WILLIAMS
,
JOHN
(
Glanmor
;
1811
-
1891
),
cleric, poet, and antiquary
;
b. at
Foryd
, near
Rhyl
,
11 Aug. 1811
, son of
William
and
Elizabeth King
Williams
. He started his career as a
schoolmaster
. In
1849
he was appointed
master
at the
National school
,
Llangernyw, Denbs.
In
1852
he moved to the
Blue Coat school
at
Denbigh
, where he remained until
1859
. From
Denbigh
he went to the
National school
at
Gwersyllt
, where he remained until
1864
when he became a student at
S. Bees theological college
. Two years later he was ordained
deacon
and in
1867
priest
. He was
curate
at
Whitehaven
(
1866-Dec. 1868
),
Amlwch
(
1868-71
), and
Ebbw Vale
(
1871-83
). In
1883
he was appointed
rector
of
Llanallgo
cum
Llaneugrad
,
Anglesey
, where he remained until his death,
12 April 1891
. He was buried at
Llanagllo
. He m.
1854
,
Elizabeth
(d.
1890
), daughter of
William
Deer
of
Birmingham
, by whom he had a son and three daughters. He competed frequently at the eisteddfodau and wrote
awdlau
on ‘
Y Gwanwyn
,’ ‘
Yr Eira
,’ and ‘
Diwedd y Cynhauaf
,’ as well as a
cywydd
(which won the prize at the
Bangor eisteddfod
) on ‘
Nineveh
’. He was also an
eisteddfod adjudicator
. In
Welsh
, he wrote
Hanes yr Eglwys yng Nghymru, ynghyd a Tharddiad ac Amldaeniad Anghydffurfiaeth
(
Rhyl
,
J.
Morris,
1877
) and
Awstralia a'r Cloddfeydd Aur
(
Denbigh
,
T.
Gee,
1852
). He edited
Carolau gan Brif Feirdd Cymru a'i Phrydyddion
(
Wrexham
,
Hughes and Son
,
1865
), and the same company published a volume of his works in
1865
. But
Glanmor
's greatest achievement was his publication of the history of the town and lordship of
Denbigh
in two volumes:
Ancient and Modern Denbigh
(
Denbigh
,
1856
) and
The Records of Denbigh and its Lordship
(
Wrexham
,
1860
). To-day, we realise that the arrangement of the two volumes leaves much to be desired and that some of the ‘facts’ incorrect, but at that time they were regarded as an important contribution to the history of
Wales
in the middle ages. So far, nothing has appeared to supplant
Ancient and Modern Denbigh
, but the
Survey of the Honour of Denbigh, 1334
(ed.
P.
Vinogradoff
and
F.
Morgan,
British Academy
,
London
,
1914
) is an improvement on the early chapters of
The Records of Denbigh and its Lordship
. This last-named work, however, has extracts from
the borough registers and lists of the officials and sheriffs which are not available elsewhere.
Sources:
-
Eminent Welshmen: a short biographical dictionary of Welshmen ... from the earliest times to the present
, 1908
;
-
Y Geninen
,
1898
, 132;
-
Yr Haul
,
1891
, 194.
Author:
Frank Price Jones, (1920-75), Bangor
