Dora Herbert Jones

Dora Herbert Jones ( Rowlands; 26 August 1890 – 9 January 1974) was a Welsh administrator and singer. She began singing while in school and continued doing so while studying at the University College of Wales. Jones was Herbert Lewis' secretary and organised his election campaign in the 1918 general election. She also worked for Viscount Wimborne in Ireland and then at the National Library of Wales. From 1927 to 1942, Jones worked at Gregynog Press and organised the four-day Gregynog Music Festival from 1933 to 1938. She was vice-president and later president of the Welsh Folk Song Society and performed and interpreted folk songs on radio and television. Collections connected to Jones' life are held in both the National Library of Wales and the St Fagans National Museum of History.

Early life On 26 August 1890, Jones was born in Llangollen, to the Welsh speaking grocer John Rowlands and his wife Eleanor ( Edwards). and was known as Dora since childhood even though she was baptized as Deborah Jarrett Rowlands. Jones was strongly influenced by the chapel in her youth and was influenced by a local musician at that time. At Aberystwyth, Jones became influenced by the folk song collector and Welsh Folk Song Society founder member Mary Davies when the latter was invited to lecture at the Celtic society in 1910. In 1942, after being a secretary and treasurer,

Legacy Rhidian Griffiths wrote of Jones: "Dora Herbert Jones was a pioneer as an administrator and of the role of women in administration, a pioneer in broadcasting, and one of the committed enthusiasts who preserved and interpreted Welsh folk-songs to a wider audience." and a collection of papers on her is held by the St Fagans National Museum of History. In mid-2003, a book about Jones entitled Brenhines Powys was written by Gwenan Mair Gibbard and published by Carreg Gwalch. Jones was the subject of the final episode of the 2016 six-part television series Mamwlad gyda Ffion Hague presented by Ffion Hague and broadcast on the Welsh-language S4C channel.