His father, who came from
Llangadock, Carms.
, to
Talgarth
,
Brecknock
,
c. 1700
, is called ‘
Howell
Powell
alias
Harris
’ in the
Talgarth
parish register; he m.
Susanah
Powell
of
Trefeca-fach
in
1702
. Their eldest son,
Joseph
Harris
(q.v.)
and another son,
Thomas
(q.v.)
also made names for themselves.
Howel
, their youngest son, was b.
23 Jan. 1714
and was educated at
Llwyn-llwyd
. From
1732 to 1735
he was a
schoolmaster
at
Llan-gors
and
Llangasty
. In
1735
the preaching of
Pryce
Davies
,
vicar
of
Talgarth
, wrought wonderfully upon him and he began to
evangelize
in the neighbourhood of his home. He matriculated from
S. Mary Hall
,
Oxford
, but left the university within a week. He applied for holy orders in
1736
but this was refused because he was
preaching
irregularly (incidentally, this refusal was repeated more than once subsequently — and for the same reason). He consulted
Griffith
Jones
(q.v.)
who besought him without success to be more moderate. In
1737
he came into contact with
Daniel
Rowland
(q.v.)
and the two began to work together. Among their earliest converts were
Howel
Davies
(q.v.)
and
William
Williams
of
Pantycelyn
(q.v.)
. In
1742
these formed themselves and their adherent societies into an Association which formed an alliance with the corresponding
Methodist
movement in
England
. In the
Calvinistic controversy
the
Welsh
reformers sided with
George
Whitefield
but
Harris
steadfastly
supported the two
Wesleys
in their efforts for union. On
18 May 1744
he m.
Anne
, daughter of
John
Williams
,
esquire
, of
Ysgrîn
(‘
Skreen
’),
Rads.
The next few years were spent
preaching
in
England
and
Wales
and in
establishing societies
as he went along. He came under the spell of the
Moravians
and, to the great distress of his friends, began to be influenced by the
Patripassian
doctrine. He was also influenced by a wealthy lady —
Mrs.
Sidney
Griffith
of
Cefn Amwlch, Caerns.
(q.v.)
— who claimed to be a
prophetess
. In
1750
a split occurred between him and his brethren, and
Welsh Methodism
was divided into two sects, the followers of
Rowland
and the followers of
Harris
. This hindered the success of the religious reformation in many districts.
In
1752
Harris
retired to
Trevecka
where he established a ‘Family’ from among his supporters, being stoutly supported in this design by
Evan
Moses
(q.v.)
and
Thomas
William
of
Eglwys Ilan
(q.v.)
. Buildings for the ‘Family’ were erected on an extensive scale at
Trevecka
and various trades and occupations were planned for the support of the community.
Harris
was
interested in agriculture
and was one of the founders of the
Brecknockshire Agricultural Society
(
1755
) — the first of its kind in
Wales
. Those were the days when a
French
invasion was feared and
Harris
formed a company of soldiers
from among the members of the ‘Family’ with himself as
captain
. He was attached for a time to a militia regiment but as soon as the danger was over resigned his commission. In
1762
he rejoined his old associates and began once more to attend Associations, visit societies, and
preach
. But the old enthusiasm was lacking and he was conscious of the strong opposition of the un-ordained
exhorters
who refused to be guided by him any longer. He, in turn, opposed the tendency to break away from the
Church of England
, to
erect chapels
, and to make the Association a governing body. For all that, he gave his support to the
countess of Huntingdon
who in
1768
built a seminary at
Trefeca-isaf
for the training of Evangelical preachers. His health began to fail in
1772
and he d.
21 July 1773
and was buried near the altar rails of
Talgarth
church.
He was not as great a literary figure as some of the other
Methodist reformers
but he
wrote some hymns
which are to be found in the small volumes published at that time, e.g.
Llyfr o Hymneu o Waith Amryw Awdwyr
,
1740
, and
Sail, Dibenion, a Rheolau'r Societies
,
1742
. The
Trevecka press
published a few of them in
Ychydig Lythyrau … Ynghyd a Hymnau
,
1782
. The same press had in
1774
published
Cennadwri a Thystiolaeth Ddiweddaf Howell Harris
, of which an
English
edition appeared the same year. He left behind him a large number of diaries which give a detailed account of his experiences, his journeys, and his preaching over a long period of time. It was from these diaries that the ‘Family’ collected the material for the autobiography (
A Brief Account
, etc.) published in
1791
(
Welsh
ed.,
Hanes Ferr
, etc.,
1792
). From time to time, much that was written in the diaries has been published but more remains unpublished. His greatest contribution to the welfare of the people was his
preaching
. This was the means of waking the humbler classes of
Wales
from their torpid slumber and of revealing to them their spiritual endowments. He was, indeed, one of the makers of modern
Wales
. In spite of his cross-grained and dictatorial temper, his unceasing enthusiasm and his unbounded desire to save souls carried everything before him in the early days of the religious renaissance. The influence which he has had on the life of his people proves that he was the greatest spiritual force in his generation and many believe that he was the greatest
Welshman
of his age.
Rev. Gomer Morgan Roberts, M.A., (1904-93), Pont-rhyd-y-fen / St
Dogmael's / Llandybïe
Harris
's first child,
ANNE
, christened
14 Dec. 1746
, was buried
7 Jan. 1748/9
. His other,
ELIZABETH
HARRIS
, later
PRICHARD
, was christened
18 Dec. 1748
. Nearly all our knowledge about her comes from references in
Moravian
records by her father's friends
Lorenz
Nyberg
and
Benjamin La
Trobe
, (printed in
Y Llenor
, xiv, 243,
Traf. Cymd. Hanes Bed.
,
1935
, 14, 23-4, and the third essay in the volume
Er Clod
,
1935
), and in the manuscript diaries of
Thomas
Roberts
of
Trevecka
(at the
National Library of Wales
). She seems to have been good-hearted and impulsive, and to have become increasingly irked by the strict regime at
Trevecka
after the death of her father. On
10 May 1782
she was m. at
Talgarth
to
Charles
Prichard
,
surgeon
, of
Brecon
; the witnesses were her two cousins
Samuel
Hughes
(see under
Harris
,
Joseph
) and
Elizabeth
Robinson
(see
Harris
,
Thomas
); the entry in the register was printed by
M. H.
Jones
in
Cylch. Cymd. Hanes M.C.
, ix.
Prichard
, of the old
Roman Catholic
family of
Graig, Mon.
, (
Theophilus
Jones
,
Hist. Brecknock
, 3rd ed., iii, 30), was a widower with three (some say four) children; he d.
10 Nov. 1804
, aged seventy-three. He and
Elizabeth
had five children (ibid.);
Elizabeth
d.
8 Feb. 1826
— the inscription on her tombstone at
Brecon
is printed ibid. ii, 103.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
