Mary Williams

Mary Williams (1883-1977) was a distinguished Welsh academic of modern languages. She was one of the first woman appointed to a professorial title at a British university. Known by her peers as a pioneer in the field of comparative medieval literature, more especially the origin and rise of the Arthurian Romances, she was awarded the Officier d’Academie and Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the French government in 1934. Early life and education Mary Williams was the elder daughter of Revd. John Williams and Mrs Jane Williams of Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire. She was the sister of Jennie Williams (Mrs R. Ruggles Gates) and was brought up in a Welsh Presbyterian household. Her brother Jon died of cancer at the age of ten when she was only 3. Williams attended Aberystwyth Elementary School and then in 1895, at the age of twelve, was enrolled at Camden School for Girls and then the North London Collegiate School for Girls (Frances Mary Buss Foundation), having obtained the Platt Endowment Scholarship to study. She obtained a first-class certificate in the London Matriculation Examination in 1901.