WILLIAMS, RICHARD HUGHES (Dic Tryfan; 1878? - 1919), journalist and short story writer

Born at Rhosgadfan, Caernarfonshire, c. 1878. The son of a quarryman, he, too, worked in the quarry as a boy, later becoming a pupil at J. Lewis Jones's private school at Caernarvon. On leaving school he became a clerk in the office of Y Genedl, and later followed various occupations, including journalistic work in England, returning to Caernarvon about the beginning of the century as sub-editor on the staff of the Herald series of newspapers. In 1913 he was appointed editor of the Aberystwyth Observer; he left Aberystwyth to edit a local paper at Llanelly in 1915. During some part of the war years he worked in a Burry Port factory. His health deteriorated and he returned to Aberystwyth where, for a short time, he worked for the Cambrian News. But there was no permanent improvement in his health and he died at the Tregaron hospital 26 July 1919. He was a pioneer of the short story in Welsh and a serious student of the art of short story writing generally. In his lifetime two volumes of his stories were published - Straeon y Chwarel (not dated), and Tair Stori Fer, 1916. In 1932 a selection of his stories, Storïau gan Richard Hughes Williams, was published by Hughes and Son, Wrexham. All his best stories deal with the life and work of the Caernarvonshire quarrymen.

Author

• Edward Morgan Humphreys, (1882 - 1955)

Sources

• T. Gwynn Jones, article in Cymeriadau (Wrecsam 1933)
• introduction to Storïau gan Richard Hughes Williams (Wrecsam 1932)
• The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard1 August 1919

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Richard Hughes Williams

Additional Links

• VIAF: 58888671
• Wikidata: Q3398381

Published date: 1959

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