GRIFFITH, THOMAS TAYLOR (1795-1876), surgeon and antiquary;
b. at Wrexham, 11 Dec. 1795, he was one of the eleven children (and the eldest son) of Thomas Griffith (1753-1846, surgeon), and great-grandson of John Griffith of Cae Cyriog [see below], genealogist and herald, whose genealogical and antiquarian collections he inherited and exhibited to the Cambrian Archaeological Association at its Wrexham meeting, 1874. Griffith was educated at Dr. Williams's school and the grammar school, Wrexham, and after apprenticeship to his father went to Guy's and S. Bartholomew's hospitals, then to Leeds under Hoy (1810), and to Paris under Puytryne, becoming M.R.C.S. in 1817 and an Hon. Fellow 1844. He entered into partnership with his father at Wrexham (c. 1820) and in 1826 set up on his own account, marrying in the same year the grand-daughter of William Robertson (1721-1793), the Scottish historian. In 1832 he attended princess Victoria on a visit to Wynnstay with the duchess of Kent. He took a large part in setting up the North Wales branch of the British Medical Association, of which he was twice president, and in the founding (1832) of Wrexham infirmary, where his portrait is hung. He was active in supporting the incorporation of Wrexham (1849-57), endowing the new corporation with a special trust fund but declining to become its first mayor. He and his wife were among the pioneers of free education in the town, helping to found the Ragged School (1852-81), of which he was first treasurer. He d. 6 July 1876.
Bibliography:
- Wrexham Advertiser, 8 July 1876;
- Arch. Camb., 1876, 234;
- A. N. Palmer, Hist. of the Town of Wrexham, 18, 53, 86, 97-8, 110;
- Powys Fadog, ii, 184-7;
- C. Dodd, Wrexham Schools and Scholars (Wrexham, 1924), 15-18;
- Border Counties Advertizer, Wrexham jubilee souvenir, 1907;
- N.L.W. MSS. 7006-10.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Arthur Herbert Dodd, M.A., (1891-1975), Bangor
[The family of Cae Cyriog in the Hafod township, Ruabon, was there at least as early as the mid-15th cent. (P. Fadog, ii, 184), but we need concern ourselves here only with John Griffith (1654-1698) or Siôn Gruffydd, genealogist and herald, who d. 31 Oct. 1698. His manuscripts descended to his great-grandson T. T. Griffith (above); later (1910), they were deposited at the National Library of Wales, and in 1923 became its property — N.L.W. MSS. 7006-10. The most important of them is 7006, the famous ‘Black Book of Basingwerk’ (see under Gutun Owain); 7008 is Griffith's collection of North Wales pedigrees. See N.L.W. Handlist of Manuscripts, x, 230, and N.W.L. W. Jnl., v, 99.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
Corrections and additions:
GRIFFITH, THOMAS TAYLOR (1795-1876), surgeon and antiquary;
b. at Wrexham, 11 Dec. 1795, he was one of the eleven children (and the eldest son) of Thomas Griffith (1753-1846, surgeon), and great-grandson of John Griffith of Cae Cyriog [see below], genealogist and herald, whose genealogical and antiquarian collections he inherited and exhibited to the Cambrian Archaeological Association at its Wrexham meeting, 1874. Griffith was educated at Dr. Williams's school and the grammar school, Wrexham, and after apprenticeship to his father went to Guy's and S. Bartholomew's hospitals, then to Leeds under Hoy (1810), and to Paris under Puytryne, becoming M.R.C.S. in 1817 and an Hon. Fellow 1844. He entered into partnership with his father at Wrexham (c. 1820) and in 1826 set up on his own account, marrying in the same year the grand-daughter of William Robertson (1721-1793), the Scottish historian. In 1832 he attended princess Victoria on a visit to Wynnstay with the duchess of Kent. He took a large part in setting up the North Wales branch of the British Medical Association, of which he was twice president, and in the founding (1832) of Wrexham infirmary, where his portrait is hung. He was active in supporting the incorporation of Wrexham (1849-57), endowing the new corporation with a special trust fund but declining to become its first mayor. He and his wife were among the pioneers of free education in the town, helping to found the Ragged School (1852-81), of which he was first treasurer. He d. 6 July 1876.
Bibliography:
- Wrexham Advertiser, 8 July 1876;
- Arch. Camb., 1876, 234;
- A. N. Palmer, Hist. of the Town of Wrexham, 18, 53, 86, 97-8, 110;
- Powys Fadog, ii, 184-7;
- C. Dodd, Wrexham Schools and Scholars (Wrexham, 1924), 15-18;
- Border Counties Advertizer, Wrexham jubilee souvenir, 1907;
- N.L.W. MSS. 7006-10.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Arthur Herbert Dodd, M.A., (1891-1975), Bangor
[The family of Cae Cyriog in the Hafod township, Ruabon, was there at least as early as the mid-15th cent. (P. Fadog, ii, 184), but we need concern ourselves here only with John Griffith (1654-1698) or Siôn Gruffydd, genealogist and herald, who d. 31 Oct. 1698. His manuscripts descended to his great-grandson T. T. Griffith (above); later (1910), they were deposited at the National Library of Wales, and in 1923 became its property — N.L.W. MSS. 7006-10. The most important of them is 7006, the famous ‘Black Book of Basingwerk’ (see under Gutun Owain); 7008 is Griffith's collection of North Wales pedigrees. See N.L.W. Handlist of Manuscripts, x, 230, and N.W.L. W. Jnl., v, 99.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
