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Title: A Biographical Sketch of some of the Most Eminent Individuals which the Principality of Wales has produced since the Reformation
Author: Williams, Robert, 1810-1881
Language: English
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THE MOST EMINENT INDIVIDUALS WHICH THE PRINCIPALITY OF WALES HAS PRODUCED
SINCE THE REFORMATION***
Transcribed from the 1836 H. Hughes edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org
A
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
OF SOME OF
THE MOST EMINENT INDIVIDUALS
WHICH
THE PRINCIPALITY OF WALES
HAS PRODUCED SINCE THE REFORMATION.
* * * * *
BY
The REV. ROBERT WILLIAMS, M.A.,
AUTHOR OF AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF CONWAY CASTLE.
(To whom the Cymmvodorion awarded a Silver Medal in 1831).
* * * * *
WITH AN ADDENDA,
CONTAINING MEMOIRS OF DR. WILLIAM OWEN PUGHE,
RICHARD LLWYD, THE ANTIQUARIAN, BARDD NANTGLYN,
BARDD CLOFF, AND SEVERAL OTHERS, DERIVED FROM
VARIOUS AUTHENTICATED SOURCES.
* * * * *
LONDON:
H. HUGHES, 15, ST. MARTIN’S-LE-GRAND.
* * * * *
1836.
METCALFF, PRINTERS,
5 GROCERS’ HALL COURT, POULTRY.
TO THE PUBLIC.
The object of this little work, is, to show to the English reader, that
Wales has produced a number of highly talented and distinguished
individuals; and the publication might be greatly extended, were it
deemed prudent to add the names of those learned men who are still among
us.
The publisher will feel obliged for any additional names, which will be
inserted in a future edition.
* * * * *
Mr. Williams’s portion may be had printed in Welsh.
Price one shilling.
* * * * *
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,
ETC.
_William Baxter_ was born in Wales in the year 1650. In his eighteenth
year he was sent to Harrow School, when he could speak no other language
but Welsh; he, however, soon acquired English, and triumphantly overcame
all these disadvantages, and at the age of twenty-nine he commenced
author, with the publication of his “Analogia Linguæ Latinæ.” He
afterwards was appointed master of the Mercer’s School, in London. He
soon made himself known as an excellent philologist and antiquary, by
several learned works, and more particularly his Horace and his
Dictionary of British Antiquities, entitled “Glossarium Antiquitatum
Britannicarum,” in which he attempted, from his knowledge of the British
language, to determine geography by etymology. He died in 1723.
_Lewis Bayly_, an eminent prelate, was a native of Caermarthen, and
studied at Oxford. He was appointed chaplain to Henry Prince of Wales,
son of James the First, to whom he dedicated a religious work, entitled
the “Practice of Piety,” which has passed through a vast number of
editions. He was rector of St. Matthew’s church, in London, and
afterwards bishop of Bangor; and died in 1631. His son,
_Thomas Bayly_ was educated for the church at Cambridge; and during the
civil war he resided at Ragland Castle, as chaplain to the Marquis of
Worcester; after the surrender of which he travelled on the Continent;
and on his return to England he published his “Certamen Religiosum, or a
Conference between King Charles the First and Marquis of Worcester,
concerning religion, in Ragland Castle, Anno 1646,” which he is supposed
to have written to justify his embracing the Roman Catholic religion. He
also published the “Royal Charter granted to Kings,” for which he was
committed to Newgate. He also published another work, entitled “Herba
parietis.” Having made his escape from prison, he died in France in
1659.
_Morris Clynog_ was a native of Caernarvonshire, and was educated at
Cambridge, where he graduated L.L.B. He was appointed rector of Corwen
sinecure in 1556, and became a prebendary of York, and an officer in the
Prerogative Court, under Cardinal Pole, archbishop of Canterbury, and he
was nominated to succeed Dr. William Glynn in the bishopric of Bangor;
but the queen dying before he was consecrated, he fled beyond sea, and
going to Rome he became, some years after, the first rector of the
English hospital there, after it was converted into a college for English
students, where he became much noted for his partiality to his countrymen
of Wales, which always caused a great faction between the Welsh and
English students resident there.
_Thomas Coke_, the eminent missionary, was the son of a surgeon at
Brecon, in South Wales, where he was born in the year 1747. He was
educated at the College school at that town, and in due time he was
entered a Gentleman Commoner of Jesus College, Oxford. He took the
degree of L.L.D. in 1775; and becoming acquainted with Wesley, he
supported his opinions with great zeal. He commenced his labours as a
missionary in North America in 1784, where he remained for several years
in great popularity with the Methodists; but his advocating the cause of
the negroes, and his opposition to the inhuman traffic in slaves, brought
upon him the indignation of the Americans, and he was obliged to leave
the country with precipitancy, and it was with great difficulty that he
escaped to England. He afterwards made nine voyages as a missionary to
the West Indies with great success, which must be attributed to his pious
zeal and learning, which he has left several works to prove. His
character has always been greatly extolled for the judgment which he
exhibited in very trying periods, and for the amiableness of his
disposition. He died on his voyage to the East Indies in 1814.
_Francis Davies_, D.D., an eminent and pious prelate, was a native of
Wales, and was born in the year 1604. After an academical education, he
entered the church; he received various preferment, and in 1660 he was
appointed archdeacon of Llandaff. In 1667 he was raised to the bishopric
of the same diocese; and died in 1674.
_John Davies_, D.D., the celebrated Welsh antiquary and learned divine,
was born at Llanverras, in Denbighshire, and was educated at Ruthin
School, under Bishop Parry. He was entered at Jesus College, Oxford, in
1589, where he graduated. In 1608, he removed to Lincoln College, and
took his Doctor’s degree in 1616. Having been appointed chaplain to
Bishop Parry, he was made canon of St. Asaph by him; and in 1604, he was
presented to the rectory of Mallwyd, and subsequently to those of Llan yn
Mowddy and Darowen; and in 1617 to the prebend of Llannfydd, and
subsequently to Llanvor sinecure. His character was held in high
estimation in Oxford for his proficiency in the Greek and Hebrew
languages: a most exact critic, and an indefatigable searcher of
antiquities. His celebrated works are “Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ
Rudimenta,” 8vo., 1621, and “Dictionarium Britannico-Latinum, and
Latino-Britannicum,” which was published in London, 1632, folio. At the
end of his dictionary is a good collection of Welsh proverbs. He died in
May, 1644, and was buried in the church of Mallwydd, Meirionethshire.
_Miles Davies_ was a native of Whitford, near Holywell, in Flintshire.
He was originally intended for the church, but from some unknown cause he
left his native country, and went to London, where he subscribed himself
barrister at law. Here he commenced author, and published three volumes
of his “Athenæ Britannicæ,” in 1715, which contain much curious and
valuable knowledge. Very little is now known of his history, but he is
supposed to have been unfortunate in his later career as a literary
character. It is uncertain when his death took place.
_Richard Davies_, D.D., was the son of David ap Gronw, and was born in
Denbighshire, and educated at New Inn Hall, Oxford. Having entered the
church, he became vicar of Burnham, and rector of Maids-morton,
Buckinghamshire, which preferment he was deprived of in Queen Mary’s
reign, for being married; and he consequently retired to the Continent.
On the accession of Queen Elizabeth he returned home, and was raised by
her to the bishopric of St. Asaph, in 1559, from whence he was translated
to the see of St. David’s in 1561. This eminent prelate was a man of
great learning, and he was employed, with others, in translating the
Bible into English, and he translated all from the beginning of Joshua to
the end of Samuel. He also translated part of the New Testament into
Welsh, particularly some of the Epistles. He published also some other
works. He died at the Episcopal Palace of Abergwyli, Caermarthenshire,
in 1581.
_Thomas Davies_, D.D., Bishop of St. Asaph, was a native of Llanbeder,
near Aberconwy, Caernarvonshire, where he was born about the year 1515.
He received his academical education at St. John’s College, Cambridge.
He became rector of his native parish, and was also made archdeacon of
St. Asaph, and chancellor of Bangor. In 1561 he was advanced to the
bishopric of St. Asaph, where he continued to his death, which took place
in 1573. He was a very pious and charitable person, and founded a
scholarship in Queen’s College, Cambridge. He bequeathed also
considerable sums of money for other pious uses.
_Walter Devereux_, Earl of Essex, the father of the unfortunate favourite
of Queen Elizabeth, was born in Caermarthenshire in the year 1540, and
succeeded his grandfather in the titles of Viscount Hereford and Lord
Ferrers. His joining the Earl of Lincoln with a body of troops against
the rebels who rose in the North, recommended him to the favour of Queen
Elizabeth, who created him Earl of Essex in 1572, and made him a Knight
of the Garter. He was afterwards appointed governor of Ulster in
Ireland; and his death, which was supposed to have been hastened by
poison, by his enemy the Earl of Leicester, took place in Dublin in 1576,
leaving the character of a brave soldier, loyal subject, and
disinterested patriot.
_David Dolben_ was born at Segrwyd, near Denbigh, in 1581. He was
educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he proceeded regularly
through his degrees to that of doctor. He became a prebendary of St.
Asaph, and vicar of Hackney, in Middlesex; and in 1631 he was raised to
the bishopric of Bangor. He died two years after his promotion, in
London, and was buried in Hackney church.
_William Edwards_, one of the most wonderful examples of self-taught
genius, was a native of Glamorganshire, where he was born at Eglwysilan,
in 1719. At an early age he attracted notice by the neatness of his
workmanship, in building walls on his father’s farm; and gradually he
arrived at the building of houses and larger structures. Having given
great satisfaction to all his employers, he undertook, in 1746, to build
a bridge over the river Tav, which was executed and greatly admired; at
the end of two years and a half it was destroyed by a tremendous flood,
which carried it away: he immediately commenced a new one, which however
was likewise a failure. The third was completed in 1755, and remains a
splendid monument of his talent, and is one of the most beautiful in the
world; its span is 140 feet; and it exceeds the famed Rialto of Venice,
which was supposed to be the largest arch in the world, by 42 feet. He
devised several important improvements in the art of bridge building, and
the success of his last bridge over the Tav introduced him to public
notice; and he was employed to build numerous other bridges in South
Wales. He died in 1789. It is rather singular that his son and grandson
were equally possessed of the same taste and architectural talent.
_Thomas Edwards_, better known by his familiar appellation of _Twm o’r
Nant_, was born at Nant, near Denbigh, in the year 1739. He received but
a poor education in his youth, and was brought up to no regular trade,
but worked as a labourer; his genius however showed itself at an early
age, and he gave proofs of his Awen in the composition of a peculiar
species of dramatic writing, known in Wales by the name of “Interludes,”
which were very common there in the last century. They appear to bear
some analogy to the New Comedy of the Athenians, where he satirizes
living persons under fictitious names; and although there are numerous
examples of low scurrility and satire, yet they abound with fine strokes
of genuine wit, and excellent poetry. He possessed a command of
language, and was a good writer when he pleased; a neat specimen of which
exists in his Autobiography, in Welsh. He spent his life in various
parts of Wales, in different occupations, although he esteemed the acting
of his Interludes not the least profitable. He generally bore a part in
the exhibiting of his compositions, and gained considerable profit by
selling printed copies of them, which he hawked about the country
himself. Some of his poetry on various subjects has been published, and
two portraits of him. He was a man of great muscular power; and he died
in 1810, in the seventy-first year of his age.
_John Evans_, D.D., was born at Wrexham, in Denbighshire, in 1680. He
was an eminent Dissenting divine, and graduated both at Edinburgh and
Aberdeen; he was the author of several most excellent sermons on the
Christian Temper, which have been admired by divines of every
denomination. He for some years was the minister of the congregation of
Independents in Petty France, having succeeded Dr. Williams; he was also
lecturer for some time at Saddlers’ Hall; and he died of dropsy in 1732.
_John Evans_, D.D., was born in Llanarmon, Denbighshire. He received his
education at Jesus College, Oxford, where he proceeded through his
degrees. Having taken orders, he obtained the living of Llanaelhaiarn,
in Carnarvonshire, and in 1701 he was promoted to the bishopric of
Bangor, and he was translated thence to the bishopric of Meath, in
Ireland, in 1715.
_Evan Evans_, an eminent divine and poet, better known among his
countrymen by the bardic appellation of Ienan Brydydd Hir, was born at
Cynhawdrev in Cardiganshire, in the year 1730. He received his education
at the grammar school of Ystrad-meurug in the same county, whence he
removed to Oxford, and was entered at Merton College in 1751. After
leaving college he officiated as curate at several places; and applied
himself with great diligence to the cultivation of Welsh literature, and
employed his leisure time in transcribing ancient manuscripts; for which
purpose he visited most of the libraries in Wales, where manuscripts were
known to exist. In the pursuit of his literary labours he for some time
enjoyed the patronage of Sir Watkin W. Wynne, and Dr. Warren, Bishop of
Bangor. He received an annuity of 20_l._ from Paul Panton, Esq., of
Plasgwyn, in Anglesea, on condition that all his manuscripts should on
his death become his property; and in consequence, the whole collection,
amounting to a hundred volumes, was deposited in Plasgwyn Library, where
they still remain. He published two volumes of Welsh sermons, and was
the author of an English poem, entitled the “Love of our Country;” but
his chief work which ranked him high as an antiquary and critic, was a
volume of Welsh poems with Latin translations, prefaced by a learned
“Dissertatio de Bardis.” The Welsh poems in this volume furnished Gray
with matter for some of his most beautiful poetry. Mr. Evans was a man
of excellent disposition, and great abilities as a Welsh scholar, but for
some reason he never obtained any preferment in the church. He served in
succession the curacies of Towyn in Meirion, Llanberis, and Llanllechid
in Caernarvonshire. He died suddenly at the place of his birth, in
August, 1789.
_Richard Fenton_, well known as the author of a “Historical Tour through
Pembrokeshire;” was born in Wales, and was for several years an eminent
member of the Welsh bar. He was also author of other works which were
published anonymously, of which “A Tour in search of Genealogy,” and “The
Memoirs of an Old Wig,” were highly esteemed as works of great interest,
and abounding in wit and anecdote. He was a particular friend of
Garrick, Goldsmith, Glover, and other great wits of the day. He
translated also the works of Athenæus, which were never published. He
died at an advanced age in November, 1821.
_John Gambold_ was born at Haverfordwest about the year 1706. He
received a liberal education, and was entered at Christ Church, Oxford,
where he took his degree of Master of Arts in 1734. He was presented to
the living of Stanton Harcourt by Archbishop Secker in 1738, which he
resigned ten years after, from motives of conscience, having become a
convert to the opinions of Zinzerdorf, an account of whose life and
character he published. He was appointed by the Moravians one of their
bishops, of whom he had become a distinguished member in 1754. While at
Oxford, he was the author of a “Sacred Drama,” which was published in
1740, on the subject of the martyrdom of Saint Ignatius; and he
superintended an edition of the Greek Testament at the Clarendon press;
he translated also a History of Greenland from the Dutch, besides several
sermons and other productions. He was a man of blameless morals, deep
erudition, and sincere piety; and he was greatly beloved for the
amiableness of his manners. He died at Haverfordwest in 1771. He was
author of a “Welsh Grammar,” and an able critic in the language.
_William Glynn_, D.D., was born in 1504, at Malltraeth in Anglesea, and
educated at Cambridge, where he became Master of Queen’s College. In
1549, he was presented to the living of St. Martin’s-le-grand, London;
and in 1551 he was made rector of his native parish of Heneglwys, and in
1555 he was promoted to the episcopal see of Bangor, where he died in
1558, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. Fuller, in his Worthies of
Wales, gives a high character of this excellent bishop; and he was a man
of great natural abilities and learning, and strictly attentive to the
duties of his high station.
_Edmund Griffith_, D.D., was a native of Lleyn in Caernarvonshire, where
he was born in 1570. He was educated at Brazen-nose College, Oxford,
whence he removed to Jesus College, where he graduated. In 1599, he
obtained the rectory of Llandwrog, and the following year he was made
canon of Bangor; and after other preferments he was made dean of the same
diocese in 1613, and he was promoted to the bishopric in 1633. His death
took place in the year 1637.
_Elizabeth Griffith_, who has distinguished herself in the literary world
by several productions, was a native of Wales; she married an Irish
gentleman of the name of Richard Griffith, and little is known of her
except her works. She first published “Letters of Henry and Frances,”
which is supposed to contain the genuine correspondence of herself and
her husband before, and for some time after their marriage. She was the
author of several dramas, novels, and several other productions, which
obtained various success. She died in 1793.
_George Griffith_, D.D., was born at Penrhyn, Caernarvonshire, in 1601.
He was educated at Westminster School, from whence he was elected student
of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1619, where he became an eminent tutor and
preacher. He was appointed chaplain to Bishop John Owens, and was by him
presented to the rectory of Llanvechain, Montgomeryshire, which he
subsequently left for Llanymynech, and he also had the rectory of
Llandrinio. In 1631, he was made a canon of St. Asaph. On the
commencement of the civil war, he lost his preferment on account of his
attachment to the royal cause, to which he rendered good service; but on
the Restoration he was rewarded, and raised to the bishopric of St.
Asaph. In a convocation of the clergy in 1662, he was an active member
in drawing up the Act of Uniformity, and making several alterations in
the Liturgy; and he is supposed to have written the form for the baptism
of those of riper years. He was also author of some Plain Discourses on
the Lord’s Supper. He died in 1666.
_John Gwillim_ was born of an ancient Welsh family in Herefordshire, in
1565. He was educated at Brazen-nose College, Oxford, and became a
member of the Herald’s College, London, in which he obtained the
appointment of Rouge Croix Pursuivant, in 1617, which was owing to the
appearance of his famous work, the “Display of Heraldry,” which first
appeared in 1610, and has since gone through several other editions. His
death took place in 1621.
_Matthew Gwinne_, M.D., was an eminent physician, and was the first
professor of medicine on Sir Thomas Gresham’s foundation. The exact year
of his birth is uncertain, but he was born in London of Welsh parents;
and he received his education at Merchant Tailors’ School, whence he
removed to St. John’s, Oxford, of which college he became a fellow. He
composed a Masque, which recommended him to King James the First, before
whom it was performed in Oxford; and he rose higher in that monarch’s
favour by an essay which he wrote against tobacco. He was the author of
various other poems and prose works. He died in 1627.
_John Hanmer_, a member of the ancient family of the same name, living at
Hanmer, in Flintshire, was educated at the University of Oxford, where he
obtained a fellowship in All Souls College. He subsequently became a
prebendary of Worcester, and rector of Bingham, Nottinghamshire. He was
appointed chaplain to King James the First, who nominated him bishop of
St. Asaph in 1623. He died at Pentre-pont, near Oswestry, in 1629; and
bequeathed several sums of money for charitable purposes.
_Sir Thomas Hanmer_, Baronet, was born in 1676, and succeeded to the
title and estates of his uncle Sir John Hanmer, in Flintshire. He was
educated at Westminster School, and Christ Church, Oxford. He commenced
his parliamentary career in the representation of the county of Suffolk;
and in 1713, he was elected speaker of the House of Commons, which
honourable office he held until the end of his parliamentary life, which
from its commencement lasted upwards of thirty years. He then withdrew
altogether from public life, and turned his attention to literature; he
published an elegant edition of Shakspeare in six volumes, quarto, which
was printed at Oxford in 1744; and he liberally presented the copyright
to the University. He died at his seat in Suffolk in 1746.
_Howell Harris_ was born at Trevecka, in Brecknockshire, in 1714. His
parents were in humble circumstances, but they contrived to give him a
classical education, and kept him at school until he was eighteen, when
his father dying, he was obliged to support himself by giving instruction
to a few boys in the neighbourhood, intending at a proper time to enter
the established church. In 1735, he went to Oxford, and was entered at
St. Mary Hall, where he did not remain to complete his studies. In 1739,
he began to traverse Wales, preaching in the open fields and streets
according to the tenets which Whitfield was spreading in England, and
gaining numerous converts every day. The sect which he introduced is
still very great in Wales, and after spending seventeen years in
spreading his doctrine, he came to reside permanently at his native town
of Trevecka. After an active life, he died in the year 1773.
_John ap Henry_ was born in Wales in 1559, and was a celebrated character
at that period, better known by his assumed title of Martin Marprelate.
He was entered at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A.
in 1584; he afterwards removed to Oxford, where he graduated M.A.; he
preached frequently in both Universities, and gained great reputation,
and he afterwards became a notorious Puritan. His embracing the
principles of the Brownists, rendered him obnoxious to a vindictive
government, to the cruelty of which he afterwards fell a victim. He was
prosecuted for some libellous pamphlets which could not be proved against
him; and afterwards he was most illegally tried and condemned on a charge
of denying the sovereign’s authority, for which he was accordingly
executed. He was a man of great talent and learning, but his productions
are chiefly political tracts which related to that period.
_Matthew Henry_ was the son of Philip Henry, an eminent Nonconformist,
and he was born at Broad Oak, in Flintshire, in the year 1663. He was
early instructed by his father in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages,
in which he made great proficiency, and being originally intended for the
bar, he was entered at Gray’s Inn; but his great predilection for
divinity induced him to leave that profession, and for twenty-five years
he was the zealous pastor of a Dissenting congregation in Chester. In
1702, he removed to Hackney, where he paid the most sedulous attention to
the duties of his ministry; he remained there until his death, which took
place in 1714, of a stroke of apoplexy. His numerous works are a proof
of his deep learning, and he enjoyed great popularity both as an author
and a preacher; his chief work is an Exposition of the Bible, in five
volumes, folio, which has gone through numerous editions.
_Edward Herbert_, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, eminent for his character and
writings, was the son of Richard Herbert, Esq., of a very ancient family,
and was born at Montgomery Castle, in North Wales, in 1581. His
proficiency was so great in his early education that he was entered at
University College, Oxford, at the age of twelve. In 1600, he came to
London, and being introduced at court, he became a Knight of the Bath
soon after the accession of James the First. After spending his time in
visiting various courts of Europe, and serving for some time under the
Prince of Orange in the Low Countries, in 1614, he was sent on an embassy
to the court of France; and having been recalled, he was sent ambassador
a second time, and while there he printed at Paris his famous book “De
veritate prout distinguitur a Revelatione.” In 1625, he returned home,
and was created an Irish Peer, and afterwards an English Baron. He
afterwards retired from public life, and upon the breaking out of the
civil war, he joined the parliamentary party, but he soon quitted it, and
joined the royal cause, and consequently he was a great sufferer in his
estate. He died in London, in 1648, and was buried in St.
Giles’s-in-the-fields. He wrote the Memoirs of his own Life, which were
not published until the year 1764, by Lord Oxford. The character of this
distinguished nobleman was brave, generous, and disinterested.
_George Herbert_, younger brother of Lord Herbert, distinguished himself
as a poet and divine; he also was born at Montgomery Castle, in 1593. He
was educated at Westminster School, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where
he obtained a fellowship; and in 1619, he was chosen public orator.
Having taken orders, he applied himself with great assiduity to the
duties of his profession, and the first benefice which he received was a
prebend in the diocese of Lincoln, and the parish church connected with
it was rebuilt mostly at his own expense. He subsequently obtained the
rectory of Bemerton, near Salisbury. His death took place in February,
1633. He published the “Country Parson,” and he was the author of the
“Temple,” which contains poems on sacred subjects, besides other minor
pieces.
_James Howel_, the author of the popular and interesting “Epistolæ
Hoelianæ,” was the son of a clergyman, and born in Caermarthenshire, in
1596. He took his degree of bachelor of arts in Jesus College, Oxford,
in 1613. When he left the University, he was appointed, through the
interest of Sir Robert Mansel, to superintend a patent glass manufactory
in London, which had been established by some men of rank. In 1619, he
commenced a tour on the Continent in the service of his employers, and
during the three years that he continued abroad, he visited Holland,
Spain, France, and Italy; in Venice he engaged some workmen for his
manufactory, for the Venetians were at that time very famous for their
skill in casting plate-glass. Soon after his return to England he was
elected fellow of Jesus College, and travelled abroad again with the son
of Lord Altham. He afterwards had the office of secretary to Lord
Scrope, then president of the North, and was elected member of parliament
for Richmond, and subsequently he was appointed secretary to the English
Ambassador, the Earl of Leicester, in Denmark. In 1640, he was made
clerk of the council, which he did not long retain by reason of
Cromwell’s usurpation. His works are numerous, and he was the first who
held the office of Historiographer, which he obtained on the Restoration.
He died in 1666.
_William Hughes_, D.D., was a native of Caernarvonshire, and was educated
partly at Oxford, whence he removed to Christ’s College, Cambridge. He
was chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk, and he took his degrees of divinity
in Oxford, having been incorporated from Cambridge. He was afterwards
rector of Llysfaen in Caernarvonshire, and in 1573, he was consecrated
Bishop of St. Asaph. He died in 1600.
_Humphrey Humphreys_, D.D., was born at Penrhyn-dau-draeth,
Merionethshire, in 1648. He received his education at the free grammar
schools of Oswestry and Bangor, and in 1665, he was admitted a member of
Jesus College, Oxford, where he obtained a scholarship, and afterwards a
fellowship; he proceeded regularly through his degrees, and became rector
of Llanvrothen, which he left in 1672 for the living of Trawsfynydd.
Having been made a canon of Bangor, he was installed dean of the same
cathedral in 1680, and in 1689, he was raised to the bishopric, from
which he was translated to the see of Hereford in 1701. His death took
place in 1712. He was a person of excellent virtues during the whole
course of his life, and an example of piety, and strictly attentive to
the duties of his high station.
_George_, _Lord Jefferies_, _Baron Wem_, was the son of John Jefferies,
Esq., of Acton, in Denbighshire, where he was born in the beginning of
the seventeenth century. He received his education at Shrewsbury School,
and Westminster, and was entered at the Middle Temple to study law. His
father’s family being large, his allowance was consequently very scanty,
but his industry and ingenuity supplied all deficiencies. On commencing
his professional career, he was made a citizen of London through the
interest of a relation; and he was subsequently chosen recorder of the
corporation. This high station recommended him to the notice of the
court, and furthered his advancement. He was appointed successively a
Welsh Judge, and Chief Justice of Chester, and created a baronet. Having
been appointed Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, he was employed to
prosecute the adherents of the Duke of Monmouth, which office he executed
with great cruelty, and for his zeal in this service he was rewarded by
the vindictive and cold-hearted James with the post of Lord High
Chancellor. It is acknowledged, however, that he showed himself an able
and impartial judge in cases which were not connected with politics. On
the accession of William the Third, he was committed to the Tower, where
he died in April, 1689. He was succeeded in his title and estates by his
only son, whose daughter was married to Earl Pomfret; and after his
death, she presented the noble collection, known by the name of Pomfret
marbles, to the University of Oxford.
_William Lleyn_ was a very celebrated Welsh bard, and flourished in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was a native of Llangain in Lleyn, in
Caernarvonshire. He excelled all the bards of his time in sublimity of
thought and poetic fire, and was much admired for the sprightliness of
his wit. His compositions are remarkable for grave sentences, and maxims
of policy and wisdom. He had a poetical contest with Owain Gwynedd, a
contemporary bard, which is still extant, besides several other pieces
which have never been published. He died at Oswestry.
_David Jenkins_ was born at Hensol, in Glamorganshire, in 1586. He was
educated at Edmund Hall, Oxford, and entered at Gray’s Inn. Being called
to the bar, he was subsequently made a Welsh Judge, and continued in this
office until he was taken prisoner by the parliamentary forces at
Hereford, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Having rendered himself
obnoxious to the parliament, in consequence of his having condemned, when
judge, several who had taken arms against the King, he was brought before
the House of Commons; whose authority he denied, and called the whole
assembly a den of thieves; being provoked by this language, they voted
him guilty of high treason, and sentenced him to be hanged; on which he
undauntedly observed that he would suffer with the Bible under one arm
and Magna Charta under the other. He escaped however this punishment,
but was fined 1,000_l._ for contempt, and his estates were confiscated.
He was committed to Newgate, where he remained until the Restoration; but
it does not appear that he obtained any reward for his courage and
fidelity from the forgetful Charles. He died in 1667, at Cambridge.
_Sir Leoline Jenkins_, L.L.D., was born in 1623, at Llantrisaint, in the
county of Glamorgan, and was educated at Jesus College, Oxford. When the
civil war broke out, he took arms for the King, and upon the failure of
the royal cause he left the kingdom. On the Restoration he returned to
Jesus College, and was elected fellow, and in 1661, he became the
principal. He was afterwards admitted an advocate at Doctors’ Commons;
and with other eminent civilians he was appointed to review the maritime
laws, and to compile a body of rules for the adjudication of prizes,
which became the standard of the Court of Admiralty. He was made judge
of the same court in 1665, and in 1668, of the Prerogative Court in
Canterbury. He was likewise sent on an embassy to the Dutch. On his
return he was chosen member for the University of Oxford, sworn of the
privy council, and appointed secretary of state, which office he resigned
in 1684. On the accession of James, he was again elected member for
Oxford, but was prevented by ill health from sitting in that parliament,
and died in 1685. His letters and papers were collected and published by
W. Wynne, in two folio volumes; and all his estate was bequeathed by him
for charitable uses, and chiefly to Jesus College.
_Thomas Johnes_ was born of an ancient Welsh family in Ludlow, in 1748.
He was educated at Eton, and Jesus College, Oxford, where he proceeded to
his Master’s degree. He was the proprietor of the estate of Havod, in
Cardiganshire, where he built a splendid mansion, and occupied himself
there in planting trees, and otherwise improving his property. He also
devoted himself to literary pursuits, the fruits of which are elegant
editions of the “Chronicles of Froissart and Monstrelet,” and several
other works, all of which he himself translated from the French, and
printed at his own establishment at Havod. He first obtained a seat in
parliament for the borough of Cardigan, and afterwards for the county of
Radnor; he was likewise auditor for Wales, and colonel of the
Caermarthenshire militia. In 1807, his library, consisting of the finest
typographical productions, and containing a number of valuable Welsh
manuscripts, was burnt in a fire which nearly destroyed the whole house.
He died in 1816.
_Edward Jones_, D.D., was born near the town of Montgomery, and was
educated at Westminster School, whence he was elected to Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he was chosen fellow in 1667. He became master of
Kilkenny College, and dean of Lismore, in Ireland, and was made bishop of
Cloyne, and in 1692 he was translated to the see of St. Asaph. His
translation to this diocese was entirely owing to his being a native of
the country. He died at Westminster in 1703.
[For an account of Edward Jones, Bardd y Brenin,—see _Addenda_.]
_Owen Jones_, the distinguished Welsh antiquary, whose name will be ever
associated with the Welsh language, was born in Llanvihangel
Glyn-y-myvyr, Denbighshire, in 1741. In early life he removed to London,
and entered the employment of an eminent furrier, whom he eventually
succeeded. Being enthusiastically interested in the antiquities of his
native country, he devoted a great portion of his time to the collecting
of Welsh manuscripts; and the result of his disinterested patriotism has
been the publication of the “Archaiology of Wales,” in three volumes,
entirely at his own expense. He also procured transcripts of ancient
Welsh poetry, amounting to fifty volumes, quarto, which invaluable
collection is now deposited in the Cymmrodorion Library, in London. He
published the works of the famous poet, Davydd ap Gwilym, and also
“Dihewyd y Cristion.” In 1772, Mr. Jones, formed the Gwyneddigion
Society, for the purpose of patronizing the Bards of Wales, and promoting
the study of the Welsh language; and this excellent society annually
offers prize medals, and other rewards for compositions on various
subjects. After a most useful and active life, this amiable man, whose
zeal was only equalled by his private worth, died at his house in
Thames-street, London, September, 1814, in the seventy-third year of his
age.
_Inigo Jones_, whose proper name was Ynyr, which in his travels in Italy,
he Italianized into Inigo, was born at Llanrwst, Denbighshire, about the
year 1572. Being originally destined for a mechanical employment, he
emerged from obscurity by dint of talent, which recommended him to the
Earl of Pembroke, a great patron of the fine arts, who also supplied him
with the means of visiting Italy, for the purpose of studying landscape
painting. While at Venice, the works of Paladio inspired him with a
taste for architecture, in the practice of which he arrived at unrivalled
excellence. His reputation recommended him to the notice of Christiern
the Fourth, King of Denmark, who bestowed on him the post of first
architect. Having returned to England, he was appointed architect to the
Queen, and Prince Henry, and afterwards to the Board of Works. His
acknowledged taste in classical architecture obtained for him sufficient
employment from court, and many of the nobility and gentry, so that he
realized a handsome fortune. Many proofs exist of the elegant taste of
this great architect; and he was also commissioner for the repairing of
St. Paul’s Cathedral, all of which was ruined by the great fire; but it
was subsequently rebuilt after Jones’s original design. During the civil
war he was forced to pay a fine on account of his known attachment to the
royal family; and being distressed at the ruin of the royal cause, and
worn down with suffering and old age, he died in July, 1652. He was a
good geometrician, and well skilled in various branches of literature and
science; but as an author he only published a curious treatise, to
attempt to prove that Stonehenge was a Roman temple.
_John Jones_, L.L.D., an eminent divine and philologist, was a native of
Caermarthenshire. He was educated at the Dissenting College of Hackney;
and he became tutor in several Dissenting academies successively in Wales
and England. He finally settled in London, where he spent his time in
editing his numerous works; among the most popular of which are his
“Greek and English Lexicon,” and his “Grammar,” both Greek and Latin,
besides other works on education; and he likewise was held in great
esteem as a private tutor. He died in London in 1827.
_William Jones_, an eminent mathematician, was born in the Isle of
Anglesey in 1680. At a very early age he applied himself diligently to
the study of mathematics; and in his twenty-second year he published a
“Compendium of the Art of Navigation,” which was much approved of. He
began his career in teaching these sciences on board of a man-of-war; and
he was present at the capture of Vigo. On his return to England, he gave
instructions in the mathematics in London, and having attracted the
notice of some influential men, he was appointed by Lord Hardwicke
secretary of the peace. He enjoyed the friendship of the great
mathematicians and writers of the age, among whom were Newton, Halley,
Head, and Dr. Johnson. He was member of the Royal Society, and then
vice-president. He was author of several valuable papers on mathematics,
which were published in the Philosophical Transactions. He died of a
polypus in the heart in July, 1749.
Sir _William Jones_, the celebrated oriental scholar, was the son of the
subject of the preceding article, and was born in London, September,
1746. He received his early education at Harrow School, where he was
sent in his eighth year. He very soon attracted the notice of the
masters by his splendid genius; and in 1764, he was entered at University
College, Oxford. While here, he supported, at his own expense, a native
of Aleppo, for the purpose of acquiring the true pronunciation of the
Arabic. And having undertaken the office of tutor to Lord Althorpe, he
went with him to the German Spa, where he perfected himself in the German
language; and on his return, he distinguished himself by translating the
“Life of Nadir Shah” into French, which language he wrote with much
elegance. He obtained a college fellowship, and afterwards entered
himself as a law student in the Temple. In 1772, he published some
poems, and in the same year was elected a fellow of the Royal Society;
and in 1774, he was called to the bar; about two years after, he was made
commissioner of bankrupts. In the mean time, he published several works,
chiefly in oriental literature, which excited the admiration of the
world; and at the same time he was advancing rapidly in professional
reputation. In an election for the University of Oxford he offered
himself as a candidate, where, however, though respectably supported, he
did not succeed. On the accession of the Shelburne administration, he
obtained what had long been the summit of his ambition—the appointment of
Judge in the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bengal, to which he was
nominated in 1783, and received the honour of knighthood. He married
Miss Shipley, the daughter of the Bishop of St. Asaph; and in the same
year he arrived at Calcutta. While in India, he wrote numerous
translations from the Hindostanee, and formed there a society, similar to
the Royal Society of London, of which he was chosen the first president.
He next undertook to compile a complete digest of the Hindoo and
Mohammedan laws, which was not however completed by him. In 1794, he was
seized with an inflammation of the liver, and died on the 27th of April,
in the forty-eighth year of his age. Few men have died more respected
and lamented than Sir William Jones: his genius and profound learning had
attracted the praise of all; and as a linguist, he has not been
surpassed, for he knew no less than twenty-nine languages, and most of
them critically. All his works were collected and published by his
widow, in six volumes, quarto.
_Lloyd_, _Lord Kenyon_, was born in Gredington, Flintshire, in 1732. He
was the second son of a gentleman of independent fortune, and was
originally intended to be brought up as a solicitor, and he was under the
instruction of an eminent lawyer at Nantwich. In consequence of the
death of an elder brother, he was entered at the Middle Temple, and after
being called to the bar, he attended various circuits before he obtained
any practice, which caused him to despair of succeeding in his
profession, and think of applying himself to divinity, and taking orders.
Active attention, however, and indefatigable industry, brought him at
length to notice and extensive practice. He confined himself afterwards
entirely to the Court of Chancery, where he obtained the most
distinguished celebrity, although he ranked high as a common lawyer. He
conducted the defence of Lord George Gordon, when he was tried for high
treason. In 1780 he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of Chester, and he
twice filled the office of Attorney-general. On the death of Sir John
Sewell, he accepted the office of Master of the Rolls, and in 1788 he
succeeded Lord Mansfield as Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, where
he gave the greatest satisfaction by his integrity and able
administration of justice. He died in 1802, in his seventieth year.
_David Lloyd_, L.L.D., was born at Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, in the
year 1603. He was entered at the age of fourteen at All Soul’s College,
Oxford, where he afterwards became a fellow. Having taken orders, he
obtained the rectory of Trevdraeth, in Anglesea, in 1641, which he
resigned on his presentation to Llangynhaval in the following year, and
became successively vicar of Llanvair, in Dyfryn Clwyd, and warden of
Ruthin, and prebendary of Chester; out of all of which he was ejected
after the breaking out of the civil war, and for his loyalty he was a
great sufferer. On the accession of Charles the Second, he was restored
to his benefices, and promoted to the deanery of St. Asaph in 1660. He
was esteemed an ingenious man, and a good poet; and he published several
pieces which were prized for their wit. He died at Ruthin in September,
1663.
_David Lloyd_, M.A., was born at Trawsvynydd, Merionethshire, in 1635,
and educated at Ruthin School. He removed thence to Oriel College,
Oxford, where he graduated, and obtained a college living. He
subsequently retired to Wales, where he was appointed chaplain to Bishop
Barrow, who, besides other preferment, gave him a canonry in the diocese
of St. Asaph. He was afterwards vicar of Northop, where he resided for
several years; he published several works, of which the principal are
“Worthies of the World,” 1665, octavo; “Memories of Statesmen and
Favourites of England,” octavo. He was zealous and industrious in the
discharge of his clerical duties, and esteemed by all for his charitable
disposition. On finding his health decaying, he retired to the place of
his nativity, where he died in 1691.
_Henry Lloyd_ was the son of a clergyman in Wales, where he was born in
1729. His early education he received from his father, who instructed
him in the classics and mathematics. Being intended for the army, he
went abroad, and was at the battle of Fontenoy; he afterwards travelled
in Germany, and resided in Austria for some years, where he was appointed
aid-de-camp to Marshal Lascy, and received higher promotion. In 1760 he
commanded a large detachment of cavalry and infantry, which was destined
to observe the motions of the Prussians. He executed this service with
great success; but soon after, for some reason, he threw up his
commission in disgust. He was next employed by the King of Prussia, and
served in two campaigns until the peace. On the breaking out of the war
between the Turks and Russians, he offered his services to Catherine the
Second, who made him a major-general, and he greatly distinguished
himself at the seige of Silistria in 1774, and subsequently he had the
command of 30,000 men in the war with Sweden. After his return to
England, he published several works on military tactics, which are highly
thought of, and placed him in a high rank as a military writer. He died
at Huy, in the Netherlands, in 1783.
_Hugh Lloyd_, D.D., was a native of South Wales, where he was born in the
year 1589, and having been brought up for the church, and having received
an University education, he became rector of Llangatoc, in Breconshire,
and archdeacon of St. David’s. In 1660 he was advanced to the bishopric
of Llandav, where he continued until his death, which took place in 1667,
and he was buried in his cathedral.
_Humffrey Lloyd_, D.D., was born in 1610, at Trawsvynydd, Merionethshire.
He received an academical education; and having taken orders, he became
in time, a prebendary of York, and vicar of Rhiwabon, in Denbighshire,
and likewise a prebendary of Chester; out of which he was ejected in the
great rebellion; but living to be restored in 1660, he was made canon of
St. Asaph the following year, and in 1667 dean of the same cathedral; in
1673 he was raised to the bishopric of Bangor. He was a great benefactor
to his cathedral, and greatly increased the revenues of his see. He died
in 1688.
_John Lloyd_, D.D., was a native of Caermarthenshire, where he was born
in 1638. He was entered at Merton College, Oxford, whence he removed to
Jesus College, where he graduated, and of which in time he became
prebendary. He also discharged the office of vice-chancellor in that
University with great satisfaction, and was held in high esteem for his
piety and learning. In 1686 he was promoted to the bishopric of St.
David’s, but by reason of ill health he removed to Oxford, and died at
Jesus College in 1687.
_Nicholas Lloyd_, an eminent divine, and philological writer, was born in
Flintshire in 1634. He received his education at Winchester School, and
Wadham College, Oxford, where he obtained a fellowship. He was for some
years rector of Newington Butts, near London, to which he had been
appointed by the Bishop of Worcester, to whom he was chaplain. He died
there in 1680. He published an excellent and highly esteemed “Historical
and Geographical Dictionary,” in Latin, which has been the basis of many
similar compilations.
_William Lloyd_, D.D., an eminent prelate, was the son of the Rev.
Richard Lloyd, Rector of Tilehurst, Berks, who came from Henblas, in
Anglesea, and was born at his father’s living in 1627. At the early age
of eleven he was entered at Oriel College, Oxford, whence he removed to
New College, and subsequently to Jesus College, where he became
successively a scholar and fellow. Having taken orders in 1648, he was
presented to the rectory of Bradfield, Berks, in 1654, which he
afterwards resigned. He was appointed chaplain to Charles the Second,
and prebendary of Salisbury, then rector of St. Mary’s, in Reading, and
archdeacon of Merioneth; four years after, he was made dean of Bangor.
After various other preferment, he was advanced to the bishopric of St.
Asaph in 1680. He was one of the seven bishops who were committed to the
Tower for subscribing and presenting a petition to King James,
deprecating his assumed power of suspending the laws against popery.
Bishop Lloyd having heartily concurred in the Revolution, was appointed
lord almoner to King William, and in 1692 he was translated to Lichfield
and Coventry, and thence in 1699 to Worcester. His writings, which
relate to history and divinity are greatly prized, and are distinguished
for the learning and acute judgment exhibited in them. He died in 1717.
_William Lloyd_, D.D., was a native of Wales, and was educated at St.
John’s College, Cambridge, and graduated there. Having taken orders, he
obtained various preferment, and in 1675 he was made bishop of Llandaff,
from whence he was translated to Peterborough in 1679, and thence in 1685
to the see of Norwich, out of which he was ejected for not taking the
oath to King William and Queen Mary. He retired to Hammersmith, near
London, where he died in 1710.
_Edward Llwyd_, M.A., an eminent British antiquary and naturalist, was a
native of Cardiganshire, where he was born about 1670. At the age of
seventeen, he was entered at Jesus College, Oxford, where he graduated.
He succeeded Dr. Plot, the keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, and applied
himself with great diligence to the study of the language of the early
Britons, and for that purpose he travelled in the countries where it
still remained. After having visited Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, and
Bretagne, and making himself perfect in the various dialects, he
published the results of his accurate observations in the “Archæologia
Britannica,” which was the first volume of a series on a great plan,
which he did not live to carry on; and his death taking place before the
ample materials which he had provided were properly arranged for the
press, the whole of his manuscripts were sold to Sir Thomas Sebright, but
not before Jesus College and the University had refused to purchase them.
They subsequently came to the possession of Colonel Johnes, of Havod, and
were mostly burnt in the fire which nearly destroyed that gentleman’s
mansion. He died in 1709. He was also author of “Lithophylacii
Britannici Ichnographia,” and a catalogue of the manuscripts in the
Ashmolean Museum, besides several papers published in the Philosophical
Transactions.
_Humfrey Lloyd_, M.A., a learned antiquary and historian, was born in the
town of Denbigh in 1527. He was entered a gentleman commoner of
Brazen-nose College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1551, and studied
medicine. He returned to his native place, where he practised his
profession, and also represented it in parliament. He was highly
esteemed by Camden, and the geographer Ortelius, to whom he addressed his
“Commentarioli Britannicæ descriptionis fragmentum,” published at Cologne
in 1572. He also translated Caradog of Llancarvan’s “History of
Cambria,” which was edited by Dr. Powel, in 1584, quarto, and he was
author of a letter “De Monâ Druidum Insulâ antiquitati suæ restitutâ.”
He died in 1568.
_Christopher Love_, an eminent Presbyterian divine, was born at Caerdiff,
in 1618. He was originally intended for trade, and was apprenticed in
London; but his father was persuaded afterwards to give him an University
education, and accordingly he was entered at New-Inn Hall, Oxford, where
he proceeded in due order to his degrees of bachelor and master of arts,
and entered the church. Upon his refusal to subscribe to the canons
which were enjoined by Archbishop Laud, he was expelled the congregation
of masters. Upon the establishment of the Presbyterian government, he
was ordained to preach at St. Mary’s, Aldermanbury; and he was one of the
commissioners appointed by parliament at the treaty of Uxbridge. He was
one of the London ministers who signed a declaration against putting the
King to death, and subsequently he took an active share in a conspiracy
to place Charles the Second on the throne, which was detected by the
vigilance of Cromwell; and Mr. Love was tried, and beheaded on Tower-hill
in August, 1651.
_Richard Lucas_, D.D., an excellent divine, and classical scholar, was
born at Presteign, Radnorshire, in 1648. He received an University
education at Jesus College, Oxford, where he graduated. In 1683 he was
elected by the parishioners to the lectureship of St. Olave’s, Southwark,
and the vicarage of St. Stephen’s, Coleman-street. He obtained
afterwards a stall in Westminster, which he held for nineteen years. His
writings consist of sermons and various other theological works.
_Francis Mansel_ was the third son of Sir Francis Mansel, of Muddlescomb,
Caermarthenshire, where he was born in 1588. He was educated at Hereford
School, and Jesus College, Oxford. He became a fellow of All Souls, and
in 1620 he was elected principal of Jesus College. He was ejected from
his office at the parliamentary visitation in 1648, and he retired to
Wales, where he assisted the royal cause with his greatest exertions, and
consequently exposed himself to the persecutions of the parliamentary
party. He was a very great benefactor to his college, and considerably
increased its revenues, and he obtained besides for it a valuable
library. He died in May, 1665.
_Henry Maurice_, D.D., an eminently learned and talented divine, was born
in 1648, at Llangristiolus, in Anglesea. He was sent to Jesus College,
Oxford, in his sixteenth year, where his abilities and great merit
recommended him to the notice of the principal, Sir Leoline Jenkins, who
made him a scholar of the college, and afterwards fellow. When Sir
Leoline was sent on an embassy to Cologne, he appointed Mr. Maurice to be
his chaplain, in which station he gave the greatest satisfaction by his
diligent attention to his duties; and on his return to England, he became
acquainted with Dr. Lloyd, afterwards bishop of St. Asaph, who
recommended him to Archbishop Sancroft, and he was appointed his
chaplain, and soon after rector of Newington, and prebendary of
Chichester. He published some treatises against popery; and in 1691 he
was elected Lady Margaret’s professor of divinity in Oxford. He died
suddenly in 1693, at Newington. It was observed when Dr. Maurice was
appointed chaplain to the Archbishop, that several of the highest offices
in church and state had been filled by Welshmen. Dr. Dolben was
Archbishop of York, Dr. Lloyd Bishop of St. Asaph, Sir George Jefferies
Lord Chancellor, Sir Leoline Jenkins Secretary of State, Sir Thomas Jones
Lord Chief Justice, Sir John Trevor Master of the Rolls, and Sir William
Williams Speaker of the House of Commons.
_Thomas Maurice_, the celebrated orientalist, was a member of a
respectable Welsh family. On the death of his father, who had been a
master in Christ’s Hospital for twenty-six years, Thomas, the eldest of
six children, was admitted on the foundation there, but he was afterwards
removed to various seminaries in the country for the benefit of his
health; the last of which was the celebrated one of Dr. Parr’s, at
Stanmore-hill. At the age of nineteen he was entered at St. John’s
College, Oxford, whence he subsequently removed to University College,
and here he commenced author at an early period, by publishing a
translation of “Sophaclis Ædipus Tyrannus,” which gained him great
credit; this was soon followed by some other pieces of verse and prose.
On taking orders, he obtained the curacy of Woodford, in Essex, and
afterwards he purchased a chaplaincy in the ninety-seventh regiment. In
1783 he commenced the arduous undertaking of his “History of India,” the
various volumes of which appeared successively at different times—the
last in 1804. He was presented by Earl Spencer to the vicarage of
Wormleighton, in Warwickshire, in 1799; and the appointment of assistant
librarian to the British Museum was also bestowed upon him; and in 1804
he was presented to the living of Cudham, Kent, by the Lord Chancellor.
He died at his rooms in the Museum, March 30th, 1824. Besides his great
works on India, he was the author of numerous poems, dissertations, and
other miscellanies, all of which ranked him high as a literary character.
_Rowland Meyrick_, L.L.D., was born at Bodorgan, in Anglesea, in 1505.
He was educated at Oxford, where he subsequently became principal of
New-Inn Hall; and after holding various preferments, he was advanced to
the bishopric of Bangor in 1559, where he died in 1565.
_Sir Hugh Middleton_, well known as the maker of the New River, London,
was the son of Richard Middleton, Esq., governor of Denbigh Castle, under
Edward the Sixth, Mary, and Elizabeth. Having settled in London as a
goldsmith, he made several successful speculations in some mines in
Cardiganshire, and became an alderman. Observing the scarcity of good
water in London, he took entirely upon himself to supply the metropolis
with a stream of pure water; for the corporation, with all its wealth,
conceiving the undertaking to be too difficult, refused to have any share
in it. He, however, patriotically persevered; and after almost the ruin
of his own fortune, he succeeded in obtaining assistance from the King
for a share, and it was completed. The water was let in before an
immense concourse on Michaelmas-day, in 1613. He was knighted, and in
1622 he was created a baronet. His death took place in 1631.
_Robert Morgan_, D.D., was born at Llandysilio, Montgomeryshire, in 1608.
He was entered at Jesus College, and thence he removed to St. John’s
College, Cambridge, where he graduated. Having taken orders, he became
chaplain to Bishop Dolben, who preferred him, in 1632, to the vicarage of
Llanwnog, Montgomeryshire, and rectory of Llangynhaval. He was
afterwards prebendary of Chester, vicar of Llanvair, Denbighshire, and
rector of Trevdraeth, and Llandyvnan, in Anglesea; out of all which he
was ejected during the usurpation of Cromwell, during which he was a
great sufferer for his loyalty. In 1660 he was restored to his
benefices, and was promoted to the archdeaconry of Meirioneth; and in
1666 he was raised to the bishopric of Bangor. He died in 1673, and was
buried in his cathedral, which had been greatly improved at his cost.
_William Morgan_, D.D., the first translator of the Bible into the Welsh
language, was born at Penmachno, Caernarvonshire, and was educated at St.
John’s College, Cambridge. He was vicar of Welsh-pool, in
Montgomeryshire, and obtained other preferment. Having occasion to go to
London to see Archbishop Whitgift, his grace conceived a high opinion of
his abilities, and appointed him his chaplain. At the Archbishop’s
desire, he undertook a translation of the Bible into Welsh, which was
published in 1588, black letter, folio. The New Testament was only
corrected by him from a translation by William Salusbury, a Denbighshire
gentleman, who first published the Epistles and Gospels for the whole
year, in Edward the Sixth’s time. Queen Elizabeth rewarded Dr. Morgan
with the bishopric of Llandaff, in 1595, and he was translated to the see
of St. Asaph in 1601. He died in 1604.
_Hugh Morris_, one of the first of Welsh poets, was born at
Pont-y-Meibion, in Denbighshire, in the year 1622. Being a younger son,
he was apprenticed by his father, who was a respectable freeholder, to a
tanner in Flintshire. He did not carry on his trade, but lived a life of
retirement in the cultivation of his talent for poetry, of which he has
left us splendid memorial. The productions of his pen are numerous; and
these valuable poems have been patriotically collected and published by
an eminent Welsh scholar and divine, in two volumes. Hugh Morris, on the
breaking out of the civil war, was a stanch friend to royalty, and he
exerted all the powers of his pen in its support, and there is no doubt
but that his writings had great influence over the minds of the common
people, ever attached to poetry. His satirical poems, where he lashes
the religious cant and vile hypocrisy of the times, are unequalled for
the keen wit and cutting irony, which he handles in so masterly a manner.
He was universally esteemed for his great abilities and excellent
character, and always exercised his influence in behalf of justice and
benevolence, and in the furtherance of religion. He died at the place of
his birth in 1709, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.
_Lewis Morris_, an eminent poet and antiquary, was born in the Isle of
Anglesea in the year 1702. In his youth he received but a slender
education; but, however, he and three other brothers, through
self-instruction, and cultivation of their natural talent, became eminent
characters in various branches of knowledge and science. He was chiefly
employed in the service of government; and in 1737 he was appointed by
the admiralty to survey the coast of Wales, which he accomplished with
great satisfaction, and an account of it was published in 1748. At the
same period he had the appointment of the surveyorship of the crown lands
in Wales, and in 1750 he had the additional offices of superintendent and
agent of the King’s mines in the principality. He was a very good poet
in his native language, and several of his productions have been
published. As an antiquary he was eminently skilful, and it is greatly
to be lamented that a valuable work entitled “Celtic Remains,” which he
left in manuscript, has never been sent to the press, as his acute and
learned remarks would be a great addition to illustrate our national
antiquities. He collected about eighty volumes of Welsh manuscripts,
which are now deposited in the Welsh School Library, in London. He died
in 1765, in Cardiganshire.
_Goronwy Owen_, A.M., was born about the year 1722, at Llanvair Mathavarn
Eithav, in Anglesea. His parents being in a humble condition, were not
able to bestow upon him a proper education in his youth, but his great
abilities and industry overcame every obstacle. He was at a respectable
seminary at Pwllheli, where he became second master, and from thence he
removed to Oxford. He was ordained deacon in 1745, and for a short time
he held the curacy of his native parish, where he enjoyed great happiness
among his friends and early acquaintances. He was obliged to resign
this, to make room for a friend of the bishop’s chaplain, who had
appointed him to it, and this took place with the bishop’s sanction. He
next removed to the neighbourhood of Oswestry, and soon after he was
appointed curate of Oswestry. In the year 1748, he became curate of
Donington, in Shropshire, where he kept also a school in order to add to
his small income, and support an increasing family. Here he composed
“Cowydd y Varn,” one of his most celebrated pieces; and what portion of
time he could spare from the drudgery of school-keeping, he spent in the
study of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldee. In 1733 he removed to the
curacy of Watton, in Lancashire. His great desire was to obtain even the
smallest preferment in any part of his native country, but he was
disappointed and neglected; and in 1755 he resigned his curacy and went
to London, where his countrymen had an intention of building a Welsh
church, and to which he was to be appointed minister. When this plan did
not succeed, he became curate of Northold, where he remained two years,
when an offer was made to him of preferment in America; and by the
assistance of the Cymmrodorion in London, he crossed the Atlantic, to St.
Andrew’s, in Virginia; here he settled for some time, but afterwards
removed to New Brunswick, and from thence to Williamsburg. The time of
his death is not well known. This talented man was one of the greatest
poets that ever appeared among the Welsh, and his poetical works were
printed, with other productions, in a volume, under the title of
“Diddanwch Teuluaidd.”
_Henry Owen_, an eminent divine and philologist, was the son of a
gentleman of fortune, in Merionethshire, where he was born, at Tanygader,
in 1716. He was educated at Ruthin Grammar school, from whence he
removed to Jesus College, Oxford. He originally intended to practise
physic, but entered into orders, and after various preferment, he became
rector of St. Olave, Hart-street, London, and vicar of Edmonton,
Middlesex. His numerous works consist chiefly of theological subjects,
and he edited “Xenophon’s Memorabilia,” “Critical Disquisitions,” and
“Critica Sacra, or Hebrew Criticism.” He also furnished several papers
to the “Archaiologia.” His death took place in 1795.
_John Owen_, the celebrated epigrammatist, was a native of
Caernarvonshire. He was educated at Winchester School, and New College,
Oxford, where he graduated L.L.D., and became a fellow. He afterwards
held the mastership of a grammar-school, near Monmouth, whence he removed
to a similar situation in Warwick. While here, he distinguished himself
by his skill in Latin poetry, and more particularly epigrams. This
talent, however, did great harm, for he was struck out of the will of a
rich uncle for his satirical epigrams on the church of Rome. He died in
1622, and he was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral, at the expense of
Archbishop Williams, by whom he was supported in the latter part of his
life. His epigrams have been several times reprinted, both in England,
and on the Continent; they are justly admired for their wit and purity of
language.
_John Owen_, D.D., the most eminent of Nonconformist divines in this
country, was descended of a respectable family in North Wales, though
born at Stadham, in Oxfordshire, in 1616, of which place his father, a
native of Wales, was vicar. He was educated at Queen’s College, Oxford,
where he was supported by a rich uncle, living in North Wales; but who,
being a royalist, was offended at his nephew’s principles, and died
without leaving him anything. On the breaking out of the civil war, he
sided with the parliament, and became a Presbyterian in his religious
opinions; and his display of Arminianism, which was published in 1642, so
recommended him to the prevailing party, that he was presented to the
living of Fordham, in Essex, and subsequently by the Earl of Warwick, at
the request of the parishioners, to that of Coggeshall, in the same
county. Having now acquired great celebrity, and become acquainted with
General Fairfax during the seige of Colchester, he was appointed to
preach at Whitehall the day after the execution of Charles the First. He
soon after became a favourite with Cromwell, whom he accompanied on his
expeditions to Ireland and Scotland; and in 1651 he was appointed to the
deanery of Christ Church, Oxford, on which appointment he received his
doctor’s degree, and in 1652, Cromwell being chancellor, Owen was made
his vice-chancellor, which office he held for five years. On the death
of his patron, the Protector, he was deprived of his office and deanery,
through the influence of the Presbyterian party, whom he had offended by
adopting the Independent mode of worship, which he thought more
conformable to the New Testament; and he published his reasons for
thinking so, in two volumes, quarto. On the Restoration, his merit was
so highly appreciated, that Lord Clarendon offered him immediate
preferment if he would conform, which he respectfully declined. This
eminent man died at Ealing, Middlesex, in 1683. His works, which are of
high Calvinistic principles, are very numerous, amounting to seven folio,
twenty quarto, and thirty octavo volumes.
_John Owens_, D.D., was the son of Owen Owens, of Bodsilin, in
Caernarvonshire, the last archdeacon of Anglesea. He was born at Burton
Latimers, Northamptonshire, where his father was rector, and was educated
at Jesus College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow, and succeeded
to his father’s living in 1618. He was appointed chaplain to Charles the
First, when he was Prince of Wales, who, on the supposition that he was a
Welshman, which he was in every respect excepting the place of his
nativity, preferred him to the bishopric of St. Asaph in 1629. This
excellent prelate was distinguished for his incomparable skill in the
Welsh language, and for his pious zeal in promoting the good of his
diocese. He was the first who established there preaching in Welsh, and
laid out great sums of money in new building and beautifying several
parts of his cathedral, and especially in the erection of an organ. Upon
the breaking out of the civil war, he was a great and extraordinary
sufferer; and he died near St. Asaph, 1651, and was buried under the
episcopal throne, when the church was used as a stable for horses and
oxen. He was author of “Herod and Pontius Pilate reconciled.”
_Lewis Owen_, who distinguished himself by his writings against the
Jesuits, was born in Meirionethshire in 1572. He went abroad, and
entered the Society of Jesuits in Spain, but being disgusted at their
behaviour and principles, he withdrew from them, and made use of the
information which he had gained in exposing them in his works, which are
the “Running Register.” “Unmasking of all popish priests,” &c., and
“Speculum Jesuiticum,” which abound in details to their disadvantage. He
died in 1631.
_Morgan Owen_, D.D., was a native of South Wales, and was educated at
Oxford, where he graduated. Having taken orders, he obtained various
preferment, and in 1640 he was installed bishop of Llandaff. On the
breaking out of the civil war, he retired to Glasallt, Caermarthenshire,
and was a very great sufferer on account of his loyalty. On receiving
the news of the death of his patron, Archbishop Laud, he died suddenly
soon after he heard it, in 1645, and he was buried in the same county.
_John Humphreys Parry_, an ingenious antiquary, and one of the most
pleasing and learned writers of the present age, was born at Mold, in
Flintshire, in 1787, and his father was rector of the neighbouring parish
of Llanverras. After an University education, he became a member of the
Temple in 1807, and in due time he was called to the bar in 1810. He
obtained considerable reputation in his profession, and gained great
praise by the publication of the “Cambro Briton,” in three volumes, which
appeared periodically, and the value of which was greatly enhanced by his
valuable and judicious notes; he was the author also of the “Cambrian
Plutarch,” and several prize essays. He was appointed the editor of the
transactions of the London Cymmrodorion, a volume of which appeared under
his auspices. His native country sustained a great loss by his death,
which took place in 1825, in a most melancholy manner: a drunken man
knocked him down in the street; he fell with his head against the
pavement, and was killed upon the spot, leaving a wife and five children
unprovided for.
_Richard Parry_, D.D., was born at Ruthin, Denbighshire, in the year
1578, and was educated at Westminster School, under Camden, from whence
he was elected a student of Christ Church, Oxford; at the age of
nineteen, he became chancellor of Bangor, vicar of Gresford, and then
dean of Bangor. On the accession of James the First, who had a high
opinion of his learning, he nominated him to the bishopric of St. Asaph
in 1604. He was a prelate of great learning and piety; and he revised
the Bible which was translated by Dr. Morgan, and published a second
edition in 1620, which is now the standard of the Welsh translation of
the Bible. He founded a scholarship in Jesus College, Oxford, to be held
by one who has been educated at Ruthin School, where he was the second
who held the mastership after its foundation by Dean Goodman. He died at
Diserth, near St. Asaph, in September, 1623.
_Thomas Pennant_, the celebrated antiquary and naturalist, was born at
Bychton, in Flintshire, in the year 1726. He studied at Queen’s College,
Oxford, and he afterwards removed to Oriel, which he left without taking
a degree. Being of an active and talented mind, he imbibed early a taste
for natural history; and the first effort of his pen appeared in an
account of an earthquake which was felt at Downing, and it was published
in the “Philosophical Transactions.” In 1754 he was elected a fellow of
the Antiquarian Society, and in 1757, at the instance of the great
Linnæus, he was also elected fellow of the Royal Society at Upsal. He
published the first edition of his “British Zoology” in 1761. He soon
after visited the Continent, where he became intimate with Buffon,
Pallas, and several other distinguished naturalists. In 1768 a new
edition of the British Zoology appeared, and it was successively followed
by his other works on Natural History, and “Tours in Scotland and Wales.”
In 1790 was published his “Account of London,” which was received with
great avidity, and rapidly passed through several editions. His works
are very numerous, and will ever remain a lasting proof of his splendid
talents, both as an accurate observer of nature, and diligent antiquary.
Several of his works were translated into German, and other Continental
languages; and he was frequently consulted by the great naturalists of
his time, and his opinions recorded in their publications. His accounts
have always been looked upon as most authentic; and he holds the first
rank as a writer from the popular and interesting style of his narrative,
and his incomparable skill in the selection of subjects for illustration.
He may be esteemed as one of the greatest patrons of the art of
engraving, for upwards of one thousand plates were used in the
embellishment of his works. He ended an active and useful life at the
family seat of Downing, near Holywell, in December, 1798.
_Sir Thomas Picton_, a British general, was born at Poyston,
Pembrokeshire, in 1758. Having entered the army, he served with great
reputation in the West Indies; and his skill and gallantry were
conspicuously displayed in a long service of forty-five years, both
there, and in the marshes of Holland, and in the peninsula of Spain and
Portugal. On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, he fell gloriously
leading his division to a charge of bayonets, by which one of the most
serious attacks made by the enemy was defeated. After his death a wound
was discovered, which he had received two days before, and which he
heroically concealed, having dressed it himself only with a piece of torn
handkerchief. He died greatly lamented, and his meritorious life was
distinguished for his zeal in the service of his country.
_Henry Parry_ was born in Flintshire. He was educated at Gloucester
Hall, Oxford, where he took his degrees in arts, and his degree of B.D.,
at Jesus College, in 1597. He travelled much abroad, and on his return,
he obtained the rectory of Rhoscolyn, in Anglesea, in 1601, and in 1612
he was installed canon of Bangor. He died in 1617. He augmented and
published a “Welsh Rhetoric, or Egluryn Fraethineb,” which was originally
written by William Salusbury, and is commended by Dr. Davies.
_Hester Lynch Piozzi_, was the daughter of John Salusbury, of Bodvel, in
Caernarvonshire. She was a distinguished authoress, and well known as a
friend of Johnson, who made a Tour in Wales on a visit to her. She was
first married, in 1763, to Mr. Thrale, member of parliament for
Southwark, and after his death, she became the wife of Signor Piozzi, a
Florentine. Her works are rather numerous, but the best known perhaps
are her “Anecdotes of Johnson,” with whom she was a great favourite until
her second marriage. She died a widow, at Clifton, in 1821, at a very
advanced age.
_David Powel_, D.D., was a native of Denbighshire. In 1568 he was sent
to be educated at Oxford, and after the erection of Jesus College, in
1571, he removed thither, and having proceeded through his bachelor’s
degree, he graduated M.A. in 1576. Having taken orders, he obtained the
livings of Rhiwabon and Llanvyllin, and became a prebendary of St. Asaph;
in 1584 he was appointed chaplain to Sir Henry Sidney, then president of
Wales. His first work, “Caradog’s History of Wales,” quarto, appeared in
1584, which had been partly translated from the Welsh by Humphrey Llwyd,
and was finished by Powel, who illustrated it with annotations. This was
followed in the following year by “Pontici Virunii Historia Britannica,”
octavo. He was also author of “De Britannica Historia recte intelligenda
Epistola ad Gul. Fleetwood, Civ. Lond. Recordatorem.” He is said to have
undertaken the compilation of a Welsh Dictionary, but he died before it
was completed, which event took place in 1598.
_John Price_ was born of Welsh parents in London, in the year 1600. He
was educated at Westminster School, and Christ Church, Oxford, whence he
removed to Florence, having become a Catholic, and he was there admitted
doctor of civil law. He held the appointment of keeper of the ducal
cabinet of medals and antiquities, and subsequently he became professor
of Greek at Pisa. He was a very ingenious and learned critic, as his
“Commentaries on the New Testament” and “Notes on Apuleius” testify. He
died at a convent, in Rome, in the year 1676.
_Richard Price_, D.D., was a native of Glamorganshire, and was born at
Llangunnor in 1723. He was educated at Talgarth, and afterwards removed
to a Presbyterian academy in London. He became pastor of a congregation
at Hackney; and in 1769 he was complimented with the diploma of doctor in
divinity by the University of Glasgow. He was the author of several
mathematical, statistical, and political works; and for one of them he
was presented with a gold snuff-box, containing a vote of thanks by the
corporation of London. He was also fellow of the Royal Society, in whose
Transactions he wrote several papers. He died in 1791.
_Sir John Price_, L.L.D., was a native of Breconshire. He was a learned
and ingenious antiquary, and was author of “Historiæ Britannicæ
Defensio,” quarto, which was written in answer to Polydore Virgil, and
was published after his death by his son, in 1573. He was one of the
King’s council in the court of the marches, and was one of the
commissioners employed by Henry the Eighth, to survey the monasteries
that were to be dissolved. He died in 1553.
_Robert Price_, D.D., an eminent prelate, was the son of Colonel Price,
of Rhiwlas, in Meirionethshire, where he was born. He was educated at
Christ Church, Oxford, and after taking orders, was for some time vicar
of Towyn, in Meirionethshire, and afterwards chancellor of the diocese of
Bangor. He was promoted to the bishopric of Ferns, in Ireland; and on
the death of Bishop Roberts, in 1665, he was nominated to succeed him in
the see of Bangor; but his death took place before his election was
completed, and he was buried in the cathedral church of St. Patrick,
Dublin.
_Rees Prichard_, the celebrated author of “Canwyll y Cymry,” was born at
Llanymddyvri, Caermarthenshire. At the age of eighteen, he was entered
at Jesus College, Oxford, in 1597, and graduated B.A. in 1602, and
obtained the vicarage of his own parish. In 1613 he was instituted to
the rectory of Llanedy, in the diocese of St. David’s; and he was
chaplain to the Earl of Essex. In the following year he was made
prebendary of the collegiate church of Brecon, and in 1626 chancellor of
St. David’s. As long as the Welsh language endures, will the memory of
Prichard be kept with gratitude; and few productions ever caused such a
profitable and rapid change in improving the morals of his countrymen.
He died in 1644.
_Edmund Prys_, M.A., a distinguished Welsh poet, was born in the year
1541. After an academical education, he entered the church, and in 1572
he was made rector of Festiniog, and in 1576 archdeacon of Meirioneth.
In 1602 he obtained a canonry in St. Asaph. He was a very learned man,
and particularly distinguished himself by an elegant metrical version of
the Psalms, which is still in use. There are also extant fifty-four
controversial poems between the Archdeacon and a contemporary Bard,
William Cynwal, both holding a high rank in the first class of the Welsh
poets of that age. It is also said that Cynwal fell a victim to the
poignancy of the Archdeacon’s satire. The last poem of the fifty-four is
a most pathetic elegy, composed by Prys when the news of his rival’s
death reached him; he was also an elegant Latin poet, and a specimen of
his talent is prefixed to Dr. Davies’s Welsh and Latin Grammar. He died
at Maentwrog about the year 1622.
_Abraham Rees_, D.D., the author of the well known Cyclopædia, which
bears his name, was born at Montgomery, in 1743. His father being a
Dissenting minister, placed him first under Dr. Jenkins, of Caermarthen,
and subsequently at the Hoxton Academy, where his brilliant talents and
rapid progress procured his being appointed at an early age mathematical
tutor to the institution, and afterwards resident tutor, which place he
retained for twenty-two years. He then removed, and became resident
tutor of the Natural Sciences at the Dissenting Academy at Hackney, in
1786. He was minister of a Dissenting congregation in St. Thomas’s,
Southwark, and in the Old Jewry. He was a fellow of the Royal and
Linnean Societies, and he obtained his doctor’s degree in Edinburgh, at
the express recommendation of the illustrious Robertson, the historian.
He was author of some other works, besides the valuable and learned
“Cyclopædia.” He died in June, 1825, in his eighty-second year.
_John Davydd Rhys_, M.D., an eminent grammarian, was born in the Isle of
Anglesea, in 1534. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and entered
the medical profession; he removed to Sienna, where he took his doctor’s
degree. While there, he greatly distinguished himself by his skill in
the Italian language, the fruits of which are “De Italicæ linguæ
pronunciatione,” which was printed in Padua, and “Rules for obtaining the
Latin tongue,” printed at Venice, in Italian. His valuable “Welsh
Grammar” was published in 1592, folio. His death took place in the year
1609.
_Peter Roberts_, an eminent divine, and writer on British history, was
born at Rhiwabon, Denbighshire, in 1760. He was educated at the
Grammar-school of St. Asaph, and removed thence to Trinity College,
Dublin, where his abilities soon became conspicuous. He applied himself
to the study of astronomy and the oriental languages; and at one time it
was supposed that he would have succeeded Dr. Usher, as professor of
astronomy in that University. He became afterwards private tutor to
several noblemen and gentlemen of rank; and in 1800, was published, his
“Harmony of the Epistles,” a work of exceedingly high character and
labour, which the University of Cambridge printed at their own expense.
Having been presented to the living of Llanarmon, he dedicated his
leisure time to the elucidation of the antiquities of his native country.
The fruits of his labours in this department are well known—“Collectanea
Cambrica,” “Early History of the Cymry,” and “Cambrian Popular
Antiquities.” He was presented also with the living of Madely, in
Shropshire, by Lord Crew. The living of Llanarmon he subsequently
exchanged for the rectory of Halkin, Flintshire, where he died in 1819.
As an excellent critic in his native language, and equally so in Hebrew
and Rabbinical learning, his works are a sufficient proof; and his
“Letters to Volney” show to advantage the depth of his reasoning powers
and scientific acquirements.
_William Roberts_, D.D., was a native of Denbighshire, where he was born
in 1585. He was educated at Queen’s College, Cambridge, where he became
fellow, and subsequently sub-dean of Wells, and rector of Llandyrnog. He
was made bishop of Bangor in 1637. During the great rebellion he
suffered much for his loyalty, and was deprived of all his benefices, and
all the church lands were sequestered; but, however, he was restored to
all in 1660. He was a great benefactor to his cathedral, in which he
erected an organ, and bequeathed money for beautifying it. He founded an
exhibition for a scholar from the diocese of Bangor, in Queen’s College,
Cambridge, and a similar one in Jesus College, Oxford. He left also
200_l._ to be distributed among two parishes in the suburbs of London,
which were visited by the plague. He died near Denbigh, in the year
1665.
_Nicholas Robinson_ was a native of Aberconwy, in Caernarvonshire, and
was educated at Queen’s College, Cambridge, where he obtained a
fellowship, and was appointed chaplain to Parker, Archbishop of
Canterbury. He was made dean of Bangor in 1556, and obtained the
sinecure rectory of Northop, in Flintshire, in 1562, and he was likewise
archdeacon of Meirioneth. In 1566 he was raised to the bishopric of
Bangor; and he held the living of Whitney, in Oxfordshire, in commendam.
He died in 1585.
_Henry Rowlands_, D.D., was born in Mellteyrn, in Caernarvonshire, in
1551, and was educated at New College, Oxford. He obtained the rectory
of his native parish in 1572, and subsequently of Launton, in
Oxfordshire. He was advanced to the deanery of Bangor in 1593, and was
consecrated bishop of the same diocese in 1598. He was a most munificent
benefactor to his cathedral, and bestowed great sums in improving and
adorning it. He also founded two fellowships in Jesus College, Oxford;
and bequeathed money for the foundation of a school in his native place.
He died in 1616.
_Henry Rowlands_, B.A., the author of the valuable and learned work
entitled “Mona Antiqua Restaurata,” was a native of the Isle of Anglesea.
Having taken orders, he became vicar of Llanidan. He devoted his leisure
time to the examination of the antiquities which abound in his native
island; and his researches afford important information concerning the
language and manners of the Cymmry. He endeavours to prove that Môn was
the metropolitan seat of the Druids; and his work first appeared in 1723,
and a second edition was published in London, in 1766. He died in 1722.
_Grufydd Roberts_, a learned grammarian, distinguished himself by the
publication of a valuable “Welsh Grammar,” which was printed at Milan, in
1567. Nothing is known of his history, besides that he was educated at
Sienna, in Italy, under the patronage of William Herbert, Earl of
Pembroke.
_William Salusbury_, an eminent antiquary, was a native of Denbighshire,
where he was born in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was educated at
Oxford, and entered the profession of the law. He assisted in
translating the New Testament into Welsh, and he published also a Welsh
version of the “Epistles and Gospels,” besides a “Dictionary,” and a
“Treatise on Rhetoric.” He died in 1570.
_George Stepney_, whose parents were of old families in Pembrokeshire,
was born in 1663. Having been entered on the foundation of Westminster
School, he removed in due time to Trinity College, Cambridge, and while
there, he acquired the friendship of Mr. Montague, afterwards Earl of
Halifax, and through his patronage he was employed by government on
several important and confidential missions to the courts of
Brandenburgh, Vienna, Dresden, Mentz, and Cologne, and to the congress of
Frankfort. He was again employed on an embassy to Holland in 1706; and
after completing it successfully, he returned to England in the following
year, and a few months after he died in Chelsea, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. He was a very ingenious poet, and ranked high as a
political writer; several of his works obtained for him great credit.
_Charles Symmons_, D.D., was born in Caerdigan, in the year 1749, which
borough was represented by his father in three successive parliaments.
He was educated at Westminster School, and the University of Glasgow,
whence he subsequently removed to Clare Hall, Cambridge, and in 1776 he
took the degree of bachelor of divinity at that University. Having given
offence by declaring some Whiggish principles in a sermon, which
destroyed all his prospects of promotion, and fearing some obstacles when
he proceeded to his doctor’s degree, he removed to Jesus College, Oxford,
where he took it in 1794. He was presented to the living of Narberth and
Lanpeter. As an author, the greater portion of his works consisted of
poetry, and he published “Milton’s prose works, with a Biographical
Memoir.” He died at Bath, in 1826.
_William Thomas_ was born in Wales, and was educated at Oxford, where he
took the degree of bachelor of canon law in 1529. Being obliged for some
cause to leave the kingdom, he travelled in Italy; and on his return to
England, he published a “History” of that country, in 1549, quarto. He
was appointed clerk of the council to King Edward the Sixth, who bestowed
upon him, though a layman, a prebend in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and a
living in Wales. On the accession of Queen Mary, he was deprived of his
office and benefices, which treatment is supposed to have instigated him
to join in the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt, for which he was arrested,
and being convicted, was executed at Tyburn. He was also author of
several less important works.
_William Thomas_, D.D., was a native of South Wales, where he was born in
1613. He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, where he proceeded
through his degrees. Having taken orders, he became vicar of Penbryn, in
the time of the great rebellion. On the Restoration, he was appointed
precentor of St. David’s, and rector of Llanbedr, in Pembrokeshire, and
subsequently dean of Worcester. He was consecrated bishop of St. David’s
in 1677, and in 1683 he was translated to Worcester, where he died in
1689.
_Josiah Tucker_, D.D., an eminent political writer, was the son of a
Welsh gentleman of property, and was born in 1711. He was educated at
St. John’s College, Oxford, and entered into holy orders, being appointed
to the curacy of All Saints, Bristol; he afterwards became chaplain to
Dr. Butler, bishop of that diocese, by whom he was appointed to the
rectory of St. Stephen’s, in the same city. He was author of numerous
political and controversial essays, some sermons, and a multitude of
treatises, and publications on commerce and religion. He obtained a
prebend in Bristol Cathedral, and the deanery of Gloucester, in 1758. He
died of an attack of paralysis at the advanced age of eighty-eight, in
the year 1799.
_William Tyndale_, the first translator of the Holy Scriptures into the
English language, was born in Wales, in 1500, and after a learned
education, he was entered at Magdalen Hall, Oxford; he was afterwards a
canon of Wolsey’s New College of Christ’s Church, whence he was ejected
on account of his religious principles, which were liberal, and according
with the doctrines of Luther, who began to flourish at that time. He
took a degree in Cambridge, whither he had removed from Oxford; but his
opinions becoming known, rendered him obnoxious to some of the
dignitaries, and being reprimanded, he thought it prudent to retire to
the Continent, in order to publish his translation of the Testament,
which appeared in 1526, and was printed at Antwerp. He commenced
afterwards the translation of the Pentateuch, and some other books of the
Old Testament; but his first publication, of which a second edition was
widely diffused over England, caused him to be marked as a victim to
Popish bigotry. Henry the Eighth employed a man to betray him to the
Emperor, and by his decree he was burnt as a heretic at Augsburgh in
1536. He was author of some other works; and his Testament hath by many
eminent divines been declared never to have been surpassed in clearness,
and noble simplicity of style.
_Henry Vaughan_, commonly known by his assumed name of the Silurist, was
born at Newton, in Brecknockshire, in the year 1621. He received his
academical education at Jesus College, Oxford, and afterwards settled in
his native country, where he practised medicine, although he does not
appear to have taken any degree in arts or medicine at the University.
His writings consist of a poem entitled “The Mount of Olives,” “Thalia
Rediviva,” “Olor Iscanus,” and “Silex Scintillans, or The Bleeding
Heart.” He died in 1695, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.
_Thomas Vaughan_ was the brother of the above (Henry), and a fellow of
Jesus College. He was a man of great natural abilities as well as
learning; he was chiefly known from some curious “Treatises on Alchymy
and Judicial Astrology,” to which, although a clergyman, he seems to have
been devoted. According to Wood’s Athenæ Oxonenses, he had sense enough
not to publish them in his in own name, but under the assumed name of
Eugenius Philalethes; they are, however, now forgotten. He died rector
of St. Bridget’s, Brecknockshire.
_Sir John Vaughan_, an eminent and learned chief justice of Common Pleas,
was born in Caerdiganshire, in 1608. He was educated at Worcester
School, whence he removed to Christ Church, Oxford, and subsequently to
the Inner Temple. During the civil wars he lived in retirement; but
after the Restoration he was elected member of parliament for the county
of Caerdigan, and in 1668 made chief justice of the Court of Common
Pleas. His death took place in 1674. Sir John Vaughan’s “Reports and
Arguments” in the Common Pleas are all special cases, and ably reported.
They were first printed in 1677, and again by his son, Edward Vaughan, in
1706.
_Richard Vaughan_, D.D., an eminent and learned prelate, was born in
Caernarvonshire, and received his academical education at St. John’s
College, Cambridge, where he graduated. Having entered the church, he
became archdeacon of Middlesex, and obtained also a canonry in Wells
Cathedral, and in 1595 he was raised to the bishopric of Bangor. Two
years after, he was translated to the see of Chester, and thence to
London, where he died in 1607.
_Robert Vaughan_, a distinguished and learned antiquary, was a member of
a very ancient family in Meirionethshire, and was born at the family seat
of Hengwrt, in that county. From all his ample materials, he only
published a small tract entitled “British Antiquities Revived.” He
formed a noble and invaluable collection of Welsh manuscripts, which
still remain at Hengwrt. He died in 1667.
_William Vaughan_, an ingenious Welsh poet, was a member of a very
ancient and illustrious family, who have lived for several centuries
successively at Golden Grove, in Caermarthenshire. He was born in 1577,
and having gone through the usual course of academical education at Jesus
College, Oxford, took the degree of L.L.D. in that University. He was
the author of a variety of miscellaneous poems, the principal of which
are a metrical version of the “Psalms and Solomon’s Song,” “The Golden
Grove Moralized,” &c. Previously to his decease, he went to
Newfoundland, where he died in 1640.
_John Walters_, M.A., an eminent Welsh philologist and divine, was the
author of a valuable “English and Welsh Dictionary,” which was published
in quarto, in 1794. It has since gone through two other editions, and he
wrote a learned “Dissertation on the Welsh Language,” printed in 1771,
besides some sermons. He was rector of Llandochan, in Glamorgan, and
died in the year 1797.
_Daniel Williams_, an eminent theological writer, and Presbyterian
divine, was a native of Wrexham, in Denbighshire, where he was born in
1644. Not having received an education in his earlier youth, he made up
the deficiency by his unwearied diligence and application; and devoting
himself to the study of divinity, he was, at the age of nineteen,
ordained a preacher among the Presbyterians. After officiating in
various parts in England, he went to Ireland as chaplain to the Countess
of Meath, and presided over a congregation in Dublin, where he continued
for twenty years; and married a lady of an honourable family, and a
considerable estate. He subsequently removed to London, where he was
chosen minister of a congregation of Presbyterians in Bishopsgate-street;
and in 1701, having become a widower, he married a second wife, who
survived him. His learning and piety being held in great esteem, he was
honoured with the diploma of D.D. by the Universities of Edinburgh and
Glasgow; and he bequeathed estates for the support of six Presbyterian
students in the latter. His library, together with a sum of money for
its increase, was left by him, with the liberal view of founding a public
library in London, and which led to the establishment of the celebrated
Red cross street Institution, which was opened in 1729. He died in 1716,
and left numerous legacies for charitable purposes. His works were
published in six volumes, octavo.
_David Williams_, a learned and ingenious writer, was born in
Cardiganshire. Having been educated at a Dissenting Academy, he was
appointed minister of a congregation at Frome, Somersetshire, and
afterwards at Exeter, then at Highgate, near London. While in the
metropolis, he distinguished himself by numerous publications on
education and morality. He left his ministerial office among the
Dissenters, and becoming sceptical with regard to the Christian religion,
he opened in 1776, a chapel for the celebration of public worship, on the
principles of natural religion, in Margaret-street, Cavendish-square.
The novelty of the institution at first attracted the curiosity of the
public, but it was finally closed, and the lecturer turned his attention
to private tuition. He has obtained great and deserved reputation as
being the founder of the Literary Fund. He died in June, 1816. Among
his numerous works, several of which have been translated into German, is
a valuable “History of Monmouthshire,” in two volumes, quarto.
_Edward Williams_, whose bardic appellation was Iolo Morganwg, was a
native of Glamorganshire, where he was born in March, 1745. His father
being a stone-mason, brought him up to the same trade; but even in his
early youth he was remarkable for avoiding all diversions with boys of
his own age, and was pensive and thoughtful, eager in receiving the
instructions of an excellent mother, who grounded him well in the English
language. In 1770, on the death of his mother, he left Wales, and
travelled over several counties in England, in the exercise of his
calling, and studying architecture and other sciences connected with it.
He resided for several years in London, Bristol, and other towns, and
returned to Wales, where he married in 1781. His first productions were
Welsh poetry, and he was a man of wonderful abilities as a Welsh and
English poet, and a skilful antiquary; he wrote English with great ease
and elegance. In 1794 he published two volumes of English poetry, which
consist of original compositions, and translations from the Welsh, and in
conjunction with Dr. Pughe and Mr Owain Jones, edited the “Myvyrian
Archaiology.” He has left several valuable works in manuscript,
especially materials for a History of Wales, which it is greatly to be
lamented was not published in his lifetime. He died on the 17th of
December, 1827, aged eighty-two.
_Griffith Williams_ was a native of Caernarvon, in North Wales, where he
was born in the year 1589. He was educated at Jesus’ College, Cambridge,
and having taken orders, he was appointed to the lectureship of St.
Peter’s, Cheapside, but his preaching so offended the Puritans, that they
procured his suspension. He obtained a living in Wales, and became
chaplain to the King, prebendary of Westminster, and dean of Bangor. In
1641 he was created bishop of Ossory; and his death took place at
Kilkenny. He was the author of several works on divinity.
_John Williams_, Archbishop of York, and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal,
was born at Aberconwy, in 1582. He was educated at Ruthin School, and
St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he soon distinguished himself by his
application and splendid abilities, which were rewarded with a
fellowship. He was ordained in 1609, and soon after he obtained the
rectory of Grafton, in Northamptonshire. Being appointed chaplain to
Lord Ellesmere, then Lord Chancellor, he ingratiated himself so much with
his patron by his talents, that he obtained through him rapid
preferments, and was appointed one of the royal chaplains. In 1619 he
was made dean of Salisbury, and soon after exchanged it for the deanery
of Westminster; in a short time he was appointed lord keeper, and
immediately afterwards he was raised to the bishopric of Lincoln. He
retained great influence at court during the reign of James the First,
and was the chief cause of the promotion of Laud to the episcopal bench,
who, however, ungratefully joined in various persecutions to which the
Archbishop was subjected for several years; but his worth and excellent
character prevailed: he was restored to favour, and in 1641 he was raised
to the archiepiscopal see of York. During the civil war, he fortified
Conwy Castle for the King’s use; but after a seige, being surprised, he
was compelled to give it up on honourable terms to the parliamentary
troops. He died at Gloddaeth, near Conwy, on his birth-day, in 1650. He
was the author of several theological works, and an interesting “History
of his Life” was published by Bishop Hacket, who had been his chaplain;
and a more condensed biography subsequently by Stephens, and also by
Phillips.
_John Williams_, L.L.D., was born at Llanbedr-pont Stephen in 1727. He
was educated at the Grammar School of the same town, where he acquired a
competent knowledge of the classics; being strongly inclined to the
ministry, he was entered at the age of nineteen at a Dissenting Academy,
in Caermarthen, where he went through the usual studies to be qualified
for the office of a minister. In 1752 he went to Stamford, Lincolnshire,
at the unanimous request of a congregation of Protestant Dissenters, and
in 1755 he removed to a similar situation in Berkshire. Here he
completed his “Concordance to the Greek New Testament,” and afterwards he
removed to Sydenham, where he officiated for the long period of
twenty-eight years. In 1777 he was chosen the curator of Redcross-street
Library; and the lease of his chapel expiring, he retired to Islington,
where he remained until his death, which took place in 1798. In his
character, both public and private, he was esteemed for the conscientious
discharge of his duty as a Christian minister, and for his literary
acquirements. He published several works on theology and other subjects,
which are of great merit, and enriched with valuable information.
_Roger Williams_ was a native of Wales, where he was born in the year
1599. He was entered for the church, and was accordingly educated for
it; but adopting puritanical principles, he emigrated to North America,
where he founded the town of Providence. He distinguished himself by his
zeal for the conversion of the Indians to Christianity, of whose language
he published a very useful “Manual and Glossary,” which has been
frequently reprinted. His colony thrived rapidly, as he was decidedly
opposed to all restraint in religion, and granted to all who settled
there free liberty of conscience. He died in 1683.
_Thomas Williams_ was a native of Caernarvonshire, and received an
University education at Oxford. He practised as a physician at Trevriw,
near Llanrwst, and he wrote a “Welsh and Latin,” and “Latin and Welsh
Dictionary,” which he left in manuscript; and it was subsequently
published in 1632, with many additions and corrections by Dr. John
Davies. He made a good collection of pedigrees, which he entitled “Priv
achau holl Gymru Benbaladr,” i.e. The Primitive Pedigrees of all Wales.
In 1606 he was proceeded against as a Papist in the court of Bangor, and
in the following year he was excommunicated. There was written also by
him a large “List of Plants” in Latin, Welsh, and English.
_William Williams_ was a native of the Isle of Anglesea. He was educated
at Oxford, and in 1652 he was elected scholar of Jesus’ College, whence
he removed to Gray’s Inn. In 1667 he was appointed recorder of the city
of Chester. When the Popish plot broke out, he sided with the party then
dominant; and in 1678 he was chosen one of the representatives of the
City of Chester, and again for the parliament which sat in 1679, and a
third time in 1680; in the two last parliaments he was chosen speaker of
the House of Commons. After the Presbyterian plot broke out in 1683, he
became an advocate for them and the fanatics. When James the Second came
to the crown, he was taken into favour, and was made solicitor-general
instead of Sir Thomas Powis, who was appointed attorney-general in 1687.
Williams was knighted on this occasion, and soon afterwards created a
baronet. He has published several of his eloquent speeches, besides some
other works.
_Richard Wilson_, the eminent landscape painter, was the son of the Rev.
John Wilson, rector of Penegoes, in Montgomeryshire, where he was born in
1714. Having received a good classical education, he was sent at the age
of fifteen to London, where he was apprenticed to a portrait painter: and
he set up for himself in London, and painted the portraits of the Prince
of Wales and Duke of York, who were then under the tuition of Bishop
Hayter, of Norwich. Not obtaining any great success in the metropolis,
he went to Italy, and meeting with the Earl of Dartmouth, who saw the
young painter’s great abilities, proposed that he should travel with him
to Naples, which being readily accepted, enabled him to study some of the
finest specimens of painting. Here also he became conscious of his
particular excellence in landscape painting, at the height of which
branch he soon arrived. His reputation having become now very great, he
returned to England in 1755. Although his abilities were esteemed, he
was far from obtaining the patronage which his extraordinary talents
deserved, and it was not until after his death that his works were duly
appreciated. After a long period of neglect, and insult, caused by the
mean jealousy of rivals, he died near Mold, in 1782, in the sixty-eighth
year of his age.
_William Worthington_, D.D., an eminent theological writer, was born in
Meirionethshire in 1703. He received his education at the Grammar
School, in Oswestry, and Jesus’ College, Oxford, where he proceeded
through his degrees. Having taken orders, he obtained various preferment
from Dr. Hare, then bishop of St. Asaph, he was rector of Hope, and
Darowen, and had a prebendal stall in the Cathedral of St. Asaph, and
another in York, to which he was appointed by Archbishop Drummond, whose
chaplain he had been. Among the variety of his works, the principal are
an “Essay on Redemption,” “Evidences of Christianity,” and “Sermons on
Boyle’s Lectures.” He died in 1778.
_Sir John Wynn_ of Gwydir, was born near Llanrwst, in the year 1553. He
was made a baronet on the creation of that honour in 1615. He lived in
retirement, and wrote a curious and valuable work, entitled “The History
of the Gwydir family,” which was first printed in 1773, octavo. He was a
member of the council of the marches, and was well versed in the history
and antiquities of his native country, and a great patron of its
literature. Inigo Jones was born on his estate, and enjoyed the
patronage of the family who first brought him to notice. He died in
1626, in the seventy-third year of his age.
_John Wynne_, was born at Caerwys, Flintshire, and was educated for some
time at Northop School, from whence he removed to Ruthin, and received
his academical education at Jesus’ College, Oxford, where he obtained a
fellowship. He became rector of Llangelynin, in Caernarvonshire, and
prebendary of Brecon. He was appointed also the Lady Margaret’s
professor of divinity, and by virtue of that, he had a prebend in
Worcester Cathedral in 1705. He was elected principal of Jesus’ College
in 1712, and was advanced to the bishopric of St. Asaph in 1714. He was
a very learned divine, and extremely liberal in the repairing of his
cathedral, which had suffered great damage by a violent storm soon after
his appointment. He was translated to the diocese of Bath and Wells in
1727, and died in July, 1743.
_John Huddleston Wynne_, an eminent writer on miscellaneous subjects, was
born of a respectable family in Wales in 1743. He was brought up to the
profession of a printer, which he followed for some time in London; he
afterwards obtained a commission in the army, which he quitted and
commenced author. His principal works are “A General History of the
British Empire in America,” and “A History of Ireland.” He died in 1788.
His uncle,
_Richard Wynne_, M.A., of All Soul’s College, Oxford, was rector of St.
Alphage, London, and of Ayot St. Lawrence, in Hertfordshire. He
published the New Testament in English, carefully collated with the
Greek, two volumes, octavo. He died in 1799.
_Philip Yorke_, an eminent antiquarian, and author of a learned work
entitled “The Royal Tribes of Wales,” was born at Erddig, near Wrexham,
in Denbighshire, in 1743. After a liberal education, he was entered at
Benet College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. He represented
successively in parliament the boroughs of Halston and Grantham. He died
in 1804.
ADDENDA.
_John Bradford_, an ingenious poet, who was admitted a disciple of the
bardic chair of Glamorgan, in 1730, being then a boy; presided in the
same chair 1760, and died in 1780. He wrote several moral pieces of
great merit, some of which he printed in the “Eurgrawn,” a magazine then
carried on in South Wales.
_Rev. Thomas Charles_, A.B., the son of a respectable farmer, in the
parish of Llanvihangel, South Wales, was born October 14, 1755. When he
was about ten or twelve years of age, his parents entertaining thoughts
of bringing him up to the ministry, sent him to school at Llanddowror,
about two miles off, where he continued three or four years. When about
fourteen years of age, his father sent him to the academy, at
Caermarthen, which he left for Oxford in 1775, where he remained about
four years. On leaving Oxford, he was engaged to a curacy in
Somersetshire, which he gave up in 1783, and removed to Wales, after a
ministry of five years. After Mr. Charles returned to Wales, he was
engaged successively to serve several churches in the neighbourhood of
Bala (where he then resided), at each of which, his evangelical preaching
giving great offence to the inhabitants, his services were declined. Mr.
Charles having been so many times deprived of the opportunity of
exercising his ministry felt no small perplexity of mind: his active
disposition would not allow him to remain wholly unoccupied. The
ignorance which prevailed among the people at Bala excited his sympathy;
he invited them to his house to give them religious instruction. He was
offered the use of the chapel by the Calvinistic Methodists, who were
then, and for some time after, connected with the Established Church:
this offer he accepted, and there he instructed and catechised the
numerous children who attended. In the year 1785, Mr. Charles commenced
preaching among the Methodists, from which period to the time of his
death his ministerial labours were very great; the effect of which are
still to be seen, and will probably continue to appear for ages to come.
Shortly after Mr. Charles left the church, he began establishing
circulating schools; they succeeded wonderfully, the whole country being
filled with them. The fruits of these schools were numerous Sunday
schools throughout the Principality. Mr. Charles prepared two editions
of the Welsh Bible, one in duodecimo, published in 1806, and another in
octavo, completed just before his death. But his greatest effort as an
author was a “Scriptural Dictionary,” four volumes, octavo. Mr. Charles
was the principal instrument in originating the Bible Society; the
exciting or moving cause of this noble institution was the great want of
Bibles, especially in North Wales. He died October 5, 1814, in the
fifty-ninth year of his age.
_Robert Davies_, better known by the appellation of Bardd Nantglyn, was
born about the year 1769. At an early period of his life he became a
votary of the Awen, which propensity was strengthened by his intimacy
with Twm o’r Nant, who always expressed a just tribute of admiration for
his poetical efforts. In the year 1800 he removed to London, and there
became acquainted with those patriotic fosterers of their native language
and customs, who instituted the Gwyneddigion Society, and he filled at
intervals the situation of their bard and secretary. The illness of his
family compelled him reluctantly to leave the metropolis, after a
residence of about four years, and return to Nantglyn, which he never
afterwards quitted. This occurrence, which was unforeseen, obliged him
to borrow a sum of money from Owain Myvyr, to defray the expenses of
removal, and shortly after he was given to understand by that generous
character, that the loan should be a gift; and this munificent donation
enabled him to build a decent cottage, which formed his domicile during
his life. When the premiums awarded by the Eisteddvodau stimulated the
bards to unwonted exertions, Robert Davies early distinguished himself,
and acquired the honour of occupying the bardic chair for Powys, at the
meeting held at Wrexham, in 1820, by his prize elegy on the death of
George the Third. The number of medals he acquired on different
occasions amounted to eleven; and in addition he received, on various
occasions, many money premiums for meritorious exertions. It would be
needless to recapitulate the various subjects on which he was a
successful competitor, as the prize poems of his composition are mostly
published in his publication entitled “Diliau Barddas,” which contains
the greater part of the productions of his muse. He likewise was the
compiler of a very excellent “Grammar,” in great esteem in the
principality. He died on 1st December, 1835, and was buried at Nantglyn,
where it is in contemplation to erect a tablet to his memory.
_John Evans_, an adventurous young man of Caernarvonshire, who, about the
year 1790, went to America, with a view of discovering the Welsh Indians,
or descendants of Madog and his followers. After surmounting many
difficulties, and penetrating about 1,300 miles up the Missouri River, he
was obliged to return to St. Louis, on the Mississippi. The commandant
there encouraged him to try another voyage, with attendants and
everything necessary to make discoveries; but unfortunately, John Evans
died of a fever there in 1797, when everything was prepared to ensure
success to his enterprise.
_Wyn Elis_, A.M., an eminent divine and poet, who lived at Y-Las-Ynys, in
Meirionethshire, from about the year 1680 to 1740. About the year 1720,
he published a small tract in Welsh of great utility, containing letters
of advice to Christian professors, with various hymns and other pieces.
Soon after, he published the “Bardd Cwsg, or the Vision of the Sleeping
Bard,” in the manner of Don Quivedo, a very popular work, which has been
reprinted several times since the death of the author.
_Rev. Evan Edward_, Aberdare, Glamorgan, an eminent Dissenting preacher,
philosopher and poet, and one of the few who being initiated into the
bardic mysteries, have helped to preserve the institution to the present
time. He died on the 21st of June, 1798, being the time fixed for him to
meet the other bards of the chair of Glamorgan.
_Sir John Glynne_, an able political lawyer in the time of Charles the
First, and during the Interregnum, was born in the year 1590. He
received his academic education at Hart Hall, Oxford, and afterwards
studied at Lincoln’s Inn, where he became a bencher. His talents were
quickly discovered by the popular party, and through the tide of
opposition, he was buoyed up above the common level. He became steward
of Westminster, was returned for two parliaments that sat in the year
1640; was made recorder of London, and at length lord chief justice of
the upper bench. Cromwell made him one of his council, and placed him on
the committee appointed to inquire into the title most proper for the
usurper to assume. He continued in office till the Restoration, when he
prudently and promptly determined to submit to the new government. After
having been one of the ablest supporters of the protectorate, he was
received by the reinstated King with the most distinguished attention,
and obtained honorary marks of royal favour, for he was appointed prime
serjeant, himself knighted, and his eldest son created a baronet. He
appears to have been of considerable service, by sitting in the
convention parliament, as a representative for Caernarvon; assisted by
his advice to obtain the act of general amnesty; and particularly in his
judicial capacity, establishing the first precedent of granting a rule
for new trial in cases where excessive damages had been awarded by the
partial, or inconsiderate verdicts of a jury. He died in the year 1666.
_Doctor Gabriel Goodman_ was a native of Ruthin, distinguished for his
various learning, but especially eminent as a linguist and divine. He
was promoted by Queen Elizabeth to the deanery of Westminster; and, with
other distinguished characters, appointed an assistant in that great
work, a version of the Holy Scriptures. By his translation of his “First
Epistle to the Corinthians,” wholly performed by him as well as other
parts assigned him, he acquired great fame; yet he obtained no higher
preferment, dying dean of Westminster after forty years’ incumbency, in
the year 1601. His regard for learned men was great, as appears from his
having helped to support Camden in his travels, who, through the dean’s
interest, was made under master of Westminster School. His desire for
perpetuating learning was no less conspicuous in the free-school founded
in his native place, and his philanthropy still lives in an hospital
established for the aged poor.
_Howell Harris_, an eminent preacher, distinguished as the introducer of
Methodism into Wales, was born at Trevecca, in Brecknockshire, on January
23rd, 1713; and being designed for the church, was admitted a student of
St. Mary’s Hall, Oxford, in November, 1735. Here, however, he remained
only during one term, at the expiration of which, he quitted the
University, with the design of entering immediately on the duties of the
clerical profession. He had by this time, apparently, imbibed the tenets
and spirit of Whitfield, and determined to propagate the doctrine of
Methodism; with this view he applied for orders, but was refused. Having
commenced his ministerial career, he came to his native place, and
exerted himself with great zeal and earnestness. His style of preaching
was much the same as that practised by the ministers of his connection,
particularly among the Welsh, who have probably taken him for their
model; it was bold, declamatory, and animated, to a degree that might
often be denominated vociferation. At a period when religious freedom
was but imperfectly understood, even by those who deprecated persecution,
a man of Mr. Harris’s active zeal for proselytism, was not likely to pass
unobserved. He was in some instances prosecuted, but more frequently
persecuted: his undaunted resolution, however, triumphed over every
opposition, and rendered impotent every attempt to reduce him to silence.
He married in the year 1730, Anne, the daughter of John Williams, Esq.,
of Screene, by whom he had one daughter. In the year 1756, when some
apprehensions of an invasion were entertained, he made a voluntary offer
to furnish at his own expense, ten light-horsemen completely armed and
accoutred, which proposal was accepted. Three years afterward, A.D.
1759, Mr. Harris himself, embarked in a military character. He was first
appointed to an ensigncy in the county militia, and afterwards invested
with the command of a company, in which were enrolled many of his own
followers. In the latter part of his life, he derived much support from
Lady Huntingdon, the warm patroness of the Calvinistic Methodists, who
came to reside in the neighbourhood. Mr. Harris died at Trevecca, July
28, 1773, and was buried in Talgarth church. In the year 1752 he formed
the plan of a religious community, something similar in its constitution
to the Moravian societies; and in the same year he laid the foundation of
Trevecca house, with a sufficient extent of buildings and garden, and
other ground to accommodate a large number of inhabitants. Here he
invited his disciples to assemble, and to invest their property in a
common fund, of which all members, as occasion might require, were
equally to participate.
_Morus Huw_ of Perthi Llwydion, near Cerrig-y-Druidion, Denbighshire, a
distinguished poet, who flourished from about the year 1600 to 1650. He
is generally considered to be the best song writer that has appeared in
Wales. Many of his compositions are in the Blodeugerdd.
_Thomas Jones_, bardd cloff (the lame bard). This highly respectable
bard was born at Mynydd Bychan (the little mountain), in the parish of
Llantysilio, Denbighshire, April 15, 1768. When quite an infant, he met
with an accident which lamed him for life—hence the appellation of the
lame bard. In 1775 Mr. Jones’s family removed to Llangollen, and Thomas
was sent to the best school in the town; in 1782 the family removed again
to Machynlleth, in the county of Montgomery. In 1780, Mathew Davies,
Esq., brought young Jones to London, and placed him in his
counting-house, in Long Acre, where Mr. Davies carried on a very large
establishment in the coach and military-lace line. Mr Jones was
exceedingly fond of reading, particularly poetry; and about this time he
began “to torment the Awen” (Muse), as he used to say; and wrote several
things both in Welsh and English. In 1789 he was elected a member of the
Gwyneddigion, and shortly afterwards he became secretary to the society.
At the time when it was regularly attended by Owain Jones, Myfyr, Dr. W.
O. Pughe, &c., who encouraged the young bard, and gave him much valuable
advice. In 1794 we find his name as one of the stewards of the festival
of Ancient Britons, and in 1801, as llywydd (chairman) of the
Gwyneddigion. In 1802 he published “An Ode of St. David’s-day,” and the
following year Mr. Davies made him the head manager of his business; a
convincing proof of the rectitude of his conduct, which was farther
testified by his becoming a partner in 1813. The Metropolitan Cambrian
Institution, founded on the basis of the Cymrodorion (established in
1750) was revived, and Mr. Jones was elected treasurer; and he gained the
gold medal offered by the society for the best poem in the Welsh
language, on its revival. In 1821 he was president of the Gwyneddigion
for the third time; and at the jubilee anniversary dinner, he was
presented with the society’s silver medal, to commemorate the event. Mr.
Jones gained several prizes at the different Eisteddvodau held in Wales.
And, after residing for a period of forty-five years (with little
intermission) at No. 90, Long Acre, departed this life February 18, 1828,
esteemed and lamented by all who knew him. Mr. Jones was an
open-hearted, generous, hospitable, benevolent man; no indigent
countryman appealed to him in vain; his name was invariably found in
every list of subscription raised for the promotion of literature, or the
relief of distress. Y bardd cloff, was, like his equally generous
countryman and friend, Mr. David Jones, of the House of Commons,
universally known by the Cymry, both in London and the principality. And
when he was gathered to his fathers, the Cymrodorion offered its silver
medal for the best approved of marwnad (elegy) on his lamented demise,
which was awarded to Robert Davies, bardd nantglyn.
_John Jones_ of Celli Lyvdy, distinguished as one of the most
indefatigable collectors of Welsh literature that have appeared among us.
He continued translating old Welsh manuscripts for a period of forty
years, as it appears from some of his volumes, which are dated variously
from the year 1590 to 1630; and of whose works in this way upwards of
forty large volumes still exist.
_Edward Jones_ was born at a farm in Meirionethshire, called Henblas, or
Old Mansion, on Easter Sunday, in the year 1752. His father was what is
generally termed a musical genius: he could not only perform on various
instruments, but he also made several. He taught two of his sons, Edward
and Thomas, the Welsh harp, another son the spinnet, and another the
violin, and he played himself on the organ—so that the “Family Concert”
was at least a tolerable strong one. Edward Jones came to London about
the year 1774, under the patronage of several persons of distinction,
connected with the principality. His performance on the harp was
considered in those days, when taste, feeling, and expression, were the
characteristic features of a lyrist, to be very superior. He met with
great encouragement, and had the honour of giving instructions to many
ladies of rank. He was appointed Bard to the Prince of Wales in 1783,
but it was merely an honorary situation.
In conjunction with Dr. Owen Pughe, Mr. Walters, and a few literary
friends, he published a volume of Ancient Bardic Lore, and Welsh Airs, in
1794, and, in four years afterwards, brought out a second volume. In
1820 he published the first part of a third volume, and had employed his
days chiefly since in preparing the remainder, so as to complete the
work; but he was not permitted to accomplish it. He had been severely
afflicted with rheumatic pains for some time, and his memory became daily
more defective; he was a very reserved man, and passed most of his time
alone, with his chamber door locked.
He had been a collector of scarce books, and possessed many valuable
ones; but his inability to follow his professional pursuits, and his high
spirit preventing him from making his situation known to his relatives,
caused him to dispose of a part of his library, on the produce of which
he subsisted.
Several friends saw that he was daily becoming an object of their
friendly attention, who endeavoured to ascertain his circumstances; but
from him they could learn nothing, notwithstanding it was pretty certain
that he passed many days without a dinner.
It became at length a duty incumbent on them to take him under their
care; a recommendation to the Governors of the Royal Society of Musicians
was promptly attended to, and an annuity of 50_l._ was granted unknown to
him. This single act of benevolence speaks volumes in favour of that
excellent institution, which was founded in 1738, with a view of
shielding the “child of song,” in the decline of life, from penury and
want; also to provide for the widows and orphans of its indigent members,
at their decease. Mr. Jones entered the society in 1778.
Mr. Parry was deputed to give him the first monthly payment. It was in
the evening when he called; he found the Bard locked in his room, at his
lodgings in Great Chesterfield-street, Marylebone, and was admitted: he
did not recollect Mr. Parry immediately, although most intimately
acquainted with him; he had his dressing-gown and night-cap on, his harp
standing by the table, on which was a blotted sheet of music paper. Mr.
Parry told him the purport of the visit, but he did not pay much
attention to it, and only asked, with much fervency, whether he knew “The
Melody of Mona,” (See Relicks, vol. i. p. 168,) a most beautiful pathetic
Welsh air, in the minor key, to which Mrs. Hemans has written an
excellent song, called “The Lament of the last Druid.” He took his harp,
and with a trembling hand,
“Struck the deep sorrows of his Lyre.”
It was impossible not to feel affected on such an occasion—the scene
reminded him of the dying hour of a celebrated Bard, who called for his
harp, and performed a most plaintive strain—
“Sweet solace of my dying hour,
Ere yet my arm forget its power,
Give to my falt’ring hand, my shell,
One strain to bid the world farewell.”
In a few days afterwards he fell in a fit; the landlady who sat in the
apartment below, heard a noise; she ran up, but could not gain admission;
the door was burst open, when the poor Bard was found lying on his face,
with a heavy chair on his back. He remained senseless for two days, and
expired without a groan on Easter Sunday, April 18, 1824, aged 72. He
was conveyed to his silent tomb, in St. Mary-le-bone burial-ground, on
the following Sunday. Mr. Jones left a number of scarce books, and much
music, which were disposed of by public auction in February, 1825, and
produced nearly 500_l._ He had, at various times previous to his death,
sold books and prints to the amount of about 300_l._, so that his whole
collection may be stated at 800_l._; an extraordinary sum, considering
the habits of the collector! Of his professional abilities, his “Relicks
of the Welsh Bards” bear ample testimony; and will convey his name, with
honour, to posterity. They are the result of forty years labour and
research; and his countrymen of the Principality may now boast, that, as
well as the Irish and the Scotch, they also have their “Melodies.”
_Rice Jones_ of Blaenau, in Meirionethshire, one of the most eminent
poets of Wales of recent times. He died in the autumn of the year 1801,
at the great age eighty-six. In the year 1770 he published a “Welsh
Anthology,” in quarto, containing choice selections from the poets of
different ages.
_Theophilus Jones_, the ingenious and learned author of the “History of
Brecknockshire,” was born Oct. 18, 1758. He was the son of the Rev. Hugh
Jones, successively vicar of the parishes of Langammarch and Llywel,
Brecknockshire, and a prebendary of the collegiate church of Brecknock.
With his grandfather, Mr. Theophilus Evans, Mr. Jones passed much of his
early life. His principal education was completed in the college school
at Brecknock. Being destined by his parents to the law, Mr. Jones, at a
proper age, was placed under the care of an eminent practitioner then
resident in the town of Brecknock; and after having passed with credit
the period of his probation, entered into the profession upon his own
account, and continued in it for many years, practising with equal
reputation and success as an attorney and solicitor in that place. Upon
a vacancy in the deputy registrarship of the archdeaconry of Brecknock,
he was appointed to that office, and held it till his death. From the
documents committed to his charge, and to which he was particularly
attentive, he derived much valuable information connected with the
parochial history of the county. After Mr. Jones commenced the history
of his county, finding that the duties of his profession could not be
attended to, and antiquarian pursuits followed at the same time, he
disposed of the attorney’s and solicitor’s business. Being now more at
liberty to pursue the great object of his ambition, he spared neither
pains nor expense to carry it into execution. There was no part of the
county into which he did not extend his personal researches, inquiring
most minutely into the natural history and antiquities of every place and
parish. The first volume of his history of Brecknockshire in quarto, was
published at Brecknock in the year 1805, and the second volume in 1809.
With the exception of two communications to periodical publications, and
two papers in the Cambrian Register, this was his only literary
production. It was his intention to publish a history of Radnorshire,
but his enfeebled state of health would not allow him to make the
necessary exertions. His last literary attempt was a translation of that
well written Welsh romance, entitled “Gweledigaethau y Bardd Cwsg,” or
Visions of the Sleeping Bard, by the Rev. Ellis Wynne. He died upon the
15th of January, 1812, and was buried in the parish church of
Llangammarth.
_David Jones_ of Trevriw, in Caernarvonshire, a poet who flourished from
about the year 1750 to 1780. He edited two collections of Welsh poetry,
one called “Diddanwch Teuluaidd,” and the other “Dewisol Ganiadau.” He
also formed a large collection of old manuscripts, which have been lately
purchased from his sons by the Rev. H. D. Griffith, of Caer Rhun, and
appropriated by that gentleman for the enriching of the Welsh
Archaiology.
_Richard Llwyd_, generally known in North Wales as the Bard of Snowden,
and Author of “Beaumaris Bay,” two volumes of poems, &c., was born at
Beaumaris, in the Isle of Anglesea, in 1752, and terminated a life
devoted to the interest and literature of his country, on the 29th
December, 1834, at his residence in Bank-place, Chester. The morning of
his days was clouded with adversity. While yet a child, his father, who
traded on the coast in a small vessel of his own, was shipwrecked, and
lost at once his vessel, his cargo, and his life!—a calamity which
plunged his surviving family in hopeless poverty and distress. The
extreme poverty of his mother precluded her from giving Richard any
education. Nevertheless, in early life his propensities for knowledge
discovered itself in a variety of ways, and in spite of the obstacles
with which he was surrounded, gave an early promise of the brightness and
ardour of his genius, and that greatness of character in which he
afterwards so eminently distinguished himself. There was, fortunately
for him, at Beaumaris, a free-school, founded by Mr. David Hughes, a man
born, like himself, in the vale of humility, but who afterwards became a
blessing to his native island. Hence he says in one of his notes to
“Gayton Wake,” I received an education of nine months, and I acknowledge
this blessing with humble gratitude as it has been to me an inexhaustible
source of happiness. At twelve years old, his mother gladly accepted a
situation for him in the service of Henry Morgan, Esq., of Henblas. Here
he remained several years, and here it was that his character was formed;
he had not many opportunities of gratifying his insatiable thirst for
reading, but such as he had he availed himself of, with unremitting zeal
and ardour. He always rose at a very early hour, and devoted the time he
thus gained to reading and studying. In temperance and frugality he was
remarkable through life, and always studied and practised it with the
utmost exactness, which gave him a constant feeling of dignified
independence. In the year 1780 Mr. Lloyd entered into the service of Mr.
Griffith, of Caer Rhûn, near Conway, as superintendent of a large demesne
and family. Mr. Griffith being in the commission of the peace, and the
only acting magistrate in an extensive district, Llwyd acted as his
clerk; this situation offered him an opportunity of pursuing his
favourite studies. Here he lived until Mr. Griffith died, and with what
he had saved, aided by bequeaths from two friends, he retired from the
world. In 1797 he published his poem of “Beaumaris Bay,” which was
extremely well received by the public, and materially added to his
pecuniary resources. Mr. Llwyd had successfully studied the antiquities
of his country, and was exceedingly well versed in heraldry, which added
to his native vivacity, wit, and good humour, made his company courted by
the first families in the principality, at whose mansions he was always a
welcome guest. In 1804 Mr. Llwyd published his “Gayton Wake,” and two
volumes of poems, “Tales, Ode,” &c., translated from the British, which
show the extent and variety of his genius, and which met with extensive
encouragement. In 1814 he married Miss Bingley, daughter of the late
Alderman Bingley, of the city of Chester, with whom he lived happily in
comfortable independence, and whom he survived about twelve months.
_William Maurice_ of Cevyn-y-Briach, in Denbighshire, a distinguished
antiquary and the assistant of Mr. Robert Vaughan, of Hengwrt, in
collecting old Welsh manuscripts. The collection made by Mr. Maurice is
now preserved at Wynnestay. He died about the year 1660.
_William Middleton_, sometimes called in Welsh, Gwilym Ganoldrev, an
eminent poet and grammarian of the family of Gwenynog, in Denbighshire,
who lived from the year 1560 to 1600. He served in the armies of
Elizabeth, and was afterwards a captain of a ship of war; and, it is
worthy of notice, that the principal work that he left behind him was
done at sea, being an elegant “Version of the Psalms,” in the higher kind
of Welsh metre. This work we find, from a note at the end of it, was
finished January 24th, 1595, in the West Indies, and was printed after
his death by Thomas Salusbury in 1603. The only other performance of
this author which has been printed is his “Grammar,” and “Art of Poetry,”
which he published in the year 1593.
_Richard Morris_, a brother of Lewis Morris, of Penros Llugwy, Anglesea,
an ingenious Welsh critic and poet. He passed the greater part of his
life as first clerk in the Navy-office; during which, he superintended
the printing of two valuable editions of the Welsh Bible. He died in the
year 1779.
_Paul Panton_, Esq., of Plas Gwyn, in Anglesea, a character distinguished
for his acquaintance with the history and antiquities of his native
country, and who left behind him a valuable collection of Welsh
manuscripts; but who was more conspicuous for his liberality in aiding
others, who pursued a similar track with himself. In addition to his own
collection of papers, he also became possessed of the books of the Rev.
Evan Evans, author of the Desertatio de Bardis, and other things, in
consequence of having settled an annuity of £20. on that child of
misfortune, towards the close of his life. Mr. Panton died in 1797, in
the sixty-seventh year of his age.
_William Parry_, some time president and theological tutor at Wymondley
Academy, Herts, was born in the year 1754, at Abergavenny, in
Monmouthshire. When he was about seven years of age, he removed with his
father to London, where he attended the ministry of Dr. Samuel Stennett.
At the age of twenty, he was introduced to the Academy of Homerton, where
Mr. Parry remained during six years, pursuing with unremitting ardour,
the studies to which he had devoted himself. On leaving the academy, he
acceded to an invitation from the church of Little Baddow, Essex, where
he was ordained in the year 1780. In the year 1798 proposals were made
to Mr. Parry by the trustees of W. Coward, Esq., to become theological
tutor in the Dissenting Academy which had for some years been conducted
at Northampton and Daventry, by Doctors Doddridge and Ashworth. An
earnest desire of extended usefulness led Mr. Parry to accept those
proposals; and in the year 1799 he took an affectionate farewell of his
beloved flock at Baddow, after having laboured amongst them for twenty
years, with great acceptance and fidelity. Mr. Parry entered on his new
and important office at Wymondley (to which place the academy was
removed). In undertaking the office of tutor, Mr. Parry did not resign
that of a minister of Christ: immediately after his settlement at
Wymondley, a small chapel was erected on the premises, where a
congregation was raised, and a church formed, over which he presided as
pastor till the time of his decease. With the exception of a charge
delivered at the ordination of one of his students, Mr. Parry appeared
but once in the character of an author. He died in the year 1818, in the
sixty-fourth year of his age.
_William Owen Pughe_, D.C.L., was born at Ty’n y Bryn, in the parish of
Llanvihangel y Pennant, county of Meirioneth, on the 7th of August, 1759.
A man who is, by universal consent, pronounced the greatest literary
character which old Cambria has ever produced at any period of time; and
this may be truly said, without detracting from the unfading renown of
our Taliesins, Aneurins, Gwalchmais, Cynddelws, Hywel Ddas, Goronwy
Owens, or any other Cambrian author, because they did not exercise their
talents, however great, in so varied and rich a field, or so extensive
and bright a sphere as Dr. Owen Pughe. The family removed to Egryn, in
Ardudwy, a short period after his birth, and there he passed his youthful
days until he was sent to school at Altringham, near Manchester; and when
arrived at seventeen years of age, he settled in London. Here he became
intimate with Owain Myvyr and others, members of the Gwyneddigion; and
projected and commenced his great work, the “Welsh and English
Dictionary.” He laboured, at intervals, upon this arduous undertaking
for the space of eighteen years, during which he read all the remains of
antiquity which could be procured to furnish materials to incorporate in
this thesaurus of the words of the Welsh language. In conjunction with
Owain Myvyr and Iolo Morganwg he became engaged in a work, which must
elicit the warmest thanks of all Welsh scholars, intended to perpetuate,
for the benefit of posterity, the existing documents of the Cymry to the
close of the thirteenth century. This splendid memorial of patriotism
and industry is entitled the Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, and has
afforded a facility for the study of British Antiquities, which will
place this department of the history of our island on a sure basis. The
Cambrian Biography, the translation of the works of Llywarchhen, and an
agricultural treatise for Mr. Johnes, of Havod, the superintendence of
the Cambrian Register, the Greal, the edition of the poems of Davydd ap
Gwilym, and numerous important communications to such works as Rees’
Encyclopædia, Warrington’s History of Wales, Hoare’s History of
Wiltshire, Britton’s Beauties of England and Wales, Campbell’s Books on
Wales, Gunn’s Tracts, Meyrick’s Cardiganshire, Cox’s Publications,
Chalmer’s Caledonia, were the fruit of his studies and indefatigable
perseverance at this period. In the year 1806, an estate in Wales
devolved to him, where, after intervals spent in London, he finally
settled. During this retirement he translated “Milton’s Paradise Lost,”
“Heber’s Palestine,” many of Mrs. Heman’s poetical pieces, &c., into
Welsh, and the “Mabinagion,” &c., into English, besides many original
productions of great merit. The University of Oxford, as a testimony of
estimation for his arduous and useful labours, conferred on him the
degree of D.C.L. He breathed his last at Dolydd y Cae, a house at the
base of Cader Idris, where he had spent a few days in the same tranquil
manner as had distinguished him through life, on the 4th of June, 1835;
thus closing a life useful to his country, and endeared to his family and
friends, at the foot of the same mountain which had witnessed his birth.
A subscription has been entered into for the purpose of raising a fund to
defray the expense of erecting a monument to the memory of the erudite
and amiable William Owen Pughe.
_Dr. David Powel_, an eminent antiquary of Denbighshire, born about the
year 1552, and educated at Oxford, where he took his degree of D.D. He
died in 1590, and was buried at Rhiwabon, of which he was vicar. In 1584
he published an English version of “Caradog’s Chronicle of Wales,” with
annotations, and some other works.
_Edward Richard_, an eminent Welsh critic, and an elegant pastoral poet,
who was a native of Ystrad Meirig, in Cardiganshire. He was the master
of a grammar school in his native village, from about the year 1735 to
the time of his death, on the 4th March, 1777.
_William Richards_, L.L.D., was born in the year 1749, in the parish of
Penrhydd, in the vicinity of Haverfordwest, county of Pembroke, South
Wales. Though the Bible was the favourite theme of his studies, his
reading was not confined to it, he made himself acquainted with the best
authors in the English language; was well versed in civil and
ecclesiastical history, and deemed an admirable critic in the
Cambro-British tongue. Having determined to devote himself to the
ministry of the gospel, he placed himself in the Baptist Academy at
Bristol in the year 1773, where he continued two years. On leaving the
academy at Bristol, Mr. Richards accepted an invitation to Pershore, in
Worcestershire, where he became assistant to Dr. John Ash, pastor of the
Baptist church of that place. In 1776 he accepted an invitation from the
Baptist church at Lynn, in Norfolk, to become their pastor, and arrived
there on the 1st of July. When Mr. Richards had been some years at Lynn,
he received an invitation to settle at Norwich, but that he declined.
After having passed forty-two years among his people at Lynn, he died on
the 13th of September, 1818, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. His
greatest effort as an author, was the “History of Lynn,” in two large
octavo volumes, embellished with engravings.
_Sir Richard Richards_, Lord Chief Baron, was born in the year 1752. In
the whole circle of the profession, no man stood higher in private
estimation, or public respect. As a lawyer and a judge, his decisions,
particularly in exchequer cases, were sound, and evinced considerable
acuteness. He long enjoyed the friendship and confidence of Lord
Chancellor Eldon, for whom, on several occasions, he presided under
special commissions as speaker of the House of Lords. He was appointed
on the fourth of May, 1813, chief justice of Chester, one of the barons
of the exchequer in 1814, and in April, 1817, on the death of Sir A.
Thomson, Lord Chief Baron, Sir R. Richards succeeded him in that high
office. He died in London, on the 11th of November, 1823.
_Grufydd Roberts_, a learned grammarian, who was educated at the
University of Sienna, in Italy, under the patronage of William Herbert,
Earl of Pembroke. He printed his valuable “Welsh Grammar” at Milan, in
the year 1567.
_Rev. Daniel Rowlands_, rector of Llangeitho, in Cardiganshire, was born
in the year 1713. He was a very distinguished minister of the gospel,
who, by the mighty power of his extraordinary eloquence, roused some of
his countrymen from that lethargy into which the whole country had sunk
as to religion. His preaching was so valued, and such the benefits
derived from it, that many flocked to hear him from every part of the
Principality. He continued rising in the public esteem till his death,
which happened on October 10, 1790. He was reputed among the Calvinistic
Methodists; but he taught particular tenets, and was the founder of a
distinct sect, now pretty numerous in Wales, and denominated Rowlandists
after his name.
_David Samwell_, an elegant poet, who was a native of Nantglyn, in
Denbighshire. He was surgeon to the ship Discovery, commanded by Captain
Cook, and was an eye-witness of the death of that celebrated navigator,
of which melancholy event he wrote a circumstantial account in the
Biographia Britannica. He died in the autumn of the year 1799.
_Rhydderch Sion_, a poet and grammarian, who lived from about the year
1700 to 1750. The latter part of his life he passed as a printer at
Shrewsbury, where he published his “Welsh Grammar,” and a small “Welsh
Vocabulary.”
_Trevredyn Sion_, an eminent divine among the Nonconformists, who
flourished as a theological writer from about the year 1670 to 1720; and
who published his opinions in a book, which is an elegant specimen of the
Silurian dialect.
_Prys Thomas_, of Plâs Iolyn, a distinguished poet who lived from about
the year 1560 to 1610. He was a gentleman of an ancient family and large
property in Denbighshire; who, being of a wild and roving disposition,
fitted out a privateer in which he went to try his fortune against the
Spaniards. It appears also from one of his poems that he was an officer
in the land service, and was at Tilbury when Queen Elizabeth reviewed the
array then assembled there.
_Davydd Edward o Vargam_, an eminent poet of Glamorgan, who was admitted
a graduate of the Gorfedd for that province in the year 1620, presided
there in 1660, and died in 1690. Many of his productions are preserved,
but his most important work is the “Augmentation of the Collection of the
Bardic Mysteries,” formed by Llywelyn o Llangewydd.
_Alderman Waithman_ was, indeed, “the architect of his own fortune.” He
was born near Wrexham, North Wales, in 1764, of parents of virtuous
character, but in humble life. His father died soon afterwards; and his
mother re-marrying, Waithman, when an infant, was adopted by an uncle, a
respectable linendraper, in Bath, and sent to the school of one Moore, an
ingenious man, the economy of whose plan of education led all his pupils
to acquire the habit of public and extemporaneous speaking. Mr. Waithman
was afterwards taken into the business of his uncle; on whose death,
about 1788, he obtained a situation at Reading, whence he proceeded to
London, and lived with a respectable linendraper until he became of age.
He then married, and opened a shop at the south end of Fleet Market,
nearly on the precise site of the monument there erected to his memory.
His activity and success next enabled him to remove to more extensive
premises, at the corner of Bridge-street and Fleet-street, where he
always honoured the high character of a London citizen and tradesman. He
retired from his business about twelve years since. He appears to have
commenced his political career about the year 1794; when, at a Common
Hall, he submitted a series of resolutions upon the war with France, and
enforcing the necessity of a reform in parliament; which resolutions were
triumphantly carried, and laid the foundation of his popularity. He was
next elected into the Common Council, where the speeches, resolutions,
petitions and addresses, which he moved and carried, would fill a
considerable volume. His friends, and his own well-directed ambition,
next prompted him to seek to represent the city of London in parliament;
but his efforts were unsuccessful, till, at the general election of 1818,
he was returned by a great majority, having polled 4,603 votes. He next
became alderman of his ward, Farringdon Without, the most considerable in
the city. At the general election, in 1820, he lost his seat by 140
votes. In the same year he served as Sheriff of London and Middlesex,
with activity and intelligence; as he filled the office of Lord Mayor in
1823–24. At the elections of 1826, 1830, 1831, and 1833 he was again
returned for the City. He died in February, 1833, and was buried in St.
Bride’s church, Fleet street. A glance at these few data of the
Alderman’s useful life will bear out the proposition that he was “the
architect of his own fortune.” He owed nothing to court, or even City
patronage; but, even amidst the turmoil of a political life, he
accumulated a respectable fortune; for, it should be remembered that he
became an active politician forty years since, or within ten years after
he had established himself in business. He was a man of unflinching
integrity and untiring industry—qualities which make their possessor rich
indeed. As an orator, he was characterized rather by fluency than finery
of language: he preferred common to fine sense, and his experience in
matters of the great stage of the world was very considerable.
_Edward Williams_, master of Rotherham Academy, was born November the
14th, 1750, at Glancllwyd near Denbigh. The rudiments of his education
he received at various schools in the neighbourhood, but having at the
age of twenty, decided on entering the Christian ministry, he was placed
under private tuition. If a few years time he was sent to prosecute his
studies at the Dissenting Academy of Abergavenny. His first settlement
in the ministry was at Ross, in Herefordshire, where he was ordained in
1776. A few years after this, Mr. Williams was requested to direct the
concerns of the seminary at Abergavenny, but as he declined that
proposal, the academy was removed from Abergavenny to Oswestry, where Mr.
Williams now commenced the delivery of a course of college lectures,
which he continued for about ten years, when he transferred the academy
to other hands, and removed to Birmingham in 1792. After spending three
years at the latter place, he received an invitation to superintend the
concerns of the Independent Academy at Rotherham, in Yorkshire, to which
station he removed in 1795, and that station he continued to occupy to
the period of his death, March 9, 1813. A diploma from Edinburgh
constituting him Doctor of Divinity, was received in 1792. Among the
numerous productions of his pen are a reply to Mr. Abraham Booth on the
“Baptismal Controversy,” two volumes, duodecimo, an “Abridgement of Dr.
Owen’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews,” four volumes, octavo,
an “Essay on the Equity of Divine Government, and the Sovereignty of the
Divine Grace.”
_Peter Williams_, A.M., an eminent divine among the Calvinists in Wales,
who died August 4th, 1796, in his seventy-seventh year. He published a
large quarto Welsh Bible in 1770, with copious notes, which has gone
through two subsequent editions. He also printed a small edition with
notes, also a Concordance, and several religious tracts.
_Rev. William Williams_, an eminent preacher among the Methodists, and
who was a poet of considerable genius. He published a great many tracts,
and Welsh hymns for the use of his society; the principal of which is a
work called “Golwg ar Deyrnas Crist,” published in 1761. He died about
the year 1776.
_Rev. Morris Williams_, a celebrated Welsh antiquary, was born on the 2nd
of March, 1685, in the parish of Cellan, Cardiganshire, and was the son
of the Rev. Samuel Williams, vicar of Llandifriog. The elementary part
of his classical education he received at the Caermarthen Grammar-school,
whence he removed to Oxford, and matriculated at University College, May
31, 1705. Here he took his first degree in arts in 1708; he was
afterwards incorporated in the same degree at Cambridge, and proceeded
master of arts in that University in 1718. He was ordained deacon by Dr.
Fromnel, Bishop of Norwich, a priest by Dr. Ottley, Bishop of St.
David’s. Dr. Ottley presented him to the living of Llanwenog, in the
above county, in 1715; and in 1717 he was inducted to the vicarage of
Devynock, in Brecknockshire, where, in 1718 he married Margaret Davies,
of that parish. In 1724 he exchanged this living for the rectory of
Chetton Trinity, and the vicarage of St. Mary’s, Bridgewater,
Somersetshire. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1732.
His chief reputation as a Welsh scholar and antiquary rests on the
valuable assistance he gave Dr. Wotton in preparing for publication his
edition of the Laws of Hywel Dda, the glossary to which, a very able and
learned performance, was principally compiled by Mr. Williams. His other
works comprise various theological treatises, now little known. He also
drew up a manuscript catalogue of books in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford, and a manuscript life of himself, deposited in that library. His
books and manuscripts he bequeathed to Lord Macclesfield.
_Cynwal Williams_, an eminent poet of Penmacno, Caernarvonshire, who
lived from about the year 1560 to 1600. The most interesting part of his
works is his poetical controversy with Edmund Prys, the archdeacon of
Meirionethshire; a contest that was carried on with so much feeling as
ultimately to cause Cynwal Williams to fall a martyr to the poignancy of
one of the replications of his antagonist.
_William Wyn_, A.M., an eminent poet and divine, of the family of Rhaged,
in Meirionethshire, who lived from about the year 1740 to 1760, in which
last year he died. He was the rector of Llangyhaval and Manavon, in
Denbighshire. Some beautiful compositions by him are printed in Dewisol
Ganiadau.
* * * * *
THE END.
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