WILLIAMS
,
DAVID
(
1709
-
1784
),
Independent minister
;
b. in
1709
, the second son of
William
and
Catherine
David
,
Pwll-y-pant
(between
Caerphilly
and
Llanbradach
) — the family was well-to-do. He was educated at
Carmarthen Academy
under
Perrott
, and in
1734
was ordained
minister
of
Trinity (English) chapel
,
Cardiff
. The congregation of
Trinity
was small and moribund, but
David
Williams
(like his predecessor) ministered to the
Independents
scattered up and down
Eglwysilan
parish, who
used to meet in private houses until
1739
, when a chapel was built near the mansion of
Thomas
Price
(‘
Justice
Price
’)
at
Watford
(also written ‘
Waterford
’ and ‘
Votford
’ — originally, perhaps,
Bodffordd
), on the hill-side between
Cardiff
and
Caerphilly
. At first,
David
Williams
's ministry was as vigorous as that of his friends
James
Davies
(d.
1760
) (q.v.)
of
Merthyr Tydfil
, and
Edmund
Jones
(q.v.)
. When the
Methodist revival
occurred, he welcomed it whole-heartedly. He invited
Howel
Harris
to visit
Eglwysilan
, and arranged a meeting for him; see letter 110,
17 May 1738
, in the
Trevecka collection
. The two corresponded throughout
1738 and 1739
; the letters refer to the establishment of societies here and there, to various places where
Williams
went to
preach
, and to the latter's friendship with
John
Thomas
, the
Methodist curate
of
Gelli-gaer
. They refer also to a school opened in the parish under the aegis of
Griffith
Jones
of
Llanddowror
, and mention that
David
Williams
had ordered some hundreds of
Griffith
Jones
's catechisms and was in correspondence with him — later (
1741
) a letter written by
David
Williams
appeared in
Welch Piety.
But by
1740
Williams
and
Harris
were on bad terms. The
Methodist revival
had brought in a considerable number of new members to the
Watford church
, and this pouring of new wine into old bottles was not a success. In addition,
Harris
at that time had become obsessed with the doctrine of the ‘
assurance of forgiveness
,’ and had made the profession of this ‘assurance’ a condition of society membership — while the more cautious
Williams
refused to regard this as essential. Impulsive as usual,
Harris
would not leave well alone, and wrote a sharply-worded letter to
Williams
accusing him of spiritual indifference — worse still, he proclaimed from the pulpit at
Watford
and in the society that
Williams
's ministry was ‘carnal.’ The correspondence between them ceased abruptly, apart from one letter written by
David
Williams
to
Harris
about
1747
. Meantime, the
Methodist
element had left
Watford
and established a
Methodistic society
(which later became an
Independent church
) at
Groes-wen
, where in
1742
it built a chapel; and, of course,
David
Williams
was not present at the famous association held at
Watford
in
1743
in the ‘
New Room
,’ whether that was
Watford chapel
, or
Groes-wen chapel
(the leaders were accommodated in the mansion). The church at
Watford
waned under the strain. Whether
David
Williams
was ever a real
Calvinist
is open to question (it should be noted that
Charles
Wesley
preached
in his chapel in
1740
and
1741
), but in any event, he now began (like other early
Independent
supporters of
Methodism
) to veer towards
Arminianism
and
Arianism
, and fell out even more with his old friends
Edmund
Jones
and
Philip
David
(qq.v.) — the latter (
1784
diary) sadly fears that he has pronounced leanings towards
Arianism
and even Socinianism, while the former is shocked (in
1773
) to find that he is denying the doctrine of original sin and hobnobbing with the
Arians
of
west Wales
; but the ‘
Old Prophet
’ was still more troubled when he heard in
1780
that
David
Williams
favoured
Roman Catholic
Emancipation. His wife was the daughter of
James
Davies
(above) of
Merthyr Tydfil
, and when three of his sons went to the bad,
Edmund
Jones
saw in this (
1773
) God's judgement on the father for his doctrinal shortcomings.
David
Williams
lived in his father's house during the early years of his ministry, but later moved to
Cwm
, nearer
Watford
, where he
kept a school
which had a high reputation — there were educated
Thomas
Morgan
(
1720
-
1799
)
,
Morgan John
Rhys
, and
David
Williams
(
1738
-
1816
)
(qq.v.) — there is a tendency to get these two David Williamses of
Watford
mixed up. The
minister
d.
5 April 1784
, at the age of 75, and was buried in his chapel. By common consent, he was greatly respected throughout his life. He was succeeded in
Watford
and
Cardiff
by his son
THOMAS
WILLIAMS
, who for three years previously had been
minister
of
Ynys-gau
,
Merthyr Tydfil
; but by
1788
he had taken orders in the
Church of England
; he died an old man, a
vicar
and
schoolmaster
in
Hampshire
.
Bibliography:
-
T. Rees
,
History of Protestant Nonconformity in
Wales
(index);
-
Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru
, ii, 418-9;
-
Geiriadur Bywgraffyddol o Enwogion
Cymru
, ii, 648;
-
Y Cofiadur
,
1935
;
-
R. T. Gregory
,
Hanes Eglwys y Watford dau-can mlwyddiant
codi'r capel cyntaf 1739-1939
, Cardiff, 1939
,
1939
.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
