WORTHINGTON
,
WILLIAM
(
1704
-
1778
),
cleric and author
;
son of
Thomas
Worthington
of
Park
,
Llanwnnog, Mont.
, christened at
Llanwnnog
,
4 April 1704
. He was educated at the grammar school at
Oswestry
, and matriculated at
Oxford
from
Jesus College
,
9 May 1722
. He took his
B.A.
in
1725-6
, his
M.A.
from
S. John's College
,
Cambridge
, in
1730
. In
1758
he proceeded to the degrees of
B.D
and
D.D.
at
Oxford
. He
taught
for some time at
Oswestry
and in
April 1730
he was appointed
vicar
of
Llan-y-blodwel
,
Salop
; in
Nov. 1731
,
canon
of
S. Asaph
; in
July 1737
,
sinecure rector
of
Darowen
(which office he held till
1751
);
sinecure rector
of
Hope, Flints.
,
1751 (till 1774)
;
sinecure rector
of
Llanfor
, near
Bala
,
1774
. He was
vicar
of
Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant
from
1745
till his death, and
prebendary
of
Meifod
in
S. Asaph cathedral
from
1773
. He also held (from
1762
) a
prebendal stall
in
York Minster
. For many years he lived at
Llanrhaeadr
, where he enlarged the vicarage; he d. there
6 Oct. 1778
, and is buried in the churchyard. There is a memorial tablet to him in the church.
Worthington
interested himself in a number of projects, including the provision of an embankment over
Traeth Mawr
; he was visited at
Llanrhaeadr
by
Samuel
Johnson
and
Thomas
Pennant
(q.v.)
; and in his will he
bequeathed legacies to various missionary causes
, and for the
provision of a cathedral library at S. Asaph
. He
wrote a number of theological works
, and his last productions (including one published posthumously) were concerned with the problem of scriptural demonology.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
Thomas
,
A History of the Diocese of St.
Asaph
, i, 351;
- S. Asaph episcopal register in N.L.W.;
-
R. Williams
,
Montgomeryshire Worthies
, second ed.,
1894
;
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
.
Author:
Thomas Iorwerth Ellis, M.A., (1899-1970), Aberystwyth
