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Rachel Ann (Rhyda) Williams (née Jones) (1898-1981), mother of Julian Williams, graduated in music at University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1921. Before her marriage, Rhyda Jones was Music Mistress at the County School for Girls, Barry where she taught Grace Williams. Rhyda’s marriage to Thomas Basil Williams in 1932 brought her into contact with Dr Mary Williams (first cousin to Basil’s father), and her husband G. Arbour Stephens, who turned to Rhyda for advice when composing music. Rhyda inherited Dr Mary’s home in Aberystwyth, and some of her papers.

Raymond Williams (1921-1988) was a social historian, critic and novelist born in Y Pandy, Monmouthshire, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge where his studies were interrupted by war service. He returned to Cambridge after the war and was later appointed staff tutor with the Oxford University Extra-Mural Delegacy. In 1961 he was elected Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. His volumes Culture and Society (1958) and The Long Revolution (1966) brought him considerable recognition as a cultural historian. He engaged in political activity throughout his life, was very close to the 'New Left' position in Britain, having resigned from the Labour Party in 1966. He served as Professor of Drama at Cambridge from 1974 until his retirement in 1983. He published a large number of books and articles and was a frequent contributor to the New Welsh Review. He also published an important trilogy of novels, namely Border County (1960), Second Generation (1964) and The Fight for Manod (1979). Several of his works, some important, were published posthumously.