NANNEY
,
RICHARD
(
1691
-
1767
),
Evangelical cleric
.
He was b. in
1691
, one of the
Cefndeuddwr
family by
Trawsfynydd
, a branch of the ancient house of
Nannau
(q.v.)
. He matriculated from
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, in
1710
, graduated
B.A.
in
1714
,
M.A.
in
1719
; he was made
vicar
of
Clynnog
in
1718
, and
rector
of
Llanaelhaearn
in
1725
;
Foster
adds that he was also
canon
of
Bangor
. He was deeply endowed with a fine liberality of spirit, which is not at all surprising when one remembers that his mother was daughter to
Richard
Edwards
of
Nanhoron
(q.v.)
, prominent as a
Puritan squire
in Restoration times, that his sister
Catherine
was m. to
Dr.
Knight
of
Caernarvon
, another family with strong nonconformist contacts, and that his wife was one of the
Wynns
of
Wern
by
Penmorfa
, very open-minded in their politics.
Nanney
became
one of the foremost supporters of the circulating schools
of
Griffith
Jones
(at
Clynnog
the school was often held in the parish church, at other times in distant houses on the borders); many of his letters occur in
Welch Piety
, all testifying to the value of education and some containing good suggestions regarding the lessons to be given, and some loud in their
praises of the old
schoolmaster
Thomas
Gough
(as
Gough
had at one time been the
teacher
of
Robert
Jones
of
Rhos-lan
(q.v.)
, it is natural enough to find the latter's eloquent tribute to
Nanney
in
Drych yr Amseroedd
). He drank pretty deeply of the spirit of the
Methodist Revival
— though he is not included among the
Methodist clergymen
like
Griffiths
of
Nevern
and
Jones
of
Llan-gan
— and accounts are given of crowds of people listening to him
preach
at
Clynnog
, many coming from adjoining parishes; and a vivid contrast is drawn between the apathy of his early years and the fruitful piety of the days of awakening. He held the lands of
Elernion
by
Llanaelhaearn
, a small estate that belonged to his wife's family; but things of this world mattered little to him; according to
Robert
Jones
, he never knew any horse but the one he rode on. His son, also
RICHARD
NANNEY
, was in
holy orders
(he d. in
1812
), very different from his father in many respects, but quite as
Puritan
in his outlook on the sanctity of the Sabbath, as witness a sharp letter of his (
21 Jan. 1799
) to one of the
Caernarvon
attorneys
.
CATHERINE
NANNEY
, daughter of
Richard
Nanney
the elder, m.
Richard
Ellis
of
Bodychen
, another
clergyman
, and successor to his father-in-law as
vicar
of
Clynnog
; they were the parents of
David Ellis
Nanney
(q.v.)
, the learned
lawyer
, ancestor to
Sir
HUGH
NANNEY
of
Gwynfryn
by
Llanystumdwy
.
Bibliography:
-
J. E. Griffith
,
Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire
Families
, 1914
, 165, 175, 343;
-
Alumni Oxonienses
,
1500-1714
, 1051;
-
Cynhaiarn Manuscripts at the University College
of North Wales, Bangor
(U.C.N.W.), 472-82;
-
Henllys Manuscripts
(U.C.N.W.), 1279-95;
-
Welch piety, or, A farther account of the
circulating Welch charity schools … to which are annexed
testimonials relating to the masters and scholars of the
said schools; in a letter to a friend
, 1742-60
,
1751-61
, passim;
-
Drych yr
AmseroeddY Llenor
(Rhoslan) , 1820; another ed. [1841]; 's ed. in , xv–xvi, 1898.
There is now a new edition ed.
(University of Wales Press, 1958)
,
1820
, 191-2;
-
Cymru
, xi, 78-83;
-
Bangor Manuscript at University College North
Wales Library, Bangor
3704.
Author:
Thomas Richards, D.Litt., (1878-1962), Bangor
