b.
14 Nov. 1750
at
Glanclwyd
(between
Denbigh
and
Bodfari
) where his family had lived for 150 years before that; the son of
Thomas
and
Anne
Williams
. His parents were members of the
Church of England
, and as he himself was intended for holy orders he was first sent to
S. Asaph grammar school
, and afterwards to
Derwen
, to be coached by the
parish priest
. He lost the desire to enter the church, and it was then thought that he might try the law, and so he went to
Caerwys grammar school
, where
Thomas
Jones
, later of
Denbigh
(
1756
-
1820
) (q.v.)
was one of his contemporaries. But he changed his mind once more and returned home. When he was in this state of indecision he heard
Daniel
Rowland
of
Llangeitho
preach, and joined the
Methodists
— years afterwards (
1773
)
Edmund
Jones
noted in his diary that the
Independent minister
of
Trelawnyd
(‘
Newmarket
’) had refused to allow
Edward
Williams
to use his pulpit ‘
because he had been preaching among the
Methodists
.’ However, in
1770
Williams
(with the consent of his parents, who did not approve of
Methodism
) had begun
preaching
to the
Independents
, and in
1771
he went to
Abergavenny Academy
. He was an exceedingly solemn young man, eschewing levity and reading voraciously — so much so that for a time he came under the influence of
William
Llewelyn
(q.v.)
of
Leominster
's unorthodox views; but he returned to the old paths and in
1775
was ordained
minister
at
Ross
. In
1777
he received a call to
Oswestry
. In addition to working as a
minister
he
kept a
school
, and was on the point of converting this into a private Academy when he was invited to amalgamate his school with
Abergavenny Academy
on the departure of
Benjamin
Davies
(q.v.)
for
Homerton
; however, he insisted that the Academy should be transferred to
Oswestry
(
May 1782
). He
started Sunday schools
at
Oswestry
and other near-by places; and when he heard about
Thomas
Charles
's peripatetic schools, raised money from wealthy sympathisers in
England
and started similar schools in a number of counties; furthermore, he
prepared Welsh catechisms
for their use. He resigned from the Academy in
Oct. 1791
, and at the end of the same year accepted a call to
Carr's Lane
,
Birmingham
, where he began his work at the beginning of
1792
. In
1792
, also, he became [a
co-editor
] of the
Evangelical Magazine
, and was given the degree of
D.D.
by
Edinburgh University
. He was one of the founders of the
London Missionary Society
(
1795
). In
1795
he became
principal of the Independent Academy
at
Rotherham (Yorks.)
, where he d.
9 March 1813
. An
English
biography was published by
Joseph
Gilbert
,
1825
.
Throughout his career he drove himself and his students mercilessly. While at
Oswestry
, he published abridged versions of
Mathias
Maurice
's (q.v.)
Social Religion
and
Dr.
John
Owen
's commentary on the
Hebrews
; he later helped to publish the works of
Doddridge
and
Jonathan
Edwards
; moreover, he
published a considerable number of sermons and addresses
, some of which were collected into four volumes (
1862
) by
Evan
Davies
(
1805
-
1864
) (q.v.)
. But his
magnum opus
was
An Essay on the Equity of Divine Government …
1813
; in this he sought to reconcile the sovereignty of God with the freedom and responsibility of man, his argument being that the Atonement was universal. In its day, this was a book of considerable importance, not only in
England
but also in
Wales
. Although
Edward
Williams
's working life was spent almost entirely in
England
, and although his books were written in
English
, he played an important part in the history of his denomination in
Wales
. The
Welsh Nonconformist leaders
of the time, reacting against the
Arminianism
and
Arianism
of the ‘men of
Carmarthen
,’ had veered towards the
higher Calvinism
, as (later on) the
Methodists
of
John
Elias
's time were to do in reaction against
Wesleyanism
. It was
Edward
Williams
who was largely responsible for turning the tide. One of his pupils was
John
Roberts
(
1767
-
1834
) (q.v.)
of
Llanbryn-mair
, father of the ‘new system,’ who influenced men like
Michael
Jones
(q.v.)
to oppose the ‘old system’ represented by
George
Lewis
(q.v.)
. Moreover, as is clear from the biographies of
Evan
Evans
(
Ieuan Glan Geirionydd
, q.v.)
and of
John
Jones
(
1796
-
1857
) (q.v.)
of
Tal-y-sarn
, the study of the
Equity
was not confined to his own denomination. During the 19th cent. three men were responsible for a new theological approach within three denominations in
Wales
: they were
Edward
Williams
of
Rotherham
the
Independent
,
John Philip
Davies
of
Tredegar
(q.v.)
the
Baptist
, and
Lewis
Edwards
(q.v.)
of
Bala
(but later, and in a different way).
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
