EDWARDS
,
WILLIAM
(
1773
-
1853
),
hymnwriter
.
A nephew and bardic disciple of
Robert
William(s)
(
1744
-
1815
)
. Little is known of his life, except that he was a
weaver
, m. a daughter of
John
Evans
of
Bala
(
1723
-
1817
)
, and was living with his father-in-law at the time of the latter's death. He was not a
preacher
, but became in later life an
elder
in the
Calvinistic Methodist church
at
Bala
. He was a
warm supporter of Sunday schools
, and assisted
Thomas
Charles
in setting up these schools around the town.
His claim to remembrance is a small book which he published at
Bala
in
1818
,
Ychydig Hymnau ar Destunau Athrawiaethol a Phrofiadol
— two or three of our best-known hymns are his work. The exact days of his birth and death are not known.
Bibliography:
-
Cymru
, iii, 77, 162 (but see also 271);
-
W. Williams
,
Methodistiaeth Dwyrain Meirionydd
,
1902
, 573-4;
-
J. Thickens
,
Emynau a’u Hawduriaid
. [1945.]
.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
