RICHARDS
,
THOMAS
(
1710
-
1790
),
cleric and lexicographer
.
It is not known where he was born but according to the records of the
diocese of S. Davids
he was ordained
deacon
in
1733
and
priest
in
1734
. He became
curate
of
S. Ishmaels
and
Llan-saint
in
Carmarthenshire
, and remained there until
1738
. Then, in
1742
, he was licensed as
perpetual curate
of
Coychurch
(
Llangrallo
) and
Peterston-super-montem
in
Glamorgan
. Afterwards, in
1777
, he received the vicariate of
Eglwysilan
, but he did not reside in that parish; he stayed at
Coychurch
until his death in
1790
. He was twice married — christenings of his children are recorded in the
Coychurch
parish registers. He published his first book in
1746
—
Creulonderau ac Herlidigaethau Eglwys Rufain
, a
translation
of a work by
Philip
Morant
. He then proceeded to
translate the grammar
(
1621
) and the
Welsh-English
lexicon (
1632
) of
Dr.
John
Davies
of
Mallwyd
(q.v.)
into
Welsh
, adding to them words which he had seen in the work of
Edward
Lhuyd
(q.v.)
, in
Wotton
's edition (
1730
) of the
Laws of Hywel Dda
, and in old vocabularies, besides many
Glamorgan
dialect words heard by him. This work was published in
1753
, another edition appearing in
1759
. Thereafter, he added to this dictionary and a prospectus was issued in
1790
, a few months before the death of
Richards
, stating that the work was ready for the press. He collaborated with his neighbour,
Dr.
John
Richards
,
rector
of
Coity
, in the
collection of material for an English-Welsh dictionary
; he also
revised and corrected the English-Welsh dictionary
(
1771
) of
William
Evans
(
fl.
1768-76
) (q.v.)
, as is explained on the title-page of the
second (
1812
) edition. He corresponded with
Richard
Morris
, and his dictionary was mentioned quite often by the three
Morris
brothers and by
Goronwy
Owen
, although the latter was rather critical of the work. Nevertheless,
Richards
performed useful service. At long last,
Welsh
literary men who did not understand
Latin
were given the opportunity to study
Dr.
John
Davies
's grammar, whilst
Richards
's dictionary gave them the means of understanding the vocabulary of the
cywyddwyr
. This was a work which was kept close at hand by bards when they wrote
awdlau
and
cywyddau
in the
second half of the 18th cent
. And he was one of the men who aroused the interest of
Iolo Morganwg
in the literature of
Wales
, particularly in the vocabulary of the language. By his will,
Richards
left his books and manuscripts to
Edward
Thomas
, the
squire
of
Tre-groes
in the parish of
Coychurch
. What became of them is not known, but
Iolo
maintained that it was in those manuscripts that he ‘discovered’ many of his fictions, such as the ‘
Aberpergwm Brut
’ and some of the
cywyddau
which he said were written by
Dafydd ap Gwilym
. [According to
William
Thomas
's diary, as printed in
Cylch. Cymd. Hanes M.C.
,
1949
(48),
Richards
d.
20 March 1790
, and was then 80 years of age.]
Bibliography:
-
G. J. Williams
,
Iolo Morganwg
,
1926
, 168-9;
-
id.,
Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg
, 1948
,
1948
, 300-9.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Griffith John Williams, M.A., (1892-1963),
Gwaelod-y-garth, Cardiff.
