JENKINS
,
JOHN (GWILI)
(
1872
-
1936
),
poet, theologian, and man of letters
;
b. at
Hendy
,
Pontardulais, Carms.
,
8 Oct. 1872
, son of
John
and
Elizabeth
Jenkins
. He began
preaching
(with the
Baptists
) in
1891
, and after a short period at
Gwynfryn
(
Ammanford
), the school kept by
Watcyn Wyn
(
Watkin Hezekiah
Williams
, q.v.)
, went in
1892
to
Bangor
and thence (
1896
) to
University College
,
Cardiff
; at both alike,
preaching
and
poetry
seemed to him more important than examinations. In
1897
began his friendship with
(Philip) Edward
Thomas
(q.v.)
. From
1897 to 1905
he assisted
Watcyn Wyn
at
Gwynfryn
, but in
1905
went up to
Jesus College
,
Oxford
; he graduated in the
Theological School
in
1908
, and in later years won the degrees of
B.Litt.
(
1917
) and
D.Litt.
(
1932
). Throughout these years he never ceased to
write poetry and prose
, to
preach
, and to
lecture
. He felt no inclination to the pastorate (he refused three invitations), and although alert and thoughtful hearers highly valued his preaching, the excessive rapidity of his delivery, and his advanced views, precluded favour among the thoughtless or conservative. Nor, in poetry, was he successful in the strict metres; it is significant that all his successes in provincial eisteddfodau were gained in the free metres, and that his sole triumph in a national eisteddfod was the winning of the
crown
(at
Merthyr Tydfil
in
1901
), which is given for work in free metres. After leaving
Oxford
he succeeded
Watcyn Wyn
at
Gwynfryn
; and in
1910
he m.
Mary E.
Lewis
(they had two daughters). In
1914
he was appointed
editor
of
Seren Cymru
— he
edited
it till
1927
, and again from
1933
till his death. The war of
1914-19
put an end to his school, and in
1917
he moved to
Cardiff
, at first as
assistant
to
Thomas
Powel
(q.v.)
,
professor of Welsh
at
University College
, then as
acting-professor
sede vacante
, and finally in charge of the
Salesbury Library
(
1919
); it was at
Cardiff
(
1920
) that he published his volume of
English
poems. His wanderings ceased when in
1923
he was appointed
professor of New Testament Exegesis
at the
Baptist College
(and also at
University College
) at
Bangor
. He did much work there, publishing in
1928
Arweiniad i'r Testament Newydd
, and in
1934
a volume of poetry (
Caniadau
), and editing
Seren Gomer
from
1930 to 1933
. But quite certainly his
magnum opus
was his book on the history of theology in
Wales
, published in
1931
under the somewhat misleading title
Hanfod Duw a Pherson Crist
, a piece of research in a field which hardly anyone before him (excepting maybe
Owen
Thomas
, q.v.
) had worked systematically. A list of his other writings in prose and verse, with a selection of his sermons, will be found in his biography by
E.
Cefni Jones
,
1937
. In
1931
he was elected
archdruid
. He d.
16 May 1936
and was buried in the graveyard of the old Independent Meeting-house at
Llanedy, Carms.
Gwili
was a jovial man despite his disappointments, and a good companion; his little impracticalities only enhanced the affection of his friends.
Bibliography:
-
E. Cefni Jones
,
Britannica
, Llandysul, 1937
(above);
-
John Moore
,
The Life and Letters of Edward Thomas
,
London, 1939
, 168, 190, 274;
- personal acquaintance.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
