HUGHES, JOSEPH (Carn Ingli; 1803 - 1863), cleric and eisteddfodic poet

Born on Palm Sunday 1803 at Parcau, Newport, Pembrokeshire, son of David and Hannah Hughes. He was educated at the Carmarthen, Cardigan, and Ystrad Meurig (1824) grammar schools and at S. David's College, Lampeter (1827). He was ordained deacon by the bishop of S. Davids, 1828, and priest, 1829. The only curacy he held in Wales was that of Llanfihangel Penbedw, Pembrokeshire. He was then appointed first incumbent of the new church at Lockwood, Almondbury, Yorkshire, where on 30 August 1837 he married Catherine Laycock of Armitage Bridge. He went to Liverpool as curate but, to the disappointment of the Welsh residents of the city, left at the end of a year. He turned his face once more to Yorkshire and accepted the perpetual curacy of Meltham, where he stayed until his death, 8 November 1863; he lies buried in S. Bartholomew's churchyard, Meltham, with his wife and his only child, Jane Gwenhwyfar. He was known in Wales as Carn Ingli. He used to return to Wales nearly every year for the national eisteddfod. He conducted it on many occasions, and was always in great demand during the period of the 'clerical' eisteddfodau; he and Ab Ithel were the chief promoters of the remarkable eisteddfod held at Llangollen in 1858. Contemporary periodicals are dotted with his englynion and he was outstanding as a translator into Welsh; he translated, e.g. bishop Heber's well-known missionary hymn and portions of Young's Night Thoughts. His History of Meltham is regarded as a standard work. He was an Evangelical. When the 'Association of the Welsh Clergy in the West Riding' was incorporated in Yorkshire to study the needs of Wales, Carn Ingli was appointed its secretary and official bard. He used to send its transactions to the Welsh newspapers and periodicals and it was chiefly through that Association that he served the Wales of his time.

Author

• Reverend Daniel Williams, (1878 - 1968)

Sources

• Reports of the Proceedings of the Association of Welsh Clergy in the West Riding of the County of York (1853?–6) (1852-6)
• C. A. Hulbert, Annals of the Church and Parish of Almondbury, Yorkshire (London 1882-85)
• Meltham Parish Magazine (1770), 1941, 1946
• Yr Haul, 1864 (335-9, 357-63), 1886, (230-3)

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20733718

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/