JONES, WILLIAM ELLIS (Cawrdaf; 1795 - 1848), poet and man of letters
Pseudonym: Cawrdaf
Date of birth: 1795
Date of death: 1848
Parent: Ellis Jones
Gender: Male
Occupation: poet and man of letters
Area of activity: Literature and Writing; Poetry
Author: Thomas Parry
Born 9 October 1795, at Tyddyn Siôn, Abererch, Caernarfonshire. Having received his education at a local school and from his father, Ellis Jones, who was himself a schoolmaster, he was in 1808 apprenticed as a printer with his cousin, Richard Jones (1787 - 1855). On completing his apprenticeship he was engaged by another cousin of his, Lewis Evan Jones, at Caernarvon. There he came to know Dafydd Ddu Eryri and became a member of ' Cymdeithas yr Eryron,' which used to meet at Bontnewydd.
In 1817 he went to London and [is said to have] joined the Gwyneddigion Society, [though Leathart does not record this]. His ability as an artist led to his accompanying a gentleman, whose identity has not been established, on a journey to the Continent, and the years 1817-19 were spent travelling in France and Italy. On his return he worked for a period as an artist at Bristol and at Bath, and then went back to Richard Jones's printing office at Dolgelley. He was employed by Josiah T. Jones at Merthyr Tydfil, and accompanied him when he moved to Cowbridge and later to Carmarthen.
As a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church he occasionally took preaching engagements; [at Carmarthen he was one of the leaders of the 'Little Wesley' schism]. He was enrolled as a member of several Cymreigyddion societies and wrote awdlau for eisteddfodic competitions on such subjects as 'A Welshman's longing for his country,' 1820; 'The regency of George IV,' 1824; 'The Druids of the Isle of Britain,' 1834; 'Job,' 1840. His prose work, The Bard, or the Welsh Hermit, 1830, an account of imaginary journeys to various parts of the world, written in a highly didactic vein, has often been described as the first Welsh novel, but has none of the attributes of a novel.
He died 27 March 1848.
Author
- Sir Thomas Parry, (1904 - 1985)
- William Ellis Jones, Gweithoedd Cawrdaf sef, y diweddar W. E. Jones: yn cynnwys 'Gwyddfa y bardd' a'r 'Meudwy Cymreig' (Caernarfon 1851)
- A History of Carmarthenshire, ii, 215
- A. H. Williams, Welsh Wesleyan Methodism, 1800-1858 its origins, growth and secessions (1935), 237, 322
Sources
- William Ellis Jones, Y bardd, neu, Y meudwy Cymreig: yn cynnwys teithiau difyr ac addysgiadol y bardd gyda rhagluniaeth (Caerfyrddin 1830)
Works
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.