WILLIAMS
,
MORRIS
(
Nicander
;
1809
-
1874
),
cleric and man of letters
;
b. at
Caernarvon
,
20 Aug. 1809
, son of
William
Morris
and
Sarah
his wife (she was a sister of
Peter
Jones
[
Pedr Fardd
, q.v.]
, and had been
maidservant
to
Dewi Wyn
[q.v.]
— her husband had been a
servant
to
Robert ap Gwilym Ddu
[q.v.]
). When he was a child, his parents moved to
Coed Cae Bach
,
Llangybi, Caerns.
He had some schooling at
Llanystumdwy
and was apprenticed to a
carpenter
; he began to
write poetry
, and in
1827
published an
awdl
in which proper names from the
Bible
are woven into an intricate metrical pattern. He took advantage of the literary tradition and activity of the district where he lived, and since he showed obvious proclivities towards scholarship, he was helped to enter the
King's school
at
Chester
. He matriculated at
Oxford
from
Jesus College
in
April 1832
, and graduated
B.A.
in
1835
in the second class in ‘Litterae Humaniores’; he took his
M.A.
in
1838
. He was ordained
deacon
by the
bishop of Chester
in
1835
, and
priest
by
bishop
Carey
of
S. Asaph
in
Oct. 1836
, having been licensed to
Holywell
as
curate
in April of that year. After a short period in
Bangor diocese
, he was re-licensed to
Holywell
in
June 1838
, but became
curate
of
Bangor
and
Pentir
in
Feb. 1840
, moving to
Llanllechid
in
April 1845
. He was appointed
perpetual curate
of
Amlwch
(with
Llanwenllwyfo
) in
Jan. 1847
, and
rector
of
Llanrhuddlad
(with
Llanfflewin
and
Llanrhwydrus
) in
Oct. 1859
. He was at various times
rural dean
of
Twrcelyn
and
Talebolion
, and d. at
Llanrhuddlad
on
3 Jan. 1874
; he was buried there and there is a tablet in the church in his memory; there is also a marble pulpit in
Bangor cathedral
. In
1840
he m.
Ann
Jones
of
Denbigh
; they had five daughters and three sons. One son,
WILLIAM
WILLIAMS
, became
headmaster
of
Friars school
,
Bangor
[from
1879 to 1919
; he d.
23 Feb. 1938
, at the age of 87; in
1901
he published his father's work,
Damhegion Esop ar Gân]
; and another,
Richard
,
headmaster
of
Cowbridge grammar school
.
Whilst at
Holywell
,
Nicander
assisted with the revision of the
Welsh
version of the
Book of Common Prayer
, and from the time of the
Aberffraw eisteddfod
of
1849
onwards, when he won the
chair
for an
awdl
on the Creation, he took a prominent part in Welsh literary life; he frequently
adjudicated and competed at the national eisteddfod
. He contributed often to
Welsh
magazines,
translated
Aesop's Fables
into
Welsh
, and
composed a number of hymns
. Among his publications are
Y Flwyddyn Eglwysig
,
1843
; translations of
Dr.
Sutton
's
Disce Vivere
and
Disce Mori
,
1847
,
1848
; an edition of
Llyfr yr Homiliau
,
1847
; a metrical version of the
Psalter
,
1850
; an edition of the works of
Dafydd Ionawr
,
1851
; and a number of essays on church matters. An interesting selection of his letters to
Ebenezer
Thomas
(
Eben Fardd
)
may be found in
Adgof Uwch Anghof
,
1883
. He was one of the pioneers of the
Oxford Movement
in the
diocese of Bangor
.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
‘Adgof uwch Anghof.’ Llythyrau lluaws o Brif
Enwogion Cymru
, 1883
;
-
A. O. Evans
,
, Bangor, 1922
;
-
Y Geninen
,
1884, 1887
;
-
Yr Haul
,
1874
;
- Bangor and S. Asaph diocesan documents in N.L.W.;
-
Y Gwyliedydd
,
1827
;
-
Y Gwyddoniadur Cymreig
, 1889-96
.
-
[On W. Glynn Williams, see
The Domincian
, Bangor, 1957
(Bangor),
July 1957
, 72-6.]
Author:
Thomas Iorwerth Ellis, M.A., (1899-1970), Aberystwyth
