b. at
Holyhead
,
16 Dec. 1812
, son of
Owen
and
Mary
Thomas
and brother of
John
Thomas
(
1821
-
1892
) (q.v.)
and
Josiah
Thomas
(see below)
. The father was a
stone-mason
and when, in
1827
, the family went to live at
Bangor
he, too, followed the same trade. He began to
preach
in
1834
and immediately came into prominence as a
preacher
. He went to
Bala College
in
1838
and thence to
Edinburgh University
. In
1844
he received a call to
Pen-mount church
,
Pwllheli
, where he was ordained in Sept. of the same year. In
1846
he moved to
Newtown
to take charge of an
English
church, and at the end of
1851
received a call to be
minister
of
Jewin Crescent
,
London
. On
24 Jan. 1860
he m.
Ellen
(d.
1867
), youngest daughter of the
Rev.
William
Roberts
of
Amlwch
(
1784
-
1864
) (q.v.)
. In
1865
he moved to
Liverpool
, first to
Netherfield Road
and later, in
1871
, to
Princes Road church
. He was
moderator
of the
North Wales C.M. Association
in
1863
and
1882
, and of the
C.M. General Assembly
in
1868
and
1888
. He was in the front of the great preachers of
Wales
, an
authority on the history and development of preaching in Wales
, and a first class
orator
. All his life he was an indefatigable student and he made a splendid contribution to the religious literature of
Wales
. He was also a profound
theologian
and an able
commentator
. His library, now housed in
Bala College
, is proof positive of the wide field of his studies, while his own books testify to his ability, industry, and particular genius.
He d.
2 Aug. 1891
and was buried in
Anfield cemetery
,
Liverpool
. He published
Cofiant y Parch. John Jones, Tal-y-sarn
(
Wrexham
,
1874
), two volumes which include a review of the history of theology and preaching in
Wales
;
Cofiant y Parch. Henry Rees
, two volumes (
Wrexham
,
1890
);
Cyfieithiad o draethawd y Parch. Thomas Watson ar Sancteiddhad
, and extracts from the works of other authors (
Llanrwst
,
1839
);
Esboniad ar y Testament Newydd
(
1862-85
), which is a translation of
Dr.
Kitto
's commentary with additional notes — the commentaries on the
Hebrews
and
Galatians
were separately published in
1889
and
1892
respectively. He was a regular contributor to the
Traethodydd
from its inception, and for a time was its
editor
, jointly with
Roger
Edwards
(q.v.)
. He also wrote articles for the
Gwyddoniadur
and for a number of other publications. His biography was written by
J. J.
Roberts
(
Iolo Caernarfon
, q.v.)
.
Besides
Owen
and
John
Thomas
, there was a third brother,
JOSIAH
THOMAS
(
1830
-
1905
)
;
b. at
Bangor
7 Aug. 1830
. He went to
Bala College
and
Edinburgh University
where he graduated in
1857
. His wife was the daughter of
John
Hughes
(
1796
-
1860
) (q.v.)
. After being
pastor
of
Jerusalem chapel
(
Bethesda, Caerns.
) he
kept a school
at
Bangor
(
1862-6
) but in
1866
was appointed
secretary
of the
Calvinistic Methodist Missionary Society
, a position which he retained until
1900
. In
1896
he was
moderator
of the
North Wales C.M. Association
. He d.
21 May 1905
.
Rev. William Llewelyn Evans, M.A., (1894-1958), Abergele
