OWEN
,
ROBERT
(
Eryron Gwyllt Walia
;
1803
-
1870
),
Calvinistic Methodist minister, and poet
;
b.
3 April 1803
at
Ffridd-bala-deulyn
, near
Tal-y-sarn, Caerns.
, son of
Griffith
Owen
, a native of
Waun-fawr
, and
Anne
his wife, daughter of the house of
Ffridd
and sister of the
preachers
,
Robert
Roberts
of
Clynnog
and
John
Roberts
of
Llangwm
(qq.v.). Shortly after he was born his parents moved to
Caernarvon
, where he was brought up. He attended the school kept by
Evan
Richardson
(q.v.)
, where he received a better education than was customary in those days, and was later apprenticed to a
house-painter
; he continued to work as a
painter
until he retired some five years before his death. While he was still a boy at
Caernarvon
he experienced the emotions of the
Beddgelert revival
(
1817-8
) and
John
Elias
made a profound impression on his mind. About the same time he began to take an
interest in literature
; he sought the company of the local
poets
and was given instruction and
encouragement by the
master poet
,
Dewi Wyn
(q.v.)
. Towards the end of
April 1824
, when he was 21, he went to
London
. He became a member of the chapel at
Jewin Crescent
where he came into prominence as a
teacher at the Sunday school
and later as its
superintendent
. In
1832
he m.
Ellen
Owen
, whose sister was the wife of the eminent
actuary
,
Griffith
Davies
(q.v.)
. He was ordained at the
Holywell Association
in
1859
. He appears to have been celebrated for his addresses. He was also notable for his
intimate knowledge of the Bible
, for his ability to apply that knowledge, and for his
interest in Puritan theology
. He
wrote a considerable amount of poetry
, mainly of a religious nature, in both the classical and the ‘free’ forms. For some time he refused to join the
Gwyneddigion Society
because of its ‘irreligious’ atmosphere; but in
1833
he was its
official poet
. The same reason kept him from attending eisteddfodau, although he occasionally competed in them. One of his literary friends was
Thomas
Edwards
(
Caerfallwch
, q.v.)
. He d.
22 Aug. 1870
.
Bibliography:
-
G. Parry
,
Cofiant a chasgliad o weithiau barddonol y
Parch. Robert Owen, (Eryron Gwyllt Walia), Llundain
,
Manchester, 1880
(Manchester,
1880
).
Author:
Professor John Ellis Caerwyn Williams, M.A., B.D., (1912-99), Bangor /
Aberystwyth
