Emma Evans was born c.1849 at Beaconsfield House, St. James Street, Narberth. She came from a family of Millwrights, although she worked as a poulterer and walked to Tenby weekly with her sisters Martha and Caroline to sell produce.

In Narberth Emma was described as a ‘notable character’ who wore traditional Welsh costume to market. Her hat, at Narberth Museum, has been described by expert Michael Freeman as ‘an early example’ of the traditional Welsh hat and is unusual as the ‘fabric on the upper and underside of the brim are two separate pieces’.

On 3^rd October 1879, Emma, (then living at Gladstone Villa) appeared in the Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser through her involvement in an environmental dispute. It stated: ‘J.M. Thomas, Inspector of Nuisances, charged Emma Evans of Narberth for allowing a foul and offensive mixen, in Tabernacle Lane, Narberth, to exist’. She was fined and ordered ‘not to place any more on the same premises’.

This was not the only occasion that she appeared in court. In 1871 The Western Mail reported that ‘Enoch White of Haverfordwest, charged Emma Lewis with assaulting him in the market place…Complainant was buying fowls on the day in question when defendant came up and, after indulging in foul language, struck him in the face three or four times’. Without condoning violence, it is interesting to note how two other men corroborated the story but it later emerged that Enoch White had similarly used ‘abusive language’ towards Emma Evans. She received a fine for 6d, while he received no punishment. Furthermore, when another man complained of being struck, Emma and Martha Evans expressed that he had hit them too yet were essentially ignored and fined a further 6d.

Emma’s story further reveals an inequality of treatment and bias against women who refused to behave demurely, with reports that children referred to her as ‘Emma Corkin’. Some have suggested that this implies a family connection with Cork in Ireland. However, it also possibly refers to the idiom ‘put a cork in it’, which again underpins the notion of a woman who is ‘too’ outspoken or opinionated.

Emma died in 1911 but her legacy lives on. Her grandson, Stanley Lewis, was an electronic pioneer who designed and built the first television receiver in West Wales. In 1952 he also designed the ‘Orchestron’, thought to be the first electronic organ in the UK.

Ganed Emma Evans tua 1849 yn Beaconsfield House, Stryd St. James, Arberth. Roedd yn dod o deulu o seiri melinau, er ei bod hithau yn gweithio yn y maes cadw a gwerthu ffowls ac yn cerdded i Ddinbych-y-pysgod yn wythnosol gyda’i chwiorydd Martha a Caroline i werthu eu cynnyrch.

Yn Arberth disgrifiwyd Emma fel ‘cymeriad nodedig’ oedd yn gwisgo gwisg Gymreig draddodiadol i’r farchnad. Mae ei het, sydd i’w gweld yn Amgueddfa Arberth, wedi cael ei disgrifio gan yr arbenigwr Michael Freeman fel ‘enghraifft gynnar’ o’r het Gymreig draddodiadol, ac mae’n anarferol gan fod y ‘ffabrig ar ochr uchaf ac ochr isaf y cantel yn ddau ddarn ar wahân’.

Ar y 3^ydd o Hydref 1879, roedd Emma (oedd yn byw ar y pryd yn Gladstone Villa) wedi ymddangos yn y papur lleol Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser gan iddi fod yn rhan o anghydfod amgylcheddol. Nodwyd yn y papur bod ‘J.M. Thomas, Arolygwr Niwsans, wedi dwyn achos yn erbyn Emma Evans o Arberth am ganiatáu i domen fudr a drewllyd, ar Lôn Tabernacl, Arberth, fodoli’. Cafodd ddirwy a gorchymyn ‘i beidio â chadw domen mwyach ar yr eiddo dan sylw’.

Nid hwn oedd yr unig dro iddi ymddangos yn y llys. Ym 1871 nodwyd yn y Western Mail bod ‘Enoch White o Hwlffordd, wedi cyhuddo Emma Lewis o ymosod arno yn y farchnad … Roedd yr achwynydd yn prynu ffowls ar y diwrnod dan sylw pan ddaeth y diffynnydd i fyny ato ac, ar ôl defnyddio iaith anweddus, ei daro ar ei wyneb dair neu bedair gwaith’. Heb esgusodi trais, mae’n ddiddorol nodi sut y gwnaeth dau ddyn arall gadarnhau’r stori, ond daeth i’r amlwg yn ddiweddarach bod Enoch White hefyd wedi defnyddio ‘iaith ymosodol’ tuag at Emma Evans. Derbyniodd Emma ddirwy o 6c, ond ni dderbyniodd Enoch White unrhyw gosb. Ar ben hynny, pan gwynodd dyn arall am gael ei daro, dywedodd Emma a Martha Evans ei fod yntau wedi eu taro hwythau hefyd, ond fe’u hanwybyddwyd a dirwywyd hwy o 6c arall.

Mae stori Emma yn dadlennu unwaith yn rhagor yr anghydraddoldeb oedd yn bodoli yn y modd yr oedd menywod yn cael eu trin a’r rhagfarn yn erbyn y rhyw deg oedd yn gwrthod ufuddhau i’r drefn, gydag adroddiadau bod plant wedi cyfeirio ati fel ‘Emma Corkin’. Mae rhai wedi awgrymu bod hyn yn awgrymu cysylltiad teuluol â Cork yn Iwerddon. Fodd bynnag, mae hefyd o bosibl yn cyfeirio at yr idiom ‘rhoi corc ynddo’, sydd eto’n sail i’r syniad o fenyw sy’n ‘rhy’ ddi-flewyn-ar-dafod neu yn gyndyn ei barn.

Bu farw Emma ym 1911 ond mae ei hetifeddiaeth wedi goroesi. Roedd ei hŵyr, Stanley Lewis, yn arloeswr electronig a ddyluniodd ac a adeiladodd y derbynnydd teledu cyntaf yng Ngorllewin Cymru. Yn 1952 ef ddyluniodd yr ‘Orchestron’ hefyd, y credir mai hwn oedd yr organ electronig cyntaf yn y DU.