Dictionary of Welsh Biography



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GIBBON, JAMES MORGAN (1855-1932), Independent minister; b. at Pont-Seli, Abercŷch, Pembs., 1855. He was a member of Bryn Seion (Cenarth, Carms.) church where Evan Herber Evans (q.v.) also was brought up. He was educated at Newcastle Emlyn and the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen (1872-5). In 1875 he was ordained minister of Tre-lech; he joined the English connexion and was minister at Castle Street, Swansea (1880-5); Highgate, London (1885-9); and Stamford Hill, London (1889-1932). He d. 14 March 1932.

He was exceptionally popular as a preacher and under his ministry the membership at Stamford Hill increased from 355 to 1,055. He was a prominent member of Caleb Morris's club in London and remained a warm-hearted Welshman all his life. He was elected a member of the royal commission on the Church of England and other religious bodies in Wales and Monmouthshire (1910). He refused to sign its report, and at the request of the Free Churches, through F. B. Meyer, published a book explaining his point of view: Weighed in the Balance: The Case for Welsh Disestablishment, with a foreword by D. Lloyd George, 1910. He was chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales (1913-14). He published: The Epistle to the Galatians, 1895; The Children's Year; The Fatherhood of God; The Disciples’ Prayer.

Bibliography:

  • Congl. Year Book, 1933;
  • H.E.A.C., v, 324;
  • O.C.C., 137;
  • Y Dysgedydd, April 1932, 127.

Author:

Rev. Richard Griffith Owen, M.A., (1890-1973), Bangor