EVAN(S)
,
EDWARD
(
1716
-
1798
),
Presbyterian minister and poet
;
b.
March 1716
(possibly
1717
) at
Llwydcoed
,
Aberdare
, son of
Ifan ap Shôn ap Rhys
, a
weaver
and
smallholder
. After a few years as a
weaver
he was
apprenticed to carpentry
under
Lewis
Hopkin
(q.v.)
, who also instructed him in the practice of the strict metres in poetry. In
1749
he took the farm of
Ton Coch
, above
Dyffryn House
,
Mountain Ash
. He had joined (
c.
1748
) the
Nonconformist
congregation at
Cwm-y-glo
, and when a separate church was incorporated near
Aberdare
(now the ‘
Old Meeting
’) he became one of its leading members and a
preacher
. His theological views moved leftward to
Arminianism
, and later to
Arianism
. On
1 July 1772
he was ordained
pastor
of the ‘
Old Meeting
,’ and held office till
1796
. He d.
1 June 1798
and was buried in
S. John's churchyard
,
Aberdare
. He was twice m., (1) in
1744
to
Margaret
Thomas
of
Penderyn
(d.
April 1774
), and (2)
c.
1776
to
Mary
Llewelyn
of
Rhigos
(d.
1824
) — of this marriage there were two sons,
Edward
(
1776?
-
1862
) and
RHYS
(
1779
-
1867
);
Rhys
was of some literary note and an
eisteddfodwr
.
During his lifetime
Edward
Evan(s)
published (1) a
Welsh
translation of one of
Samuel
Bourn
's catechisms,
1757
; (2) a translation in metre of the
Book of Ecclesiastes
, jointly with
Lewis
Hopkin
(q.v.)
,
1767
; (3) a sermon,
1775
. After his death some of his poetry was published at
Merthyr Tydfil
in
1804
, under the title
Caniadau Moesol a Duwiol
— later (enlarged) editions under the title
Afalau'r Awen
(
Merthyr
,
1816
,
1837
,
Aberdare
,
1874
). He is an important figure in the history of strict-metre poetry in
Glamorgan
; and it has been held that he was also of radical tendencies in politics.
Bibliography:
-
G. J. Williams
,
Traddodiad Llenyddol Morgannwg
, 1948
,
1948
, chiefly 245-50, but consult index also;
-
R. T. Jenkins
, ‘Bardd a'i Gefndir,’ in
The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
,
1946-7
, 97-149, and references therein.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
