HUGHES, JOHN (1787 - 1860), archdeacon, Evangelical cleric, and writer

Born at Llwyn-glas, Llanfihangel Geneu'r Glyn, Cardiganshire. He was educated at Ystrad Meurig in the days of John Williams (son of John Williams, 1745/6 - 1818). After that he was, for eighteen months, an assistant master at a school at Putney. In 1811 he was ordained deacon and priest by the bishop of St Asaph. His first curacy was at Llandrillo-yn-Rhos, Colwyn, Denbighshire, where he remained for six years, attracting large congregations from the surrounding countryside. In 1817 he was appointed curate of Foleshill, near Coventry. In 1822 (on the death of the incumbent) the parishioners appealed to the patron (lord Eldon) to appoint him to the living; the request was, however, rejected owing to the Evangelical views held by the popular curate. He was then given the curacy of Deddington, near Oxford. There, the students at the university, among them John Henry Newman, flocked to hear him. Returning to Wales, he became incumbent of Aberystwyth and, at the same time, curate of Llanbadarn-fawr, of which latter place he became vicar in 1833. His first task at Aberystwyth was to build the church of S. Michael's. Before that, however, he had been invited to succeed the popular evangelist William Howels at Long Acre, London, but elected to stay on in Wales. The bishop of S. Davids appointed him to a prebendal stall at Christ College, Brecon, and in 1859 Connop Thirlwall made him archdeacon of Cardigan, both of which appointments he held until his death, 1 November 1860. He was a steadfast supporter of the Bible Society and toured the villages of England (to start with) and Wales to plead for it both from the pulpit and the platform. He published books of sermons both in Welsh and English, and his Nabl, a collection of Welsh hymns and psalms, was very popular. He translated the commentaries of Henry and Scott as far as the end of Deuteronomy, as well as bishop Hall's Meditations on the New Testament (Myfyrdodau yr Esgob Hall ary Testament Newydd). Among his most important books in English are: Esther and her People, 1832; Ruth and her kindred, 1839; and The Self Searcher, 1848. In addition, he was regarded as one of the great preachers of his time. A grandson of his, Henry Harold Hughes, is separately noticed.

Author

• Reverend Daniel Williams, (1878 - 1968)

Sources

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Geirlyfr Bywgraffiadol o Enwogion Cymru (1870)
• Williams, Enwogion Ceredigion (1869)
• biography written by his son, 1864

Images

• NLW: The Venble John Hughes, Archdeacon of Cardigan
• J. C. Rowland, The Rev. J. Hughes

Additional Links

• VIAF: 316879372
• Wikidata: Q18671851

Published date: 1959

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