DAVIES
,
WILLIAM
(
1729?
-
1787
),
Methodist cleric
;
b. at
Stangrach
,
Llanfynydd, Carms.
On
the title-page of the elegy written upon him,
William
Williams
of
Pantycelyn
stated that he d. ‘in the Sixtieth Year of his Age,’ but the only likely entry in the parish register concerns the christening of one ‘
Gulielmus filius Jonathan David
,’
24 Aug. 1729
. We do not know where he was educated nor when he was ordained, but it is said that he was
curate
of
Llanfihangel Ynys Afan
in
1754
. We come across his name for the first time in the church register of
Llantwit-juxta-Neath
in
Dec. 1762
; here he was
curate
until
1769 or 1770
when, it is said, he was dismissed because of his association with the
Methodists
. From
1771 to 1775
his name is frequently found in the
Llangiwc
register. In
1776
he rebuilt the old chapel of ease at
Gyfylchi
, where he ministered for the rest of his life. He preached and travelled extensively in
Wales
, and so great was the emotional uplift of his sermons that when
Howel
Davies
(q.v.)
d. it was he who was deemed fit to preside over the
Pembrokeshire societies
. He was also a
hymnwriter
, and some of his hymns were published in
David
William
's
Myfyrdod Pererin
(
Carmarthen
,
I.
Daniel
, n.d.); while two are found in
Nodau y gwir Gristion
(
Carmarthen
,
I.
Daniel
, n.d.). He is believed to have translated into
Welsh
John
Newton
's book,
Twenty six Letters on Religious Texts, by Omicron
(
Carmarthen
,
J.
Ross
,
1777
). He d.
17 Aug. 1787
and was buried in the churchyard of
S. Thomas's
,
Neath
.
David
William
,
Peter
Williams
, and
Williams
of
Pantycelyn
(qq.v.), wrote elegies on his death.
Bibliography:
-
Methodistiaeth Cymru
, 1851–6
, iii, 41-4;
-
Y Tadau Methodistaidd
, 1895
, i, 478-83;
-
Yr Adolygydd
, ii, 498-502;
-
D. Rhys Phillips
,
The Hist. of the Vale of Neath
,
Swansea, 1925
, 157-9, 480;
-
Geiriadur Bywgraffyddol o Enwogion
Cymru
, 188;
-
Cylchgrawn Cymdeithas Hanes y Methodistiaid
Calfinaidd
, xii, 25-7;
-
G. Thomas
,
Lloffyn olaf o faes hynafiaethau Capel y
Gyfylchi, ger Pontrhydyfen, Port Talbot
, Treorchy,
1899?
, 29-50.
Author:
Rev. Gomer Morgan Roberts, M.A., (1904-93), Pont-rhyd-y-fen / St
Dogmael's / Llandybïe
