JONES, WILLIAM RICHARD (Goleufryn; 1840 - 1898), Calvinistic Methodist minister, and writer

Born at Llanfrothen, Meironnydd, son of Richard Jones. He was apprenticed to a carpenter and did not begin to preach until 1865. He then went to the preparatory school at Clynnog and afterwards, in 1866, to BalaBala C.M. College. In 1869 he became pastor of Ty-mawr and Pen-y-graig churches in Llŷn, being ordained in 1871. His subsequent pastoral charges were Seion and Bethel, Llanrwst, 1873; Hyfrydle, Holyhead, c. 1880; Engedi, Caernarfonshire, 1894. He was an able preacher and a prominent figure in his denomination, but it is as a writer that he is remembered. He wrote for many Welsh newspapers and periodicals; his critical and satirical articles in Y Geninen (from 1885), over the pen-name Siluriad, in which he lashed out at what he considered to be defects in Welsh religious and social life, attracted much angry attention. He also contributed to Y Gwyddoniadur and to Beibl y Teulu, and wrote a commentary on the Book of Judges. His collection of temperance stories, Cibroth-Hataafah, was once popular. He married in October 1873, Kate Rowlands, of Pen-llwyn, Aberystwyth, - she accompanied him on a long visit to U.S.A. (1887), where he preached to many Welsh congregations. He died 11 July 1898 at Caernarvon.

Author

• Edward Morgan Humphreys, (1882 - 1955)

Sources

• R. G. Owen (Alafon), Gweithiau Llenyddol Goleufryn (detholion) gyda nodiadau coffaol am dano, 1904
• Y Geninen, January 1899, 18 March 1900, 30
• Y Traethodydd, 1905. 129

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20734702

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/