As communities and volunteers have been transcribing the 390,296 signatories from the 1923 Welsh Women’s Peace Petition to America, many have been identifying and uncovering the stories behind this generation of women who stood against war. Who were they – and what messages might they have for us 100 years later.

Hidden Histories’ project led by the WCIA invited people across Wales to uncover and share ‘peace stories’ behind the 390,296 women who signed the Peace Petition – not just ‘the great and the good’, but the thousands of ordinary women across Wales moved in the aftermath of World War One to petition for peace.

This story and supporting material were contributed by Catrin Stevens.

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 Ethel Elizabeth Poole  To promote the collection of names on the Peace Petition 1923-24 the Welsh League of Nations Union of Wales appointed two organisers: Mrs Hugh (Mary Ellen) Pritchard in the North and  Ceredigion and Ethel Elizabeth Poole to serve the South and Monmouthshire. They were paid an honorarium of £100 each. By September 1923 Ethel was convening public meetings in Swansea, Cardiff, Maesteg, Pontlottyn, Llanelli and so on. She would explain the nature of the petition, and establish local Steering  Committees of influential women to lead the work. She said that “all women over the age of 18 in Wales are welcome to sign, but the wording of the appeal should be read to all women before asking for their signature.” In celebrating the success of the American trip in June 1924, prominent campaigner Emily Matthews of Anglesey claimed that the WLNU organization was “very fortunate to secure the energetic service of these two organizers, who undertook the work not as ‘organizing work’, but as a mission. They were the heart and soul of the movement,” she said. Ethel was born in Horfield, Bristol, on 1 October 1883, the daughter of John George and Annie  Tyson. The 1891 Census records that John was a professional soldier serving all over the world, with his older brothers and sisters born in Malta, the Far East and Singapore. By 1901 the father  had retired and the family lived in Queen's Hill, Newport. We see that Ethel was a pupil teacher at a boarding school, and on 30 July 1904 she married the schoolmaster Perceval Poole at St Mark's Church, going to live at St Mark's Crescent in the town. By 1911 they had two sons: Percy and Harry. Ethel died on 29 December 1946 in Ilford Essex. Very significantly Ethel also had a younger brother called Percy Eldin Tyson, who was killed on 8  December 1916 on the battlefield in France. He was 26 years old and serving with the Welsh Regiment. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial (above), although his grave has  never been identified.  Remembering this personal tragedy it is easy to understand Ethel's dedication for lasting peace after the massacre of the Great War.