Davies could simply have made Gregynog Hall their home, a quiet retreat to receive company and to display their internationally-renowned collection of French nineteenth-century painting and sculpture. Instead, the sisters chose to share their imposing mansion in rural Montgomeryshire for the benefit of others.
Gwendoline and Margaret championed social, educational and cultural initiatives in Wales. Their renowned music festivals and private printing press, as well as the national and international conferences that the sisters hosted, attracted eminent visitors from near and far. Gregynog’s Visitor Books record a constant stream of houseguests. Up to forty might stay at the Hall at any time, while others lodged nearby.
Each gathering would, the sisters hoped, go some way to build a new Wales in the aftermath of the Great War. Ernest Rhys, author and editor of the Everyman series of literary classics, thought it remarkable to find in the sisters such ‘wealth wise and culture kind’.
Meet here some of Gregynog’s famous visitors and houseguests during the 1920s and 1930s:
Joyce Grenfell, ActorH. Avray Tipping, Garden DesignerElsie Suddaby, SopranoGustav Holst, ComposerNancy, Viscountess Astor, MPWilliam Wardorf, 2nd Viscount AstorLady Evelyn Barbirolli, OboistDr Albrecht Mendelssohn-BartholdyRalph Vaughan WilliamsHelen Waddell, Poet and PlaywrightHugh Blaker, Artist and ConnoisseurAdila Fachiri, Hungarian ViolinistSir Edward Salisbury, Director of KewLascelles Abercrombie, PoetMurray Urquhart, ArtistWerner von Grünau, DiplomatSir T H Parry Williams, PoetSir Ben Bowen Thomas, Civil ServantSir Wilfred Griffin Eady, Diplomat
Paul Nash, ArtistViolet Markham, Social ReformerBlair Hughes-Stanton, ArtistMary Jarred, ContraltoWilliam McCance, ArtistDame Sybil Thorndyke, ActorSir John Barbirolli, ConductorArmin Kaufmann, ComposerSir Adrian Boult, ConductorSir Herbert Read, Art HistorianCaroline and Frances Byng-StamperHerbert John Fleure, AnthropologistPaul Matt, Furniture DesignerSir Charles Groves, ConductorBaroness Eirene White, Labour MPCeri Richards, ArtistIfan ab Owen Edwards, Urdd FounderSir Lewis Casson, Actor and DirectorAgnes Miller Parker, Artist
Gertrude Hermes, ArtistJohn Reith, 1st BBC Director-GeneralDame Isobel Baillie, SopranoStanley Baldwin, Prime MinisterJelly D’Aranyi, ViolinistSir Henry Wood, ConductorGeorge Bernard Shaw, PlaywrightSir Edward Elgar, ComposerSir Henry Walford Davies, ConductorToni von Sender, Socialist & FeministSir Matthew Smith, ArtistWinifred Coombe TennantLord Hugh Pattison Macmillan MPGeoffrey Crawshay, Social BenefactorSir Charles Aitken, Tate DirectorSir Keith FalknerThomas J. Watson, IBM Chair & CEOThomas Jones CH, Civil ServantErnest Rhys, Writer and Editor
Gwendoline Elizabeth Davies
Margaret Sidney Davies
Lascelles Abercrombie, George Bernard Shaw, Dora Herbert Jones, Thomas Jones, Eirene Jones, Jane Blaker, Margaret Davies and unidentified.
Thomas Jones and George Bernard Shaw
Lascelles Abercrombie, George Bernard Shaw and Thomas Jones
Adrian Boult and Lascelles Abercrombie
Dutch children at Gregynog
Dutch children : back row Jane Blaker (left), Margaret Davies (4th from left) and Gwendoline Davies (5th from left). Centre front, Jane Blaker’s dog Nelson.
Dutch children : centre row Gwendoline (2nd from left), Margaret (4th from left). Jane Blaker, standing back row right. Nelson, front centre.
Dutch children : seated centre row Jane Blaker and Nelson (left), Gwendoline (4th from left) and Margaret (6th from left).
Mike Davies, the sister’s nephew, and friends.
Unidentified, Joyce Grenfell and Keith Faulkner.
Henry Walford Davies, unidentified and Lascelles Abercrombie