WILLIAMS
,
PETER BAILEY
(
1763
-
1836
),
cleric and writer
;
b. at
Llandyfaelog, Carms.
,
1763
(christened
2 Aug.
), son of
Peter
Williams
(
1723
-
1796
)
and brother of
Eliezer
Williams
, the
antiquary
(qq.v.)
. He was educated at
Carmarthen grammar school
and
Jesus College
,
Oxford
(
B.A.
from
Christ Church
,
1790
). He was ordained
deacon
Feb. 1788
and
priest
the following Nov. He was a
curate
in
England
until
1792
, when he was made
rector
of
Llan-rug
and
Llanberis
, where he spent the rest of his life; in addition, he was for some years (
1815-25?
)
perpetual curate
of
Betws Garmon
. He m. (1)
Hannah
Jones
of
Llanrwst
(d.
1835
) in
Sept. 1804
, by whom he had a son,
HENRY
WILLIAMS
(
1805
-
1879
),
rector
of
Llanberis
(
1836-43
) and
Llan-rug
(
1843-79
); and (2)
Charlotte
Hands
(widow) of
Shrewsbury
(d.
1849
) in
Nov. 1835
. He was a prominent figure in the public life of
Caernarvonshire
for a very long time and was a
justice of the peace
for more than a quarter of a century. Many of his letters on public affairs will be found in the
Porth yr Aur manuscripts
in the
University College, Bangor, library
. In politics he was
Conservative
, a fact amply borne out by the articles he wrote condemning the supporters of the
French Revolution
; but he was an
ardent supporter of the movement for the education of the masses
and there is little doubt that the
Sunday school
he started at
Llan-rug
in
1793
was one of the first in
Caernarvonshire
. He was the friend and
patron of the local writers
—
Dafydd Ddu
and his friends — and had a hand in bringing out the
Greal, neu Eurgrawn
(
Ieuan Lleyn
) in
1800
, and
Trysorfa Gwybodaeth
(
Dafydd Ddu
) in
1807
. He
collected a number of old manuscripts for his library
and copied the contents of others; most of them are among the
‘Gwyneddon’ manuscripts
in the
University College, Bangor, library
, but some are in the
National Library of Wales
. From time to time he published, in the newspapers and periodicals of the day, extracts from some of these and
English
translations of portions of others — often enough under pseudonyms such as ‘
Pant
’ and ‘
Peris
.’ In addition to helping document-hunters like
Nicholas
Carlisle
and
William
Cathrall
, he also published
The Tourist's Guide to the County of Caernarvon
,
1821
, while shorter articles written by him were published in
Gwyneddion
,
1832
(on the history of
Anglesey
), and in the
Cymmrodorion
Transactions
,
1843
(on the
Welsh
monasteries and abbeys). He
translated
two of
Richard
Baxter
's books into
Welsh
under the titles:
Tragwyddol Orphwysfa'r Saint
,
1825
, and
Galwad i'r Annychweledig
,
1825
. Although there is little originality in his work, he deserves praise for refusing to be led astray by
William Owen
Pughe
's system of orthography and for his discernment in seeing that
Iolo Morganwg
's claims about the ‘
Gorsedd of the Bards
’ were false. He d.
22 Nov. 1836
, and was buried at
Llan-rug
.
Bibliography:
-
Caernarvonshire Historical Society Transactions / Cymdeithas Hanes Sir Gaernarfon, Trafodion
, 1939
ff
, ix,
1948
, 66-81.
Author:
Rev. Griffith Thomas Roberts, M.A., (1887-1977), Tregarth, Bangor /
Talsarnau.
