ROWLANDS, DAVID (Dewi Môn; 1836 - 1907), Congregational minister and college principal

Name: David Rowlands
Pseudonym: Dewi Môn
Date of birth: 1836
Date of death: 1907
Gender: Male
Occupation: Congregational minister and college principal
Area of activity: Education; Religion
Author: John Dyfnallt Owen

Born 4 March 1836 at Gwenfron, Rhos-y-bol, near Amlwch, Anglesey, a member of a family that was prominent in Calvinistic Methodist circles. He was educated locally and then apprenticed in a shop in Holyhead. When he was 16 years old he began to preach at the Tabernacle Congregational chapel, Holyhead. He was a student at Bala Independent College, 1853-6, and at New College, London, 1856-7; he was an assistant tutor at Bala Independent College, 1857-8, and then a student at Brecon College, 1858-61, graduating in the University of London at the end of his course at Brecon. He was minister of Yr Hen Gapel, Llanbrynmair, 1861-6, of the English Congregational church, Welshpool, 1866-70, and of the English Congregational church, Carmarthen, 1870-2. In 1872 he became tutor at the Brecon College and, in 1897, principal, a post which he held until his death on 7 January 1907.

Dewi Môn was a zealous supporter of educational, social, national, and religious movements and institutions. During the time when he was an assistant tutor at Bala he lectured and wrote much on behalf of the project to found a Welsh colony in Patagonia in the Argentine. He often adjudicated at national eisteddfodau. He was a member of the Brecknock Education Committee for many years and was a strong supporter of the University of Wales. He was chairman of the Union of Welsh Independents in 1902. His literary work was varied. He was joint-editor of Y Dysgedydd for a period, collaborated with D. E. Jenkins, Liverpool, to edit a volume of sermons [wrote the English words for 'Blodwen,' an opera by Dr. Joseph Parry ], translated the 'Alcestis' of Euripides into Welsh, edited Telyn Tudno, 1897, published a selection of Welsh prose, and wrote a Welsh grammar, 1897. Some hymns by him are published in Y Caniedydd Cynulleidfaol.

Author

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/

The Dictionary of Welsh Biography is provided by The National Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. It is free to use and does not receive grant support. A donation would help us maintain and improve the site so that we can continue to acknowledge Welsh men and women who have made notable contributions to life in Wales and beyond.

Find out more on our sponsorship page.