1909

1st August, Mildred Elsie Eldridge (known as Elsie) born in Wimbledon, London; second child of Frederick & Mildred Mary Eldridge (nee Chevalier).

1916

Age 7, began her education at the independent, girls only, Wimbledon School; remained here until 1927, aged 18.

1925

Family moved to Leatherhead, where her father had bought an established jeweler’s shop.

1927

Awarded a certificate at the Royal Drawing Society’s annual exhibition.

Around the age of 18, she had an extended stay in France, where she perfected her colloquial French and painted in the countryside.

1928

Received certificates in English and French, Wimbledon High School; awarded the Royal Drawing Society, annual exhibition, Silver Medal.

1928

September, began formal art education at Wimbledon School of Art.

1930

Age 21, won a Free Studentship to the Royal College of Art, South Kensington, London; studied in the School of Painting.

1933

Graduated as an Associate of the Royal College of Art; won a £180 ‘Travelling Scholarship’ for her compositions ‘Telling the Bees’ and ‘Music in the Countryside’.

1934

Age 24, late March, she went alone to Italy on the Travelling Scholarship to study Renaissance art; stayed with Lina and Aubrey Waterfield.

6th July, returned to Leatherhead; painted one panel of a mural at the Brockley County School, Hilly Fields, London.

1934 or 1935

Moved to 55 Willow Street, Oswestry, North Wales, to be the art teacher at Oswestry Girls High School.

1937

Age 27, solo exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery, Bruton Place, London; the proceeds enabled her to buy a second-hand, open-top Bentley.

Moved to lodgings Bryn Coed, Chirk, where she met the Revd RS Thomas, 24, curate at Saint Mary’s Church, Chirk.

1939

Elsie completed a mural for the new Ibis Cricket Club, Prudential Assurance Company, Chiswick, London.

Designed the East window for Llanpumsaint Church, Carmarthenshire.

1940

5th July, age 30, married RS Thomas, age 27, in Saint Beuno’s Church, Llanycil, on the shores of Bala lake.

Moved to Talarn Green, Hanmer, Flintshire, where Thomas was curate of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene.

Throughout the 1940s, commissioned to illustrate books for children and adults. Few were published until 1948 when paper was no longer scarce. [Link to Gallery page Book Illustrations].

1941

Painted Welsh scenes for Recording Britain, a project for artists to record daily life, buildings, and landscapes that might be destroyed by war or urban development.

1942

Moved to Manafon when RS Thomas became rector of the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, Manafon, Montgomeryshire.

Elsie taught at Moreton Hall private girls’ school [dates unknown].

Elsie taught extra-mural studies; Art Appreciation in Newtown and Welshpool.

1945

29th August, Andreas Gwydion (known as Gwydion), their only child was born.

1951

28th June, the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Gobowen, Oswestry, approved Elsie’s proposal for a mural, The Dance of Life, for the nurses’ home dining room; it would take five years to complete.

1953

Gwydion, aged 8, became a boarding pupil at Packwood Haugh Preparatory School, outside Shrewsbury.

1954

RS Thomas appointed vicar of the Church of Saint Michael, Eglwys Fach, Ceredigion.

1956

January, the final panel of The Dance of Life completed.

Teaching ‘The History and Appreciation of Art’ for the Department of Extra-mural Studies, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Two days per week at Barmouth, Newtown, and Welshpool.

1959

March, became a Member of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours.

1960

Elsie’s father, Frederick Charles, born 1874, died in Leatherhead.

1961

Elsie’s mother, Mildred Mary, born 1871, died in Leatherhead.

1964

Secured a 99-year lease on Sarn Plas cottage, Llŷn Peninsula, first, as a holiday home, then as a place to live in retirement.

Late 1960s

Diagnosed with a thyroid problem.

1967

RS Thomas appointed vicar of the churches of St Hywyn, St Maelrhys, and
St Aelrhyw in and around Aberdaron, Gwynedd.

1968

Elsie started painting greetings cards for The Medici Society, London.

Began sending her paintings to the art dealers, Spink, in London.

1970

Whilst in hospital for thyroid surgery, contracted an infection that was treated with cortisone, leading to bloating, and became reluctant to go out in public.

1972

April, developed shingles whilst hospitalised.

1978

29th March, RS Thomas, 65, retired from parish ministry.

Cataracts were starting to develop in Elsie’s eyes.

1978

Mid-April, Elsie and RS moved into their retirement cottage Sarn Plas, Y Rhiw,
a few miles from Aberdaron. Her work for The Medici Society continued.

1980s

Was suffering extreme pain in her eyes. She declined cataract surgery.

1982

Designed, wrote, and illustrated In my Garden, a children’s book published by
The Medici Society.

1984

Fell and broke her thigh bone.

1986

Designed, wrote, and illustrated The Sea Shore, another book for children published by The Medici Society.

1987

January, age 77, began writing a year-long garden journal.

1988

A Christmas card design was her last commission for The Medici Society.

1991

10th March, age 81, ME Eldridge died at Sarn Plas; her ashes are buried in
the churchyard of St Maelrhys, Porth Ysgo, Aberdaron.

1999

Nurses’ home dining room at the Orthopaedic Hospital, Gobowen, was closed and used as a storeroom with The Dance of Life panels still on the walls.

2000

25th September, R. S. Thomas died, his ashes buried in St. John’s Churchyard, Porthmadog.

2005

The Dance of Life panels placed in a professional art storage facility.

2010

Officials of Glyndŵr University, Wrexham, offered to display The Dance of Life in the Creative Industries Building.

May - Welsh language TV documentary about Elsie and The Dance of Life broadcast on S4C: ‘Pwy Oedd Mrs RS Thomas?’ (Who Was Mrs RS Thomas?)

2011

March, 60 years after the first brushstrokes The Dance of Life was on view again.

2013

Spring exhibition M E Eldridge 1909-1991at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw Gallery, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd.

2014

Summer exhibition of her work at Gwynedd Museum & Art Gallery, Bangor.

2016

16th September, Andreas Gwydion Thomas died, age 71. Buried with his mother.

2017

14th February, RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Society created.

www.rsthomaspoetry.co.uk