THE latest community news from Harlech

Cymdeithas Hanes

THE society’s January meeting was treated to a graphic exposition of the way genealogy can broaden our knowledge of family and local history, by Dinah Pickard.

Her talk on ‘Sitters for Salem’ traced the origin of the artist Sidney Curnow Vosper’s famous painting of Capel Salem at Pentre Gwynfryn, near Llanbedr and the local people depicted in it.

Vosper, who died in 1942, was an eccentric, lovable and humorous man who cycled everywhere – even in Brittany where he lived and worked for most of his life.

His wife was from Merthyr Tydfil and probably introduced him to the Llanbedr area, where he painted several local scenes between 1906 and 1908.

“Salem”, the most famous, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1909 and sold for 100 guineas to William Hesketh Lever (later Lord Leverhulme).

It is now in the lady Lever Art Gallery, near Liverpool. Vosper’s brother in law visited the exhibition too late to buy the picture so Vosper produced a smaller copy which is in his wife’s family collection.

The main sitter and the central character in the painting is Sian (or Jane) Owen who is pictured in a brightly coloured shawl making her way to the family pew.

The shawl was borrowed from the wife of the Vicar of Harlech because Sian’s own shawl was not considered bright enough!

She was born in 1837 and was the daughter of Rees Williams and Jane Griffith of Maesygarnedd, Nantcol, home of the regicide John Jones who signed the death warrant of Charlest 1st.

Sian married George Owen a widower and lived at Tynyfawnog, Pensarn, at the time of the painting.

She was also portrayed in another of Vosper’s pictures, “Market Day in Old Wales”, set in Carleg Coch on the Llanfair Uchaf estate.

She died in 1927 aged 90 and is buried in Llanfair churchyard.

The lady to Sian’s left in the painting was a tailor’s dummy used by Vosper to arrange her shawl because she had a habit of twitching; but the face is Sian’s.

A little girl was gathering wild flowers at the time, looked into the chapel and saw the dummy.

She was frightened, thinking it was a corpse or a ghost and told her Mother.

Vosper heard the story and decided to include the girl in picture looking through the window.

Her name is not known so it is doubtful whether she actually sat for Vosper.

Among the other “Sitters for Salem” was Robert Williams of Cae Meddyg, the only person in the picture depicted in the act of worship.

He was a member of Capel Salem congregation and is buried in the graveyard. His house also featured in “Grief”, another of Vosper’s paintings.

Mary Rowlands, who lived in Capel House adjoining Salem, also sat for the picture.

Her portrait was painted by Vosper and is now in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Her youngest son Evan who was blind was chosen to model the child in the painting. But he couldn’t sit still, so Vosper used his cousin Evan Lloyd instead.

The hat that appears four times in the painting belonged to Mary’s Mother.

Dinah was warmly applauded, and thanked by the Chairman Neil Evans who noted how much history benefits from the study of genealogy.

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