DAVIES
,
RICHARD
(
1635
-
1708
),
Quaker
,
of
Cloddiau Cochion, Mont.
; b. at
Welshpool
of parents who had a small estate there, he was brought up in a little learning, and in the religion and discipline of the
Church of England
. At the age of about 12 or 13 he became attached to the
Independents
, attracted especially by
Vavasor
Powell
(q.v.)
; in
1657
he became a
Quaker
, being the first of the new sect in those parts. His autobiography, entitled
An account of the convincement, exercises, services and travels of that ancient servant of the Lord Richard Davies
has been called a
Welsh Quaker
classic and has gone through at least seven editions.
Richard
Davies
kept open house at
Cloddiau Cochion
,
Welshpool
, for Friends, and although he suffered imprisonment and fines yet he was not embittered. As
minister of the gospel
he travelled in
Wales
and
England
.
John ap John
(q.v.)
,
Charles
Lloyd
,
Dolobran
, and his brother
Thomas
Lloyd
(see the article
Lloyd
of
Dolobran
) and other leading Friends accompanied him in journeys to
Merioneth
and the counties of
South Wales
. His marriage took place in
1657
at
Horsleydown
,
Southwark
. He d.
22 Jan. 1707/8
and was interred in the
Friends’ burial ground
at
Cloddiau Cochion
.
Bibliography:
-
T. M. Rees
,
A history of the Quakers in Wales and their
emigration to North America
, 1925
;
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
R. Williams
,
Montgomeryshire Worthies
, second ed.,
1894
.
Author:
Rev. Thomas Mardy Rees, (1871-1953), Neath
