WILLIAMS
,
ROWLAND
(
Hwfa Môn
;
1823
-
1905
),
Independent minister, and archdruid of Wales
;
b. at
Pen y Graig
,
Trefdraeth
,
Anglesey
, in
March 1823
. When he was 5 years of age the family went to live at
Rhos-tre-Hwfa
, near
Llangefni
, where he was brought up as a
Calvinistic Methodist
until he was 14. He was apprenticed to
John
Evans
, a
Llangefni
carpenter
, and later worked at his trade at
Bangor
,
Deiniolen
,
Port Dinorwic
, and other places. In
1847
he returned to
Anglesey
and shortly afterwards was raised to the pulpit by
Smyrna Independent church
,
Llangefni
; he was admitted to the
Independent College
,
Bala
, the same year. When he had completed his course
he received a call from the churches at
Bagillt
and
Flint
, where he was ordained
4 June 1851
. He moved to
Bryn Seion
,
Brymbo
, in
1855
and for some time was in charge of the church at
Wrexham
. In
1862
he went to
Bethesda, Caerns.
, and thence in
1867
to
Fetter Lane church
,
London
(later to become
Tabernacle
,
Kings Cross
), where he remained until
1881
, when he returned to
Wales
as
minister
at
Llannerch-y-medd
. There he was unhappy and in
1888
moved to
Llangollen
. He retired in
1893
and went to live at
Rhyl
, where he d.
10 Nov. 1905
; he was buried in
Rhyl
cemetery. He was a fluent
preacher
but was nowhere near the front rank, being phenomenally longwinded. It was in connection with the eisteddfod that he became most prominent, and that in the days when ‘
to win at the eisteddfod was considered a sufficient achievement in itself…
.’ He was invested a ‘
bard
’ at the
Aberffraw eisteddfod
,
1849
, and chose the name
Hwfa Môn
. At one time or another he had
won a vast number of prizes at the eisteddfod
, including the
national chair
at
Caernarvon
(
1862
), when he defeated
Eben Fardd
,
Mold
(
1873
), and
Birkenhead
(
1878
), and the
crown
at
Carmarthen
(
1867
). From
1875 to 1892
he was
one of the principal adjudicators at the eisteddfod
. As in the case of so many of his competitors,
cynghanedd
dominated him rather than serving him and, in consequence, he left little of enduring value. In
1894
he was elected
archdruid
and it is possibly in virtue of holding this position that he will be chiefly remembered. His belief in the antiquity of the
Gorsedd of the Bards
was unshakeable, and he did everything in his power to reform it. He published two volumes of his poetry.
Bibliography:
-
W. J. Parry
,
Cofiant Hwfa Môn
, Manchester,
1907
;
-
Eminent Welshmen
, 1908
;
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
, Second Supplement, iii, 677;
-
Y Geninen
,
1906
, 49; (Gŵyl Dewi), 39;
-
T. Parry
,
Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg
, 1944
, 267, 285.
Author:
Rev. Richard Griffith Owen, M.A., (1890-1973), Bangor
