Guest post by Margaret Vaughan (née Morris), niece and goddaughter of Mary Edith Morris

Mary Edith Morris was born on 3 August 1887 at my family home, Bryn Myrddin, South Wales, the daughter of Edward Harold Morris and Edith Morris (née Abadam), and the older sister of my father Ryle Morris. She was educated by governesses and at a boarding school in Malvern. At Bryn Myrddin she had an active social life and was keen on horse-riding and fox-hunting.

From around 1914, when she was about 27 years old, Mary worked at King’s College Hospital, London. Then, no doubt encouraged in her career by her aunt Alice Abadam, she joined the Metropolitan Police in London’s East End for two years. From 1923, she worked for two years as an interpreter and in other roles with the British Army of Occupation and the Military Police in Germany, including in Cologne. She joined the Sheffield Police Force in November 1925, and stayed there until 1932. In 1936, aged around 49, she was living in Beddington, London.

I was born on 7 November 1934, as Margaret Mary Edith Winefride Morris. Auntie Mary was my godmother, and made rather a pet of me. She lived with us at Bryn Myrddin from about 1940, when Auntie Ai (Alice Abadam) died. Auntie Mary taught me how to read, and I read a piece from the Bible to my father the Christmas after my fifth birthday, for which he gave me a shilling as a reward. She made me do a lot of learning by heart of poetry, and I had to learn the gospel every week and recite it to her.

She did a lot of bringing us up. She taught me a lot about being precise and keeping things in order. If I did any shopping with or for her, I always had to keep a careful account of every penny. We were all a bit afraid of her as children as she was strict with us and told us off if we didn’t behave how she wanted us to! She had pretty strict rules about how things should be done, and was quite active with punishments, pinches, smacks etc. if things were not how she liked them. She always went to bed very late, and if she found things were not to her liking sometimes got us up in the night to put them right.

Auntie Mary was rather frugal, and used to keep old drying-up-cloths specially for knives. These old cloths were really almost rags, and I can remember her showing me how to dry a knife from the non-cutting edge, so it wouldn’t damage the cloth! She always wanted to ‘use up’ old towels, sheets etc. I can remember Mummy saying that she went and got a lovely fluffy towel out to use, as soon as Auntie Mary left Bryn Myrddin to live in her own house.

Auntie Mary was very keen on the goats which we kept during the war for milk (and made butter about once a week). She taught me a lot of the English names of common flowers and some birds.

When I went to boarding school in 1943 at the age of nine, I can remember thinking that I was quite good at learning by heart compared to most people at my school.

Auntie Mary left Bryn Myrddin just before I married Richard Vaughan in 1955, when she bought her own house in Ffynnon-ddrain, about five miles from Bryn Myrddin. She got on very well with Richard, though he was disappointed that she had only taught me the common names of plants, not the Latin names! Later, my mother found it difficult looking after Auntie Mary in Ffynonn-ddrain in a cold winter, and they persuaded her to come and live in one of the flats at Bryn Myrddin. In the end she moved to a home in Llandrindod Wells for about two or three years before she died on 4 December 1974.

Below is the text from an article about Mary Morris as a police officer, and articles from Natur Cymru and the Carmarthenshire Antiquary (both included with permission) about her nature diaries.

Who’s who in Sheffield: Miss Mary Morris (Sheffield Telegraph 13/11/1930):
One who loves her job above everything else is Policewoman (Sergeant) Mary Morris, the head of the Sheffield Women’s city Police Force.
It has been said that the policeman’s lot is not a happy one, but what of the policewoman? Sheffield’s six women police do not seem at all downhearted, but radiate a cheerfulness that is infectious. Miss Morris’s charming personality has helped her on innumerable occasions. With her keen intelligence she makes an instant impression upon those who come into personal contact with her.
She shows a breadth of vision and a sense of proportion in all her undertakings. It is her sympathetic, kindly nature which has lifted many a poor unfortunate out of the slough of despondency, and resulted in a woman or girl being helped along the right path. Certainly, Miss Morris understands human nature, with all its frailties and foibles.
A knowledge of humanity, as well as of law, is considered essential by Miss Morris for all police work. Educated women with a knowledge of social work and of nursing make good policewomen.
In the course of her police work in both England and Germany, Miss Morris has given meritorious service. She came to Sheffield on November 5th 1925, when there was only one policewoman in the city. Subsequently, Miss Morris was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Since then the scope of the work has vastly increased, not only in regard to women and children, but in other directions.
Miss Morris is one of the pioneers, and has been a policewoman for nearly ten years. Before coming to Sheffield she was for two years with the British Army of Occupation in the Rhine Provinces. She was one of a number of other policewomen who went out with the renowned Commandant Mary Allen, and was for a time stationed in Cologne, where the work of the women police contributed a great deal towards the better understanding which has sprung up between the two nations.
While in Germany, Miss Morris was attached to the military police. Her work was mostly with women and girls, and daily many came to her for advice on their matrimonial and other difficulties. She also attended the German courts of justice during the hearing of certain cases, acted as interpreter, did much inquiry work for the military police, and carried on welfare work among girls.
Miss Morris was also attached for two years to the Metropolitan Women’s Police Force. She worked in the streets and parks and in the East End of London. Before joining the women police Miss Morris gained much experience of hospital work during her seven years’ stay at the King’s College Hospital, London. She is a native of Carmarthenshire.