WILLIAMS
,
WILLIAM
, ‘of
Llandygìi
’ (
1738
-
1817
),
antiquary, author, prominent official at Cae-braich-y-cafn quarry
;
b.
1 March 1738
at
Trefdraeth
in
Anglesey
, of poor parents. For some time he worked as a
weaver
, then followed his long apprenticeship as a
saddler
at
Llannerch-y-medd
. He became one of the bardic disciples of
Hugh
Hughes
‘
y Bardd Coch
’ (q.v.)
and quite friendly with
Robert
Hughes
(the
bard
Robin Ddu yr Ail
, q.v.)
; through his friendship with
Robin Ddu
he became a corresponding member of the
London Gwyneddigion Society
; he had also struck up an acquaintance with
William
Morris
of
Holyhead
(q.v.)
. The great turning-point of
his life was his father's interview with
Richard
Hughes
, the
agent
of the
Penrhyn estate
(and a
squire
in his own right, of
Bodrwyn
and
Tre'rdryw
in
Anglesey
).
William
Williams
was given work as
occasional clerk in the estate office
, filling up his spare time as a
saddler
. As time went on he learnt the mysteries of
surveying
and
land-measuring
, and maps are extant of his work at
Gwenynog
in
Denbighshire
, and
Meillionydd
in
Llŷn
; often, too, he was called in to act as
arbitrator
between master and tenant, and between farmer and farmer. The next development was the most important of all: the conviction of
Richard
Pennant
,
1st lord Penrhyn
, that
Williams
was the ideal man to
control the production of slates at his great quarry
, their transport, and sale; this dispensation lasted from
1782 to 1802
, and his twelve account-books for the last year bear eloquent witness to his comprehensive care, to his exact methods, each one of the twelve books having seven columns of meticulous detail. On his resignation he was allowed his full annual salary for the rest of his life. His retirement gave him leisure to indulge his literary tastes: in
1802
was published, at
Oxford
, his
Observations on the Snowdon Mountains
, which contains interesting notes on local customs and folk-lore, including (as was natural) a long chapter on the descent of the
Penrhyn
family
(the author of this part of the work was
John
Thomas
, sometime of
Beaumaris
,
1736
-
1769
, q.v.)
; five years after his death was published
Prydnawngwaith y Cymry
, which was meant to be complementary to
Drych y Prif Oesoedd
. Besides these printed works, he left behind him, in manuscript, a considerable amount of literary work, such as ‘
Iolo o'r Cyffredin Glas
,’ in which
William
Williams
takes opportunity, by means of story and song, of showing his contempt for the theology of
Calvin
, the extravagance of sectaries, and the
Methodist societies
; not unlike is his fanciful debate between two persons upon the doctrine of Predestination. By
1803
he had written a book on herbalism (still in a manuscript of 289 pp.), and a ‘
History of Caernarvonshire
,’ 106 pp., with particular contributions about the quarrying districts. It is not surprising to hear, in face of this cumulative equipment, that he was able (and very ready) to give of his store of knowledge to inquirers like
Richard
Fenton
,
Sir
Richard Colt
Hoare
, and the
Irishman
Hyde
Hall
who wrote
Bangor MS. 908
(published in
1952
by the
Caerns. Hist. Soc.
as
A Description of Caernarvonshire
, and ed. by
E. Gwynne
Jones
). He d. on
17 July 1817
. The love of letters in the family did not die out with him; his son,
Robert
, was an
author
himself and a
friend of literary men
, and built up a
Corph o Dduwinyddiaeth
, that was published at
Bangor
in
1831
; the author of a long obituary appreciation of the father in the
Gwyliedydd
for
1828
(in the form of a letter to
Gutyn Peris
, q.v.)
was his son
Edmund
Williams
.
Bibliography:
-
J. E. Griffith
,
Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire
Families
, 1914
, 289;
-
Y Gwyliedydd
, vi, 97;
-
Bangor Manuscripts at University College North
Wales Library, Bangor
(U.C.N.W.), 557, 2633-4, 2636, 5442;
-
Penrhyn Manuscripts at University College North
Wales Library, Bangor
(U.C.N.W.),
1836-47
;
-
manuscript, in the possession of
Canon E. G. Wright
, Bangor;
-
files of
The North Wales Gazette
,
1795-1817.
Author:
Thomas Richards, D.Litt., (1878-1962), Bangor
