ROBERTS
,
RICHARD
(
Gruffydd Rhisiart
;
1810
-
1883
),
writer and Independent preacher
;
b.
5 Nov. 1809
at
Diosg
,
Llanbryn-mair
, youngest son of
John
Roberts
(
1767
-
1834
) (q.v.)
. He was educated at the school kept by his father, was brought up to be a
farmer
, and had the chief responsibility for the smallholding, but like his brothers,
‘
S.R.
’
and
‘
J.R.
,’
he was keenly interested in
writing
. The periodicals of the time, especially
Y Cronicl
(which was edited by his brothers), abound with his articles and poems. In
1855
he published a novel,
Jeffrey Jarman, y Meddwyn Diwygiedig
, which he had entered unsuccessfully in an eisteddfod competition. An easy, familiar style made all his work very readable, and his lampoons were biting. He and his wife and daughter emigrated in
1856
to
Tennessee
, where, in
1857
, they were joined by
‘
S.R.
’
They
farmed
there for about fifteen years but, owing to the dishonesty of those who ‘sold’ them the land and the ravages of the
Civil War
, they experienced a great deal of suffering, and on many occasions were in danger of their lives. In
1872
the two returned to
Conway
where their brother
‘
J.R.
’
was
minister
. ‘
G.R.
,’ as he was called, d.
25 July 1883
, and was buried in
Conway
cemetery.
Bibliography:
-
E. Pan Jones
,
Cofiant y Tri Brawd o Llanbrynmair a
Conwy
, Bala, 1892
;
-
R. Williams
,
Montgomeryshire Worthies
, second ed.,
1894
, 288-9;
-
Iorwerth C. Peate
,
Hen Gapel Llanbrynmair, 1739–1939
,
1939
, 49-50;
-
Glanmor Williams
,
Samuel Roberts, Llanbrynmair
, Cardiff,
1950
NLW MS 488B Cofrestr Hen Gapel
Llanbrynmair
-
Author:
Rev. Richard Griffith Owen, M.A., (1890-1973), Bangor
