Margaret  Ann  Rowe was born in winter 1889 in Narberth, Pembrokeshire. Her mother, Martha, ran a local shoe shop, while her father, Alfred, was also a part-time ‘Rural Post Messenger’.

Annie was one of six children and as a teenager her died mother of pleurisy at the age of 48. Nevertheless, Annie continued with her schooling and passed the entrance scholarship to ‘County Intermediate School’ with ‘470 Marks’ in September 1903. With career aspirations, Annie went on to become a pupil teacher. An article in The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser on 6^th January 1905 reported:

‘At a meeting of the Narberth No 10 group of Schools held at the Narberth Board School, on Wednesday evening last, Miss AnnieRowe, daughter of Mr Alfred Rowe, High Street was appointed probationer pupil teacher’.

In her memoir, Annie’s daughter, Margaret, concludes however, ‘my mother had hoped to be a teacher…but at the age of 17 became very ill with rheumatic fever- a grave and chronically debilitating illness in those days before antibiotics- forcing her to give up the idea of continuing with academic studies’.

The impact of illness on Annie’s life, from the death of her mother to the crushing of her career goals reveals much about the instability of life before effective medical treatment was widely available. Her daughter describes how she continued to love reading, but that the domestic role of wife and mother made little time for this later on. This is particularly evident when we compare her experience with that of her husband Harry Laver who she married in June 1916.

Harry and Annie met when ‘one of Mrs. Pankhurst’s campaigners came to the town to run a meeting rallying support for the (Suffragette) cause’. They were liberal supporters who supported the rights of working people. However, Harry (despite working over 50 hours per week) was free to ‘listen to lectures or take part in discussions, many of which were political’ as a member of the Reading Room in the High Street. He had access to newspapers and magazines and was captain of the local football team. Annie’s life, in contrast, is summarised by her daughter as follows:

‘Her days were filled with housework, cleaning, cooking, washing up, laundry and ironing, as well as shopping and visiting her family, and attending chapel. She also did some decorating, wallpapering and painting…’

We do, however, find further glimpses into Annie’s political stance. Her daughter Margaret claims that she ‘made (her husband) join a non-combatant unit (during WWI) and never carry a rifle’, suggesting she was a pacifist, and she is described as possessing ‘constant kindness….(as the) spirit and soul of all us Lavers’.

Annie Laver Died 18^th November 1959 in Swansea. Her domestic life of ‘cook(ing) on a paraffin stove’, bathing her children in a ‘metal bath-tub’ from ‘kettles and saucepans’ and flattening ‘damp clothes’ with an iron heated on the fire, was coloured with tragedy, academic achievement and political engagement with events that changed the course of history.

Ganed Margaret Ann Rowe yn ystod gaeaf 1889 yn Arberth, Sir Benfro. Roedd ei mam, Martha, yn rhedeg siop esgidiau leol, tra bod ei thad, Alfred, hefyd yn ‘Negesydd Post Gwledig’ rhan-amser.

Roedd Annie yn un o chwech o blant, ac yn ei harddegau bu farw ei mam o’r pliwrisi yn 48 oed. Serch hynny, parhaodd Annie â’i haddysg gan lwyddo yn yr ysgoloriaeth mynediad i ‘Ysgol Ganolradd y Sir’ gyda ‘470 o Farciau’ fis Medi 1903. Ei gobaith oedd cael gyrfa, ac aeth Annie ymlaen i fod yn ddisgybl athrawes. Mae erthygl yn y ‘Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser’ ar y 6ed o Ionawr 1905 yn nodi:

‘Mewn cyfarfod o grŵp Ysgolion Rhif 10 Arberth a gynhaliwyd yn Ysgol Fwrdd Arberth, nos Fercher ddiwethaf, penodwyd Miss Annie Rowe, merch Mr Alfred Rowe, y Stryd Fawr, yn ddisgybl athrawes ar brawf’.

Yn ei chofiant, mae merch Annie, Margaret, yn dod i’r casgliad fodd bynnag, ‘roedd fy mam wedi gobeithio bod yn athrawes … ond yn 17 oed aeth yn sâl iawn o’r dwymyn wynegon – oedd yn salwch gwanychol cronig yn y dyddiau hynny cyn meddyginiaeth gwrthfiotig, oedd yn ei gorfodi i roi’r gorau i’r syniad o barhau â’i hastudiaethau academaidd’.

Mae effaith salwch ar fywyd Annie, o farwolaeth ei mam i orfod rhoi’r gorau i’w gobeithion am yrfa, yn datgelu llawer am ansefydlogrwydd bywyd cyn bod triniaeth feddygol effeithiol ar gael i bawb. Mae ei merch yn disgrifio sut y parhaodd i ddwlu darllen, ond bod gwaith tŷ gwraig a mam yn ddiweddarach yn golygu mai prin oedd yr amser i ddarllen. Mae hyn yn arbennig o amlwg pan gymharwn ei phrofiad hi â phrofiad ei gŵr Harry Laver a briododd fis Mehefin 1916.

Cyfarfu Harry ac Annie pan ddaeth ‘un o ymgyrchwyr Mrs. Pankhurst i’r dref i gynnal cyfarfod i ennyn cefnogaeth i’r achos (Swffraget)‘. Roeddent yn gefnogwyr rhyddfrydol oedd yn cefnogi hawliau’r gweithwyr. Fodd bynnag, roedd Harry (er gwaethaf ei fod yn gweithio dros 50 awr yr wythnos) yn rhydd i ‘wrando ar ddarlithoedd neu gymryd rhan mewn trafodaethau, nifer ohonynt yn wleidyddol’ fel aelod o’r Ystafell Ddarllen ar y Stryd Fawr. Roedd cyfle ganddo i ddarllen papurau newydd a chylchgronau ac roedd yn gapten ar y tîm pêl-droed lleol. Mewn cyferbyniad, roedd bywyd Annie wedi’i grynhoi gan ei merch fel a ganlyn:

‘Roedd ei diwrnodau wedi’u llenwi â gwaith tŷ, glanhau, coginio, golchi llestri, golchi dillad a smwddio, yn ogystal â siopa ac ymweld â’i theulu, a mynd i’r capel. Hefyd roedd yn gwneud peth gwaith addurno, papuro a phaentio … ‘

Fodd bynnag, ceir cipolwg pellach ar safiad gwleidyddol Annie. Mae ei merch Margaret yn honni iddi ‘wneud (i’w gŵr) ymuno ag uned nad yw’n ymladd (yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf) a pheidio byth â chario dryll’, gan awgrymu ei bod yn heddychwraig, a disgrifir hi fel un sy’n ‘gyson llawn caredigrwydd…. ac yn ysbryd ac enaid bob yr un ohonom ni, teulu’r Lavers’.

Bu farw Annie Laver ar 18 Tachwedd 1959 yn Abertawe. Roedd ei bywyd domestig o ‘goginio ar stôf paraffin’, ymolchi ei phlant mewn ‘twba sinc’ o ‘decilau a sosbenni’ a llyfnu ‘dillad llaith’ â haearn smwddio wedi’i chynhesu ar y tân, yn ddarlun o drasiedi, llwyddiant academaidd a bod yn rhan o ddigwyddiadau gwleidyddol a newidiodd gwrs hanes.