DAVIES
,
BENJAMIN
(
1739?
-
1817
),
Independent academy tutor
;
b. 1739 or 1740, third son of
REES
DAVIES
of the substantial freehold of
Canerw
in
Llanboidy
parish,
Carms
.
Rees
Davies
was himself a man of some note, though precise information about him is scanty; he d.
c.
1788
. He was a
teaching elder
of
Henllan Amgoed church
, and (with
Henry
Palmer
and
John
Davies
of
Glandŵr
, qq.v.
) wrote a letter to
Howel
Harris
(
Trevecka letter 231
) on
22 March 1740
; he seems to have been a strong
Calvinist
, and a solid if uninspiring
preacher
, fond of theological dialectic. If an entry in the
Wilson manuscripts
at
Dr. Williams's library
(transcript in
N.L.W. MS. 373
) is correctly worded, he was at
Carmarthen Academy
under
Perrott
(q.v.)
, but it seems more probable that this refers rather to the grammar school attached to that Academy. A statement that he was ordained
minister
of
Llangeler
rests upon no known record, though it is true that
Llangeler
was in some vague way regarded as falling within the province of the
pastors
and
elders
of
Henllan
and
Trelech
. But
Rees
Davies
was certainly
pastor
of
Pen-y-graig
from
1757 to 1784
, in succession to
Milbourn
Bloom
(q.v.)
— he appears to have confined himself to monthly visits. It is as ‘
Rees
Davies
,
Penygraig
,’ that he is described in the
Wilson
list cited above.
Benjamin
Davies
acquired his rudiments at the hands of his
minister
Thomas
Morgan
(
1720
-
1799
) (q.v.)
, then went to the
Academy grammar school
at
Carmarthen
c.
1754
, and finally (
1760
) became exhibitioner of the Academy itself. At an unrecorded date he became
assistant tutor
at
Abergavenny Academy
, and on the d. of
David
Jardine
(q.v.)
was appointed (
8 Dec. 1766
)
tutor
; he was also
pastor
of the church there. In
Sept. 1781
he became
classical and mathematical tutor
at
Homerton Academy
; from
1783
he was also
pastor
of
Fetter Lane
. He resigned his tutorship in
1787
, and his pastorate in
1795
. He d. at
Bath
,
22 July 1817
. He was thrice married. Of his very few published works, the most noteworthy was
Primitive Candour
, a reply to
Joseph
Priestley
.
JAMES
DAVIES
, the second of
Rees
Davies
's sons, went to
Carmarthen Academy
in
1758
, and became
pastor
of
Wotton-under-Edge
, and afterwards of
Broad Street
,
Bristol
.
Bibliography:
-
Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru
, i, 49, iii, 348, 443-4;
-
Album Aberhonddu…o'r flwyddyn 1755 hyd
1880
, 1898
;
-
G. D. Owen
,
Ysgolion a Cholegau yr Annibynwyr
,
1939
,
1939
, 97-100.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
