b.
8 March 1813
in
Bryngoleu
, in the parish of
Llannefydd
,
Denbs.
, son of
Robert
Roberts
,
shoemaker
, and
Anne
his wife (see
N.L.W. MS. 7000
for the names of some of the ancestors of the parents). He received but little education in his boyhood. He was taught his father's craft, and after a while went to
Llanddulas
to work for one
Humphrey
Jones
. He was baptised in
1832
by
John
Evans
,
Glanwydden
, began to
preach
in
Jan. 1834
and, in the summer of the same year, went to
Llansilin
to be prepared for the ministry by
John
Williams
(
1806
-
1856
) (q.v.)
;
Robert
Ellis
(
Cynddelw
, q.v.)
was a fellow-pupil. In
1835
he settled at
Mold
as a
Baptist home missioner
. On
25 June 1837
he was ordained as
minister
of the
Welsh Baptist church
in
Stanhope Street
,
Liverpool
(see
N.L.W. MS. 7127
). He m.
Jane
, daughter of
Daniel
Jones
(
1788
-
1862
) (q.v.)
, then
minister of the Baptist church
in
Crosshall Street
,
Liverpool
.
Nefydd
moved in
1845
to
Monmouthshire
to become
minister
of
Salem church
,
Blaenau Gwent
(the modern ‘
Blaina
’), where he spent the remainder of his days, busily engaged in a variety of ways. He became prominent as an
eisteddfod competitor
and as
adjudicator
. His best-known printed work, a composite production, was written for eisteddfodau. This is
Crefydd yr Oesoedd Tywyll, neu Henafiaethau Defodol, Chwareu-yddol, a Choelgrefyddol: yn cynnwys y Traethawd Gwobrwyol yn Eisteddfod y Fenni ar Mari Lwyd … ynghyd a Sylwadau ar lawer o hen Arferion tebyg i Mari Lwyd …
(
Carmarthen
,
1852
). He
set up his own printing press
at
Blaenau
(in
1864
) and printed and published
Y Bedyddiwr
for four years; he
edited
Seren Gomer
for some years, but it is not known whether he printed more than one number of that journal (
N.L.W. MSS. 7077-9
).
Prominent in Baptist circles
, he became well-known in educational circles also, particularly after he had been appointed (in
1853
)
South Wales
agent
for the
British and Foreign Schools Society
(
N.L.W. MSS. 7096,
7106-7
). For eleven years he was busy with the task of
establishing and inspecting schools
and
arranging for the training of teachers
; he had
conducted his own ‘night school’
at
Blaenau
at one time. Throughout the years he had been
building up a library
which eventually reached a total of about 600 volumes, besides several manuscripts of historical or literary interest. Amongst the manuscripts was a copy of the ‘
Red Book of S. Asaph
’ (
N.L.W. MS. 7011
), collections of older and later
Welsh
poems (e.g.
N.L.W. MSS. 7012, 7014-7
), and the diaries of
Edmund
Jones
(q.v.)
,
Pontypool
(
N.L.W. MSS. 7021-30
). He also, for a time,
kept a book-shop
. In addition to material on the
history of the Baptists
collected by himself,
Nefydd
acquired material on the same subject accumulated by
Ellis
Evans
(q.v.)
,
Cefn-mawr
(who was
Baptist minister
at
Llanefydd
when
Nefydd
was a young boy) and others. Amongst the contents of the two groups are several hundred letters from ministers and laymen. Part of this composite collection came into the hands of
J. Spinther
James
(q.v.)
, and was used by him when he was writing his
Hanes y Bedyddwyr
; by now the
Spinther
collection (which was bought by
principal
J. H.
Davies
) and the main portion of the historical material which had remained in the
Nefydd
library have been reunited in the
N.L.W.
(For some details about
Nefydd
's printed books, see an article by
E. I.
Williams
in
Jnl. Welsh Bibliog. Soc.
, ii, 246-50).
Nefydd
d.
18 June 1872
, and was buried in the burial-ground of
‘Blaenau Gwent’ chapel
at
Abertillery
. His first wife,
Jane
(
Jones
)
, had died soon after the removal to
Blaenau
; the second wife was the widow of
Jenkin
Edwards
. The
Nefydd
manuscripts (including letters) were transferred to the
N.L.W.
in
1930
in two groups (
N.L.W. MSS. 7011-7175 and 7176-89
), to be followed in
1933
by a third group (
N.L.W. MSS. 7768-79
) and, in
1934
, by a fourth group (
N.L.W. MSS.9637-9
); for details see
N.L.W. Handlist of MSS.
, x, 231-4.
Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952),
Aberystwyth
