JONES, THOMAS (Glan Alun; 1811 - 1866), Calvinistic Methodist minister and man of letters
Pseudonym: Glan Alun
Date of birth: 1811
Date of death: 1866
Child: Annie Alun Jones (née Jones)
Child: Sidney Margaret Roberts (née Jones)
Child: John Thomas Alun Jones
Parent: John Jones
Gender: Male
Occupation: Calvinistic Methodist minister and man of letters
Area of activity: Literature and Writing; Religion
Author: Robert Thomas Jenkins
Born 11 March 1811 at 'Cefn-y-gadair shop,' Mold, son of John Jones, formerly of Cefn-y-gadair in Llanelidan, and before that of Hendre, Derwen, Denbighshire, who was son of JOSEPH JONES, of Y Seinad near Ruthin. ' Joseff y Seinad,' an Antinomian, was one of the sectaries who found a following after the Methodist disruption of 1750 - see on him J. H. Morris, Hanes Methodistiaeth Liverpool, i, 226, and The Moravian Brethren in North Wales Y Cymmrodor, 1938, 68-9, and references there.
He had good schooling, and even as a boy was of a literary turn. As an apothecary's apprentice at Chester, he wrote on Welsh orthography in Goleuad Cymru; after a period in London, he opened a shop at Wrexham, where, 1835-6, he brought out a short-lived periodical, Y Wenynen, written mostly by himself. He began preaching with the C.M. His father died in 1841, and he removed to Mold, where he married in 1843 and was ordained in 1850. He was a bad manager; his affairs became involved; he fell a prey to intemperance and was excommunicated by his connexion. His wife died in 1856, leaving him with six small children, and things became worse still; but after trying his hand at various employments (such as candle-making) he eventually 'made good' as a commercial traveller; he resumed preaching and public speaking, and was a zealous eisteddfodwr. He married again in 1865; he died 29 March 1866. In addition to numerous articles in Y Drysorfa and other periodicals, he published Fy Chwaer, 1844, Ehediadau Byrion, 1862, and two volumes of Welsh versions of Aesop's Fables. As a poet, he kept to the free metres. His sermons, political speeches, and verse, flowed without effort. Daniel Owen in Y Geninen, 1886, describes him as hasty and busy, dabbling in everything, but kindly and simple; Ceiriog commemorated him in Y Drysorfa, 1868; and Gwalchmai in Y Dysgedydd, 1879. It may be remarked that few have won tributes from three such men of letters as these.
One of his daughters married the missionary John Roberts (1842 - 1908), and another married John Puleston Jones. A son, JOHN THOMAS ALUN JONES, born 23 August 1851, died 1 May 1929, became a C.M. minister and was for many years librarian and registrar of the C.M. College at Bala. A reclusive man, of fastidious literary tastes, he was deeply read in the older Puritans and in the mystics, and wrote well concerning them in periodicals. In 1908 he published a small book, Duwinyddiaeth Emynau.
Author
- Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, (1881 - 1969)
- Y Gwyddoniadur Cymreig (1889-96)
- Information from the family
- Personal acquaintance
Sources
- NLW: John Thomas Alun Jones
- Brown, Barnes & Bell, Parch. Alun Jones Llyfrgellydd Coleg y Bala
- Edward Williams, John Thomas Alun Jones
- Vandyke & Brown, William David Jones
Images
- Thomas Jones, Esther (Treffynnon 1864)
- Thomas Jones, Pregethwr y bobl, neu, Fyfyrdodau a achlysurwyd gan farwolaeth y Parch. John Jones, Tal-y-sarn (Wyddgrug 1858)
Works
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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