GRIFFITH(S), DAVID (1726 - 1816), cleric and schoolmaster
Date of birth: 1726
Date of death: 1816
Parent: Gwenllian Griffith
Parent: Roger Griffith
Gender: Male
Occupation: cleric and schoolmaster
Area of activity: Education; Religion
Author: Evan David Jones
As master of the grammar-school attached to Christ College, Brecon, he taught a group of distinguished men: Thomas Coke, Edward Davies ('Celtic Davies'), John Jones of Llandovery (the Greek lexicographer), Theophilus Jones, David Price (the Orientalist), and John Hughes of Brecon, who are all noticed in the present work. He was the son of Roger and Gwenllian Griffiths of the parish of S. Davids, Llanfaes, Brecknockshire, christened there 5 June 1726. His name does not appear in the records of either university but inscriptions printed (badly) in Theophilus Jones's History of the County of Brecknock, ed. 3, show him to have been a good Latinist. He was ordained deacon with title to the curacy of Bryngwyn, Radnorshire, 13 August 1749, and priest 26 August 1750, when he was licensed to the curacy of Glascwm. Sometime before 1757 he married Frances (born 1731), daughter of Hugh Morgan of Betws Diserth (H.S. Rads., 1724). She was buried at S. John the Evangelist, Brecon, 12 March 1792 (Griffith had been assistant curate there for some years before 1758). In that year, 10 March, he became vicar of Merthyr Cynog, and 14 August master of Brecon grammar-school. He held the vicariate till his death, and the schoolmastership till 23 October 1801, when George Albert Barker succeeded him. He held other incumbencies - the joint curacy of Llandeilo'r Fan and Llanfihangel Nant Bran (1759-1816), the perpetual curacy of Dyffryn Honddu (1765-96), the prebend of Llandegley in the collegiate church of Christ, Brecon (1776-95), and the rectory of Llanbadarn-fawr, Radnorshire (1804-5). These country parishes were served by curates, for he lived for the greater part of his life in Brecon. He was buried from High Street, Inferior Ward, at S. John's, Brecon, 14 September 1816. He discontinued the use of 's' in his surname in 1759.
Author
- Evan David Jones, (1903 - 1987)
- Theophilus Jones, Edwin Davies, Joseph Russell Bailey, History of the County of Brecknock (1909-1930), ii
- N.L.W. The Records of the Church in Wales at the National Library of Wales
- S. David's Episcopal Acts, subscription books, ordination papers, registers of Llanfaes and S. John Evangelist, Brecon
Sources
- Wikidata: Q20733083
Additional Links
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
The Dictionary of Welsh Biography is provided by The National Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. It is free to use and does not receive grant support. A donation would help us maintain and improve the site so that we can continue to acknowledge Welsh men and women who have made notable contributions to life in Wales and beyond.
Find out more on our sponsorship page.