HUGHES, JOHN or HUGH OWEN (1615-1686), Jesuit;
b. June 1615, youngest son of Hugh Owen (1575?-1642) of Gwaenynog (q.v.). In his younger days he appears to have spent some time with his father in Raglan castle but on 25 Dec. 1636 he became a student at the English College in Rome. He was ordained priest, 16 March 1640-1, and returned to England, 28 Sept. 1643. In 1648 he joined the Society of Jesus at Watten, near S. Omer and in 1650 came back to England as a missionary. He spent the rest of his life in Wales or in the Marches; in 1650 his name is found among those of other Jesuit priests who attended the College of S. Francis Xavier at Llanrhyddol, Herefords., but he subsequently moved to the Holywell district, Flints., where he d. 28 Dec. 1686. In 1670 he published at Liége Allwydd neu Agoriad Paradwys i'r Cymry, a translation in admirable Welsh of portions of the Gospels, together with catechisms on some of the distinctive teachings of the Roman Catholic church, prayers, etc. He also edited and was responsible for the printing of his father Hugh Owen's translation of Thomas à Kempis's De Imitatione Christi, under the title Dilyniad Crist, 1684.
Bibliography:
- D.N.B. and the authorities named therein;
- T. Llechid Jones, Jnl. W.B.S., iii, 5, 213, 215, 219;
- J. Fisher (ed.), Allwydd Paradwys (1930).
Author:
Emyr Gwynne Jones, M.A., (1911-72), Bangor
