Born on this day 1839 in Llangrannog,
Sarah Jane Rees, navigational and nautical trainer, a campaigner for the temperance movement, a supporter of women's rights. a poet and magazine editor.
Sarah Jane was the daughter of a sea captain and after leaving school decided to go to sea to work with her father. She also attended local navigational colleges and finished her nautical education by gaining a master's certificate in London, which enabled her to take command of sea-going vessels. Sarah Jane then returned to Wales, to establish a renowned school of navigation in Llangrannog. Among her other talents, Sarah Jane won the crown for her poetry at the Aberystwyth National Eisteddfod in 1865, competing under the bardic name of Cranogwen, taken from the River Crannog that runs through Llangranog. Her Eisteddfod victory brought her national fame and encouraged her to publish a book of poems entitled Caniadau Cranogwen, as well as editing the woman's journal, 'Y Frythones'.
In later life, Sarah Jane became a popular lay-preacher and established the South Wales Women’s Temperance Union in 1901, as well as founding a home for destitute girls in Tonypandy. She also remained actively involved in education by being a pioneer of the 'tonic sol-fa' method of music teaching.
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