WILLIAMS
,
JOHN
(
1760
-
1826
),
cleric and schoolmaster
;
son of
John
Williams
,
agent to the Gwydir Estate
,
Llanrwst
. Educated at
Jesus College
,
Oxford
(matriculated
15 May 1777
, aged 17,
B.A.
1781
,
M.A.
Fellow
of his college), he was ordained in the
diocese of Bangor
,
19 Sept. 1784
, and
licensed to the chapelry
of
Betws-y-Coed
. He became
master
of the
Free school
,
Llanrwst
, and ‘
Lecturer
,’ in
1791
, being also
perpetual curate
of
Dolwyddelan
and
Capel Curig
. On
25 Aug. 1802
, he was appointed
rector
of
Llanbedr-y-Cennin
and
Caerhun
. He was succeeded at
Llanrwst school
by
Edward
Davies
in
1812
. He d. in
1826
, aged 66, according to his tombstone, and was buried
9 Oct.
at
Llanbedr-y-Cennin
.
John
Williams
is included in this Dictionary because of his
interest in Welsh literature and records
, and particularly because he was the means of preserving for posterity a substantial group of the
Wynn of Gwydir Papers
(see introduction to
N.L.W.
Calendar of the Wynn (of Gwydir) Papers
,
1926
), the letters of
Goronwy
Owen
(q.v.)
, which were published by
J. H.
Davies
in
1924
, and some letters of
Edward
Owen
(q.v.)
of
Warrington
, the friend of
Goronwy
Owen
.
N.L.W. MSS. 30-4, 58, 107, 109, 276, 302, 343-5
are also from the collection of
John
Williams
.
Sources:
-
To the references given above add
A. Ivor Pryce
,
Diocese of Bangor During Three Centuries,
seventeenth to nineteenth century inclusive being a digest
of the registers of the bishops
(1929)
;
-
Thomas
,
A History of the Diocese of St.
Asaph
;
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
;
-
The Records of the Diocese of Bangor in the
National Library of Wales
in N.L.W.;
-
Catalogue of Additional Manuscripts in the
National Library of Wales
, i;
-
Bangor Manuscript at University College North
Wales Library, Bangor
6457 in U.C.N.W. Bangor.
Author:
Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952),
Aberystwyth
