WILLIAMS
family, of
Aberpergwm
,
Vale of Neath
.
This family was descended from
Morgan Fychan
(q.v.)
, second son of
Morgan Gam
, who in his early days was connected with the area round
Baglan
; poets of distinction (see
D. R.
Phillips
, below) wrote in honour of various members of this family during the Middle Ages. The surname was adopted by the descendants of
William ap Jenkin ap Hopkin
of
Blaen Baglan
; it was his second son,
Jenkin
William
, who first settled at
Aberpergwm
,
c. 1500
. The family produced no particularly noteworthy member until the end of the
18th cent.
; but long before that (certainly not later than
1670
) it was deriving an
income from the coal and ironstone
on the estate by leasing the rights to speculators.
George
Williams
, a notable
athlete
(d.
1796
), is believed to have been the last of the legitimate line, and it was
REES
WILLIAMS
(d.
1812
), who is thought to have been his illegitimate son (or perhaps that of his father of the same name), who launched the family on a more distinguished career. He was
interested in literature
, and in
1802
corresponded with
Southey
; but he also maintained the strong
Welsh
traditions of this family, and the
poet
Dafydd
Nicolas
(q.v.)
was given a home by him at
Aberpergwm
for many years. On the industrial side,
Rees
Williams
, in
1810
, after considerable litigation with the contractors, took the coal mines into his own hands.
Maria Jane
Williams
(q.v.)
was his daughter. He was succeeded by his eldest son,
WILLIAM
WILLIAMS
, b.
7 Dec. 1788
, d.
27 March 1855
. He was a man of considerable culture, a great traveller, and a
patron of Welsh writers
. Another member of the family who was ‘a man of his own people’ was his son,
REES
WILLIAMS
, who d.
9 Nov. 1863
; his burial service was conducted in
Welsh
, and memorial services were held in every chapel in the neighbourhood — the
Baptist minister
,
T. E.
James
(q.v.)
, published a sermon on the occasion, together with an elegy. His successor was his brother,
MORGAN
WILLIAMS
, b.
1846
, d.
13 Dec. 1909
. He bought
S. Donats castle
; but after the
1914-18
war both the castle and the coal mines were sold.
Bibliography:
-
D. Rhys Phillips
,
The Hist. of the Vale of Neath
,
Swansea, 1925
, especially 364-72, but see also the index;
-
G. J. Williams
,
Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg
,
1948
, 241-3.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
