RICHARD
GWYNNE
(
1822
-
1907
),
schoolmaster
;
b.
Swansea
18 Mar. 1822
. He began his career as a
compositor
but in
1841
trained as a
teacher
at
Grays Inn Road Model School
and
Norwood
. The same year he began to
teach
at
Kilvey (Infants) Copperwork School
. He subsequently became the
headmaster
of the
Kilvey Copperwork Schools
and remained in that post until
1892
. Under his headship the
Junior School
roll increased from under 40 to over 600 and the
Kilvey Schools
were consistently spoken of by the
Inspectors
as the best in the
Swansea
area. He was a keen
student of geology and history
and was for forty years
vice-president
of the
Royal Institution of South Wales
. In
1857
he m.
Charlotte
Lloyd
(
1825
-
1908
), at one time the
school-mistress
of
Kilvey
. They had five sons and a daughter. When his friends applied for a pension for him in
1891
they pointed out that he had spent all his savings educating his sons. He d. at
Langland
,
28 November 1907
, and was buried in
Oystermouth cemetery
.
Bibliography:
-
The Cambrian
,
6 Dec. 1907
,
-
Reports of the commissioners of inquiry into
the state of education in Wales, appointed by the Committee
of council on education, in pursuance of proceedings in the
House of commons, on the motion of Mr. Wiliams, of March
10, 1846, for an address to the Queen, praying Her Majesty
to direct an inquiry to be made into the state of education
in the principality of Wales, and especially into the means
afforded to the labouring classes of acquiring a knowledge
of the English language
, London, 1847
,
1847
;
-
L. Wynne Evans
, ‘Copper-Works Schools in South Wales during the Nineteenth Century’,
-
The National Library of Wales Journal
, XI (
1959-60
), 1-32;
- Grenfell Papers, Swansea University College Library.
Two sons achieved national fame:
Rt. Rev.
LLEWELLYN HENRY
GWYNNE
(
1863
-
1957
),
bishop
,
C.M.G.
1917
;
C.B.E.
1919
;
D.D. Glasgow
1919
;
LL.D. Cambridge
,
1920
; b.
Kilvey
,
11 June 1863
. Educated at
Swansea Grammar School
and
St. John's Hall
,
Highbury
.
Curate
of
St. Chad's
,
Derby
,
1886-89
, and
St. Andrew's
,
Nottingham
,
1889-92
. While at
Derby
he played for
Derby County Football Club
, the only amateur in the team.
Vicar
of
Emmanuel
,
Nottingham
,
1892-99
. In the latter year he went as a
missionary
to the
Sudan
, working for the
C.M.S.
In
1908
he became the
first suffragan Bishop
of
Khartoum
, then part of the diocese of
Jerusalem
. When
World War I
broke out he went to
France
as a
volunteer chaplain
and was appointed
Deputy Chaplain General
there in
August 1915
. He was frequently in the front line. One of his assistants,
Dr.
F.R.
Barry
, later
Bishop of Southwell
, describes him as a saint but adds,
‘Yet in all my life I have never encountered anybody less like a saint in painted windows. A burly man, and a
Welsh
footballer
, he was every inch masculine, a man's man.’
After the war he could have had many preferments but he chose to return to the
Sudan
. When the diocese of
Jerusalem
was divided in
1920
he became the first
Anglican Bishop
of
Egypt
and the
Sudan
. He continued his work there until he was over eighty, finally retiring in
1946
. He was
responsible for the building of the Anglican cathedrals
in
Cairo
and
Khartoum
and ministered to the
8th Army
during
World War II
. He
preached
in
Swansea
in the
1950s
. He d.
3 Dec. 1957
.
Bibliography:
-
The Times
,
4 Dec. 1957
;
-
Who was who?
,
1951-60
;
-
Crockford's Clerical Directory
, 1858
ff
,
1957
;
-
F. R. Barry
,
Period of my Life
, London, 1970
(1970)
.
HOWELL ARTHUR
GWYNNE
(
1865
-
1950
),
journalist
,
C.H.
1938
; b.
Kilvey
,
3 Sept. 1865
. Educated at
Swansea Grammar School
(
Foundation Scholar
) and in
Switzerland
. He was
The Times
'
correspondent
in the
Balkans
in the early
1890s
. From
1893 to 1904
he was a
special correspondent
for
Reuter's Agency
. Whilst in their service he went to
Ashanti
in
1895
,
accompanied
Kitchener
's expedition to
Dongola
in
1896
, reported the
Turko-Greek war
of
1897
and
Kitchener
's expedition to
Berber
of the same year, and was in
Peking
at the beginning of the
Boxer troubles
from
Jan. 1898 to May 1899
. He was responsible for organising
Reuter's services
in
South Africa
during the
Boer way
. Immediately after the war he returned to
South Africa
with
Joseph
Chamberlain
, who became a close friend. In
1904
he was briefly
foreign director
of
Reuter's
before becoming
editor
of the
Standard
from
1904 to 1911
. He was then
editor
of the
Morning Post
until its merger with the
Daily Telegraph
in
1937
. He was vehement in asserting the editorial independence of the
Morning Post
although he took a strong
Tory
line on foreign policy, the army and the empire. His personal friendships with
Chamberlain
,
Kitchener
,
Sir
Edward
Carson
,
Haig
,
Kipling
,
Alfred
Milner
and others gave him a certain behind-the-scenes influence.
The Times
spoke of him as
‘a talented Welshman’ who was ‘a little incongruous amid the sober compromises of the English political scene.’
He published
The Army on Itself
(
1904
), and
The Will and the Bill
(
1923
), the latter a political satire. He m.
Edith Douglas
, daughter of
Thomas Ash
Lane
, in
1907
. There were no children. He d.
26 Jun. 1950
.
Bibliography:
-
The Times
,
27 Jun. 1950
;
-
Who was who?
1941-50
;
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
Supplement
, 1941-50;
-
W. Hindle
,
The Morning Post 1772-1937
, London,
1937
(
1937
);
-
G. Storey
,
Reuter's Century, 1851-1951
, London,
1951
(
1951
) (includes photograph);
- Gwynne MSS, Bodleian Library, Oxford;
- Swansea Grammar School records, Swansea University College Library.
Two other sons also became clergymen:
RICHARD LLOYD
GWYNNE
(
1859
-
1941
)
;
b.
Kilvey
,
Feb. 1859
; educated
Swansea Grammar School
and
London College of Divinity
;
curate
of
Barrow, Cheshire
,
1882-85
,
Winsley, Wilts.
,
1885-86
and
St. John
,
Tunbridge Wells
,
1891-1909
,
rector
of
Little Easton
in the diocese of
Chelmsford
,
1915-37
.
CHARLES BROOKE
GWYNNE
(
1861
-
1944
)
;
b.
Kilvey
,
July 1861
; educated at
Swansea Grammar School
and
Christ College
,
Cambridge
, graduating
B.A.
1884
and
M.A.
1888
. He was
curate
of
Timperley
,
1885-88
and
Christ Church
,
Claughton
,
1888-90
;
vicar
of
Holy Trinity with St. Matthews
,
Birkenhead
,
1891-96
,
Bollington
,
1896-1909
,
Neston
,
1909-20
, and
rector
of
West Kirby
,
1920-32
. He was an
honorary canon
of
Chester
1919-34
and
canon emeritus
thereafter. He was
vicar
of
Wendover Ambo
, near
Saffron Walden
,
1932-33
. He was a
proctor in Convocation
and published
Criticisms on the Consecration Prayer in the New Prayer Book
(
1931
).
Bibliography:
-
Crockford's Clerical Directory
, 1858
ff
,
1941
and
Supplement
1942-44
.
Author:
Dr Muriel E. Chamberlain, Swansea
