LLOYD, GRIFFITH RICHARD MAETHLU (1902-1995), college principal and minsister (B)

Griffith Richard Maethlu Lloyd was born on 25 January 1902 in Holyhead, the elder son of the Reverend David Lloyd, Baptist minister, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Griffith Williams, Hensiop, Llanfaethlu, Anglesey. He was brought up in his grandfather's home. His brother was named David. Griffith Lloyd was educated in Ffrwd Win Primary School, Llanfaethlu, and as a boarder in Taunton School. At the age of 11, he was baptised by his father in Hebron Baptist Church, Holyhead, on 3 August 1913, his membership being transferred to Soar, Llanfaethlu, on 7 October 1913. It was there, ultimately, under the ministry of John Lewis, that he was raised to the ministry and began preaching.

In 1919, during the pioneering days of the Agricultural Department in Bangor University College, he enrolled as a student and gained a Diploma in Agriculture after two years of study. At the same time he learned the carpenter's craft in his grandfather's workshop in Hensiop.

In 1925 Griffith Lloyd was accepted as a student in the Baptist College and Bangor University College. He graduated with an honours degree in Hebrew in 1929 and for a time assisted in the University College's Hebrew Department, spending a term studying in Leipzig. Between 1930 and 1933 he studied for a B.D. degree gaining a distinction in Hebrew with Greek as his other main subject. From Bangor he went to Oxford where he was awarded a B.Litt. for a thesis examining aspects of the Book of Zechariah. He was one of the Welsh delegates in the Baptist World Congress in Toronto in 1928 and again in Berlin in 1934.

In 1932 he married Fay (Tryphena) Jones, Rhianfa, Amlwch, a fellow student in Bangor. They had two sons, Dafydd and Iwan.

He was ordained in Penuel Rhymney in 1935 and ministered there for twenty years. While there, he conducted extra-mural classes for the University. He was inducted as minister of Penuel Bangor in 1955 and four years later he was appointed by the Baptist College in Bangor as tutor in Greek and New Testament Literature. He also taught Baptist History and Principles. He became Principal of the Baptist College in 1967, retiring in 1971, but he continued to serve the college for ten years after his retirement as chairman of its executive committee.

His work within church and college was always meticulous, and he gained the confidence and respect of his denomination. He served as President of the Arfon Association (1962-63) and in 1985-86 was given a special invitation to serve as President of the Anglesey Association, his home Association, although no longer a member in that Association. In 1973-4 he served as President of the Baptist Union of Wales. He was a strong and uncompromising advocate of traditional Baptist principles throughout his ministry. He had an extensive knowledge of Welsh Baptist life and history, and during ecumenical discussions in the 1960s he argued strongly in favour preserving Baptist identity and order.

His publications are few - mostly addresses and the occasional essay in Seren Gomer - but all testify to a penetrating, analytical mind.

He outlived his wife by two years and died on 6 March, 1995, and he was buried in the graveyard of Pencarneddi chapel in Anglesey.

Author

• D. Hugh Matthews, (1936 - 2020)

Sources

• The Baptist Union of Wales Handbook and Diary, 1996
• Adroddiad Cymanfa Arfon, (1963), pp. 3-10
• Adroddiad Cymanfa Môn (1986), pp. 3-4, 5-10
• Seren Cymru 7 April 1995
• John Rice Rowlands, Y Coleg Gwyn (1992) 39-40, 44

Further Reading

• Undeb Bedyddwyr Cymru: Lloyd – Griffith Richard Maethlu (1902-1995)

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20821426

Published date: 2010-02-15

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