JAMES, WILLIAM (1833 - 1905), Calvinistic Methodist minister

Born 15 March 1833 to Thomas and Anne James, Tyn-rhos, Llanfihangel-genau'r-glyn, Cardiganshire. He was at the local grammar school, but left at 15 to be a shepherd-boy on his father's farm. The father intended him to become a tanner (at Aberayron) but the leaders of Garn C.M. church, impressed by his diligence in Sunday-school work and with congregational singing, urged that he should train for the ministry; he went in 1853 to a school at Chester, and in 1855 to the college at Bala; he matriculated in London University in 1859, and graduated in 1862. He was pastor at Garn for some months, and at Aberdovey and Towyn, Meironnydd, from October 1863 till January 1866; he then removed to take charge of Moss Side C M. church, Manchester, and was there till he died, 19 October 1905. James became a prominent leader in his denomination; he was moderator of the North Wales Association in 1888, and of the General Assembly in 1892, and ' Davies Lecturer ' in 1897 - his lecture (on the Church, the Sacraments, and the Ministry) was published in 1898, and he also produced a commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. As a preacher, he was substantial, not to say ponderous, but his articles in Y Traethodydd, Y Geninen, and other periodicals evince occasional gleams of humour. A biography, with selected sermons of his, was compiled by several of his friends (n.d.). James was twice married.

Author

• Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, (1881 - 1969)

Sources

• Cofiant a rhai o bregethau y Parchedig William James, B.A., D.D., Manchester (Caernarfon 1910) (n. d., a composite book)

Additional Links

• VIAF: 101470591
• Wikidata: Q20734645

Published date: 1959

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