WILLIAMS
,
ROWLAND
(
1779
-
1854
),
cleric
;
b. at
Ty'nypwll
,
Mallwyd
,
Merioneth
, and christened
27 March 1779
, son of
Richard
Williams
and
Catherine
his wife. He went to a school held in
Mallwyd church
, then as a private pupil to
Peter
Williams
,
vicar
of
Betws-yn-Rhos
,
Abergele
, then to
Ruthin grammar school
. He matriculated at
Oxford
from
Jesus College
,
24 May 1798
, took his
B.A.
in
1802
and his
M.A.
in
1805
. Ordained
deacon
in
1802
by
bishop
Randolph
of
Oxford
, he went as
usher
to
Friars School
,
Bangor
, in
1803
, being licensed also to the
curacy
of
Llandygài
. He soon made a deep impression on the district. In
1807
he was appointed
vicar
of
Cilcain
, near
Mold
; in
1809
to
Halkyn
; in
1819
to
Meifod, Mont.
In
1836
he returned to
Flintshire
, to
Ysgeifiog
, and remained there till his death on
28 Dec. 1854
. He was buried at
Ysgeifiog
, and there is a memorial window to him at the west end of
S. Asaph cathedral
. He m.
Jane Wynne
Jones
of
Tre-iorwerth
, near
Bodedern
,
Anglesey
, and they had three sons and five daughters. One of his sons was
Rowland
Williams
(
1817
-
1870
) (q.v.)
.
Rowland
Williams
began to take an
interest in Welsh literary matters
from the time he went to
Bangor
, and in
1805
was appointed
secretary
of the
Bangor Tract Society
. He was one of the ‘literary clergy’ who were very active during the ‘twenties and ‘thirties of the 19th cent., and he was considered an
authority on Welsh
. He was one of the four men appointed to revise the
Welsh Book of Common Prayer
(their work was published in
1841
). He was a firm believer in the possibilities of the
Welsh Church Press
, and did much to
further the publication of various magazines
. He wrote at some length himself to these magazines, and also published some sermons. He, like his son, took an active part in the struggle (
1843-6
) to prevent the
union of the sees of
S. Asaph
and
Bangor
in order to provide for the new
diocese of Manchester
.
Bibliography:
-
A. O. Evans
,
A Chapter in the History of the Welsh Book
of Common Prayer; or, the letters which were written
preparatory to the revised edition of 1841. Annotated, with
biographical sketches
, Bangor, 1922
;
-
Thomas
,
A History of the Diocese of St.
Asaph
;
-
Geirlyfr Bywgraffiadol o Enwogion
Cymru
, 1870
;
-
R. Williams
,
Montgomeryshire Worthies
, second ed.,
1894
;
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
.
Author:
Thomas Iorwerth Ellis, M.A., (1899-1970), Aberystwyth
