ROBERTS
,
HUGH
(
1644?
-
1702
),
Quaker
;
b. at
Ciltalgarth
near
Bala, Mer.
,
c.
1644
, son of
Robert ap Hugh
, of
Llwyndedwydd
,
Llangwm
, who had taken
Ciltalgarth
on lease. He joined the
Society of Friends
in
1666
and suffered much in consequence; he and his wife were fined ten pounds each for worshipping with
Friends
in
Llwyn-y-brain
,
Cwmtirmynach
,
1675
. He was a member of the deputation which went to
London
in
1681
to see
William
Penn
in order to
discuss the formation of a Welsh settlement
in
Pennsylvania
and he joined with sixteen others from the neighbourhood of
Bala
in the
purchase of parcels of land
in what came to be called ‘
Merion
’ (in the ‘
Welsh Tract
’) in
Pennsylvania
; it was he who
led the second group of settlers
from
Merioneth
— he and his family receiving,
2 May 1683
, a ticket of membership and ownership which entitled them to proceed to
Pennsylvania.
After he had settled there he became well-known amongst
Quakers
and travelled much to
preach
in
Maryland
,
Long Island
,
Rhode Island
, and
New England
. He visited
Wales
in
1688
and again ten years later (
1697-8
); he states in his journal that he called to see
William
Penn
in
London
during his visit. He continued to
preach
and to purchase lands until he d. at
Long Island
,
New York
,
during the sixth month of 1702
; he was buried at
Merion
.
Bibliography:
-
J. Bowden
The history of the Society of Friends in
America
, 1850; Vol. II, 1854
;
-
Browning
Welsh settlement of Pennsylvania
,
Philadelphia, 1912
;
-
Piety Promoted, in a Collection of Dying
Sayings of the People called Quakers
. There are about
40 editions available
,
1789
, i, 294-5;
-
Wales, a National Magazine for the English
speaking parts of Wales
, 1894–7
, iii, 335-6, 370-3.
Author:
Robert (Bob) Owen, O.B.E., M.A., (1885-1962), Croesor
