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PRICHARD , THOMAS JEFFERY LLEWELYN (d. 1875? ), travelling actor and author ; b. in the parish of Trallong , Brecknock . [He was m. at Abergavenny , 14 Jan. 1826 , to Naomi Jones of Builth ( Seren Gomer , 1826 , 122)]. He is known to have taken part in plays given at Brecon in (e.g., 1841 ) and at Aberystwyth ; it is also said that for some time he was employed by lady Llanover (when she was lady Hall ) to catalogue the library in her Monmouthshire home. The work by which he is best remembered today is The Adventures and Vagaries of Twm Shôn Catti , which was first published at Aberystwyth in 1828 (‘Printed for the Author by John Cox ’). This book ran into several editions — the second edition ( Cowbridge ) has a preface written by the author at Builth , Sept. 1839 , with references to William Owen Pughe , David Owen ( Brutus ) , and W. J. Rees , Cascob ; the third (authorized) edition at Llanidloes , 1871 , was followed by a Welsh translation ( Llanidloes , 1872 ) by ‘ Eilonydd ,’ i.e. John Evans . Other works by Prichard were Welsh Minstrelsy … or Cantrev y Gwaelod. A Poem … ( Aberystwyth , 1824 ); The New Aberystwyth Guide ( Aberystwyth , 1824 ); The Cambrian Balnea: or Guide to the Watering Places of Wales, Marine and Inland ( London , 1825 ) with another version entitled The Llandrindod Guide (n.d.), The Heroines of Welsh History ( London , 1854 ). He was also the editor and part-author of The Cambrian Wreath; A Selection of English Poems on Welsh Subjects … ( Aberystwyth , 1828 ). He appears to have died, in poverty, at Swansea , in 1875 [or 1876] ; Cyfaill yr Aelwyd , 1887 (113) says he was buried there, in Tabernacle graveyard. He was alive on 24 Nov. 1875 , the date of one of his letters printed in Cymru Fu , II, v, 80.]

Bibliography:

Eminent Welshmen , 1908 ;
Bye–Gones, relating to Wales and the Border Counties , 1881 (347), 1882 (34 );
Poole , The Illustrated History and Biography of Brecknockshire , 1886 , 317;
[further information from the Rev. Gomer M. Roberts ].

Author:

Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952), Aberystwyth

Corrections and additions:

PRICHARD , THOMAS JEFFERY LLEWELYN (d. 1862 , not 1875; DWB , 796-7). Initially Jeffery Llewelyn was a pseudonym (see some of his translations of Welsh poems in Cambro-Briton ( 1819-20 ), 393-4) which he combined with his baptismal name in Welsh Minstrelsy . He was, apparently, b. at Builth in 1789 or 1790 , son of Thomas Prichard , ‘ lawyer ’, and Anne , his wife. He moved around a great deal — to London where he came into contact with some prominent Welshmen c. 1819 , Aberystwyth , Abergavenny , Builth (where he m. Naomi Jones in 1826 and stayed until c . 1839 ). He catalogued Llanover library 1841-54 but d. in great poverty at Swansea in Jan. 1862 , aged 72. See articles by Sam Adams in Anglo-Welsh Rev. , 23 ( 1974 ), 21-60, Brycheiniog , 21 ( 1984-85 ), 52-63, and his monograph in the Writers of Wales series ( Univ. of Wales Press ), 2000 .