MAURICE
,
HUGH
(
1775
-
1825
),
skinner, and transcriber of Welsh MSS.
,
b. at
Tyddyn Tudur
,
Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, Denbs.
, in
1775
(christened
5 June
), son of
Peter
Maurice
and
Jane
, his wife, sister of
Owen
Jones
(
Owain Myfyr
) (q.v.)
. He worked with his uncle in
Upper Thames Street
, sharing his
literary and social activities
in
London
. Under the latter's direction he began to
transcribe Welsh manuscript texts in prose and verse
, and he became a prominent member of the
Gwyneddigion Society
. Practising the trade of a
skinner
, he settled in
Tooley Street
. On the
Gwyneddigion Society
's annual dinner day in
1800
he m., at
S. Olave
's,
Tooley Street
, without her father's knowledge,
Elizabeth Mary Louisa
, daughter of
Rowland
Jones
of
Greenwich
, a native of
Llan-ym-Mawddwy
and a past
president
of the Society. He himself was
vice-president
for that year, and the
president
,
Thomas
Roberts
,
Llwyn-rhudol
(q.v.)
, and the
recorder
,
John
Jones
(‘
Jac Glan-y-gors
’) (q.v.)
were at the wedding. He later resided at
Greenwich
,
Pengwern
(
Ffestiniog
),
Tremadoc
, and
Plâs Gwyn
,
Llan-rug
, where he d.
18 March 1825
. He was buried at
Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr
. An excellent
penman
, he was also an
amateur artist
. One of his early transcripts, poems by
Gwalchmai
, is written in ‘bardic script,’ with illustrations (
N.L.W. MS. 593
, transcribed in
1796
). He wrote
Llanst. MS. 161
, and
N.L.W. MSS. 36, 47, 113, 119, 122, and 185
. Several of his transcripts survive in the
Cymmrodorion
collection in the
British Museum
(
B.M. Add. MSS. 14962-15089
), and in
1849
, his daughter,
Jane
Maurice
, presented to the
British Museum
the
Caerhun MSS.
containing forty-nine volumes of transcripts by
Hugh
Maurice
and
Owen
Jones
(
B.M. Add. MSS. 31062-31110
). His contribution to the
Myvyrian Archaiology
was acknowledged in the preface,
1801
. He was the
author
of the best poem on the subject set for competition by the
Gwyneddigion Society
in
1804-5
, but as he did not divulge his name within the period set by the rules, the medal was presented to
David
Owen
(
Dewi Wyn o Eifion
, q.v.)
, the
author
of the second-best poem. His eldest son,
ROWLAND
MAURICE
, wrote a translation of
Nennius
at the end of
N.L.W. MS. 119
, on
4 July 1817
. His second son,
PETER
MAURICE
, b. at
Plâs
Gwyn
,
29 June 1803
, christened at
Greenwich
1 July 1804
, was educated at
Jesus College
,
Oxford
(matriculated
1822
,
B.A.
1826
,
M.A.
1829
,
B.D.
1837
,
D.D.
1840
), was ordained
deacon
(licensed to the
curacy
of
Llanbedr
and
Caerhun
)
27 Jan.
, and
priest
13 Oct. 1827
. He was
chaplain
of
New College
,
Oxford
,
1828-58
, and of
All Souls
,
1837-58
, and
vicar
of
Yarnton
,
Oxford
, from
1858
till his death
30 March 1878
. He is
known for his hymns
, his
works on church music
, and his
pamphlets against Popery
. Their sister,
JANE
MAURICE
(b. at
Tyddyn Tudur
,
19 Oct. 1812
),
contributed twenty hymns
to his
Choral Hymn Book
,
1861
.
Bibliography:
-
The National Library of Wales Journal
, i, 230-2;
-
The Records of the Church in Wales at the
National Library of Wales
, Bangor ordination papers;
-
John Julian
,
A dictionary of hymnology, setting forth the
origin and history of Christian hymns of all ages and
nations
, London, 1907
;
-
Leathart
,
Origin and Progress of the Gwyneddigion
Society of London
, 1831
, 44-5;
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
;
-
Y Cymmrodor
,
1951
, 94-5.
Author:
Evan David Jones, F.S.A., (1903-87), Aberystwyth
