William Rees, M.A., D.Sc., F.S.A., F.R.HIST.S., D.LITT. 71^st President

Back to the 150th Anniversary index

Go Back to last page visited

Sadly we do not have an obituary of him but Professor William Rees was a long serving member of the society having joined in 1930 and remaining a member for much of the rest of his long life, and therefore we do have a number of references to his activities within the society.

Even in that first year of membership he presented a paper on "The Lordship Of Cardiff" which is presented in volume LXIII of the Transactions . The following year he represented the Society at the Anglo-American Historical Congress held in July, 1931, in London, and in due course "reported fully thereon". That same year he is recorded as being President of the Archaeological Section of the society and presented his Presidential Address - A View of the Cardiff District Five Hundred Years Ago.

From our records he had a very active presidential year as recorded in Volume LXXX of the Transactions: -

BIENNIAL CONVERSAZIONE

The Biennial Conversazione was held at the National Museum of Wales on 15th December, 1949, when 21 members and friends were received by the President (Professor William Rees) and Mrs. Rees, and the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor W. H. J. Muston) and Mrs. Muston.

FIELD MEETINGS.

A week-end visit to Tenby and surrounding district was made by 33 members on the 5th to 7th May, 1950, the headquarters being the Royal Gate House Hotel. Professor William Rees was the leader, assisted by Mr. H. O. Leach, curator of the Tenby Museum. Sir Frederick and Lady Rees accompanied the party on some of the excursions, and were entertained to dinner as guests of the Society.

Spring Meeting. On the 24th May, 1950, the President, Professor William Rees, conducted a party of 174 members around Cardiff Castle, and those present were privileged (under Professor Rees's leadership) to visit parts of the castle not normally available to the public. Mr. J. M. Cleary, the Hon. Secretary of the Junior Section, escorted some of the members over certain of the rooms in the residential part of the castle.

Summer Meeting. On the Ladies' Day Meeting, 17th June, 1950, 82 members visited Llanthony Abbey and Priory Church, Abergavenny. The President, Professor William Rees, was the leader, and his descriptive comments on the abbey and church effigies largely contributed to the success of the meeting.

There is a short history of him and some of his work on Mapping the March of Wales

A selection of those book covers is given here: -

William Rees book Covers

Back to the 150th Anniversary index

Before this... Colin Matheson, M.A., B.Sc. (1898 - 1979) 70^th President

Next up... Colonel H. Morrey Salmon, CBE, MC, DL, DSc 72^nd President

See our Full list of Presidents

These pages are part of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society 150th Anniversary celebrations and are about our history and are celebrating the people who developed our Society and helped build the city and the cultural heritage of Cardiff. You can read more about that using the links above

If you want to read about the ways we study the wildlife and environment of the Cardiff area and its surroundings, and about the talks we have about the wildlife of the world, and find the programme of talks, walks and other events that we do then please take a look at our main website, our blog and our facebook and twitter feeds for up to date news