MORGAN, JOHN (1743-1801), cleric,
b. in Cardiganshire, and educated at Ystrad Meurig, was curate of Gwnnws and Lledrod, Cards., for a period which ended in Dec. 1771. In 1772 he succeeded Evan Evans (1731-1789) (q.v.) as curate of Llanberis (the rector of Llan-rug and Llanberis, Peter Bailey Williams (q.v.) resided at Llan-rug); his stipend was £24; he lived at Tŷ-isa, and kept a school at which David Thomas, Dafydd Ddu Eryri (1759-1822) (q.v.) was a pupil in 1774. Morgan became so celebrated as a preacher that people flocked to hear him from remote parts. When David Mathias (q.v.), the Moravian missioner, came to Nantlle, a friendship sprang up between him and Morgan, who was greatly influenced by his teachings; correspondence between the two men continued after Mathias's departure, and Morgan welcomed Mathias's return to Caernarvon in 1788. It is clear that Morgan (though perhaps not in a strictly official sense) was now a Moravian, for the monthly Moravian society met at his house once in every three months. In 1793, however, the two men fell out, and Mathias left North Wales for good. When the Moravian, Christian Ignatius La Trobe, visited Wales in 1795 he called on John Morgan, noted his dire poverty, and obtained an annuity of £16 for him from London. Morgan d. in 1801-he was buried on 30 March, ‘aged 58.’ He was twice m. He printed two of his sermons: Udgorn Gras, etc., published at Shrewsbury, 1773 (a sermon upon the earthquake of 22 April 1773), and Y Testamentwr, published by David Jones at Trefriw, 1783.
Bibliography:
- Henry Hughes, in Cymru (O.M.E.), xii, 297-301;
- for Morgan's connections with Moravianism, see Cymm., xlv.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
Corrections and additions:
MORGAN, JOHN (1743-1801; DWB, 648).
A list of priests in the Bangor diocese (1778) notes Morgan, curate of Llanberis, as being aged 38. He may, therefore, have been born in 1740. NLW Cwrtmawr MS. 56B has the name ‘John Morgan, Gorsvawr, Lledrod’, perhaps indicating his birthplace. (Info. from G. T. Roberts).
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
