HUGHES
,
WILLIAM
(
1757
-
1846
),
Independent minister, hymn-writer, and composer
;
second son of
Hugh
Jones
and
Jane
Williams
(widow) of
Gadlys
,
Llanwnda, Caerns.
; he was christened
25 June 1757
. He m.
Jane
Jones
,
20 Feb. 1783
, at
Llanwnda
, where too their son
John
was christened,
2 Dec. 1784
. He joined the
Independents
at
Caernarvon
when
George
Lewis
(q.v.)
was resuscitating Independency there, and in
1788
was set apart to be a
lay preacher
. After the departure of
George
Lewis
(
1794
) he was appointed a
peripatetic evangelist
, and on
17 July 1795
, was granted a
preacher
's licence by the
Court of Quarter Sessions
. His labours were so successful that it is impossible to relate the history of the oldest
Independent chapels
in
Arfon
,
Eifionydd
, and the
Vale of Conway
without bringing in his name as one of the principal founders. He was known in his travels as ‘
Hughes
,
Brynbeddau
’ —
Brynbeddau
(
Llanwnda
) being the farm which he shared with his father after his marriage and of which he was the sole tenant from
1794 to 1814
. About
1815
he moved to a house built near
Saron
chapel (
1812
) in the same parish and, on the
2 and 3 July 1821
, being then 64 years of age, was ordained
minister
of
Saron
. As a
pastor
he was not as successful as he had been as an
evangelist
, and long before his death he had severed his connection with
Saron
and joined the church at
Bontnewydd
, which had also been founded by him. He
wrote some excellent hymns
, and some of his hymn tunes were published in
Y Dysgedydd
. He d.
9 March 1846
; in
1858
the
Independent churches
in the county erected a tombstone over his grave in
Llanwnda
parish churchyard.
Bibliography:
- Llanwnda parish register;
-
Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru
, iii, 246-8;
-
H. Ivor Jones
,
Hanes Annibyniaeth yn Sir Gaernarfon hyd
ddiwedd y ddeunawfed ganrif. Llyfr cyntaf
, Caernarfon,
1897
, 98-9;
-
David Morgan
,
Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg
, 1944
, 280-1;
-
Geiriadur Bywgraffyddol o Enwogion
Cymru
, i, 547;
-
Llawlyfr Undeb yr Annibynwyr
,
1930
,
1930
, 50-4;
-
Cofiant y Parch. David Griffith, Bethel,
Arfon
, 1879
;
Seren Gomer
,
1821
, 315;
-
Y Dysgedydd
,
April 1846
;
-
Cymru
,
July 1893
;
-
W. Williams
,
Blaenor wrth ei ddiwrnod gwaith cofiant
Edward Williams, Talysarn
, Caernarfon, 1882
.
Author:
Rev. Griffith Jones, (1886-1964), Pwllheli / Cardiff
