Beti Rhys

Beti Rhys
Born	Template:Birth date Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales
Died	April 5, 2003(2003-04-05) (aged 96)
Occupation(s)	Bookseller, writer, Welsh language teacher
Known for	Championing Welsh-language literature in South Wales; founding a Welsh-language bookstore in Cardiff

Beti Rhys (2 April 1907 – 5 April 2003) was a notable Welsh bookseller and writer who championed Welsh-language literature in South Wales throughout the 1950s and 1960s. She received her education at Howell's School, Llandaff, where the use of Welsh was prohibited. Initially working as a Welsh language teacher, she later founded a bookstore in Cardiff in 1950, focusing on Welsh-language titles and academic textbooks. Her establishment gained recognition for its scholarly, commercial, and cultural impact, drawing distinguished Welsh intellectuals. Upon retiring in 1968, Rhys embarked on extensive travels and authored two travel narratives along with a biography of Evan Rees, who served as the Archdruid of Wales.

Biography

Born on 2 April 1907 in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Beti Rhys was the daughter of J.E. Rhys, a Presbyterian clergyman. She had one sibling, a sister named Neilan. Despite the prohibition against speaking Welsh at Howell's School—a restriction she found objectionable—Rhys pursued higher education in Welsh studies at Cardiff University. She taught the Welsh language at several schools before taking a position at Pentre Secondary School in the Rhondda valley.

In 1950, with financial assistance from friends, Rhys established a bookstore in Cardiff’s Castle Arcade dedicated to Welsh-language literature and university textbooks. At a time when such materials were limited in southern Wales, her store significantly increased their accessibility and became known as "a hub for the Welsh literary community." She secured agreements to supply educational institutions across Wales with textbooks. Among her regular clientele were eminent scholars and cultural leaders including Idris Foster, poets Waldo Williams and Dylan Thomas, political figure Saunders Lewis, historian John Davies, and politician Neil Kinnock.

The bookstore flourished academically, financially, and socially, prompting Rhys to open a second branch in Park Place overseen by her sister. Besides retailing books, she offered academic assistance to students and attracted customers internationally, such as a Kuwaiti physician who facilitated institutional purchases through her shop. Rhys divested from her businesses in 1968 to retire to Aberystwyth and pursue global travel.

Her journeys took her across China aboard cargo ships, through Russia via the Trans-Siberian Railway, by bus across India, throughout the Americas using Greyhound buses, and across Africa. These experiences were chronicled in two publications: Crwydro'r Byd (Travelling the World) and I'r India a thu hwnt (To India and Beyond), released in 1995. Additionally, she wrote a biography of her great-uncle Evan Rees, who held the position of Archdruid of Wales from 1905 until 1923. Later returning to Cardiff, Rhys spent her final years residing in a nursing facility before passing away on 5 April 2003.

Personality

Described by her obituary writer in The Times as an "indomitable Welsh woman" and a "Champion of Welsh," Rhys was recognized for her unwavering dedication to promoting the Welsh language.

Bibliography

• Dyfed: Bywyd a gwaith Evan Rees (1850–1923) (1984), Gwasg Gee
• Crwydro'r byd (1988), Gwasg Gee
• I'r India a Thu Hwnt (1994), Gwasg Gee