LEWIS, JENKIN (1760-1831). Independent minister and tutor;
b. at Brithdir Uchaf, Gelli-gaer, Glam., 12 Aug. 1760, son of Malachi and Cecilia Lewis, members of the Arminian church at Cefncoedcymer under Philip Charles (q.v.). From a school at Merthyr Tydfil, he was sent at 17 to Abergavenny Academy as a lay pupil. There, he changed his theological views, and in 1778 the Congregational Fund Board accepted him as an entrant into the ministry; before he finished his course there, he was acting as assistant to the tutor, Benjamin Davies (q.v.). He removed, along with the Academy, to Oswestry, as assistant to Edward Williams (1750-1813) (q.v.), but in Nov. 1784, accepted a pastorate at Wrexham. When Edward Williams (in 1791) went from Oswestry, Lewis was urged to take his place, and as he declined to leave Wrexham, the Academy was removed (1792) from Oswestry to Wrexham. In 1811, Lewis was invited to start an academy in Manchester, and agreed to do so; but the scheme proved a failure, and he became unemployed for some time. However, early in 1815 he accepted the pastorate of Hope church, Newport, Mon. He d. at Newport 11 Aug. 1831.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
