Dictionary of Welsh Biography

WILLIAMS, JOHN (Ioan ap Ioan; 1800 - 1871), Baptist minister and author
WILLIAMS, JOHN (Ioan Mai; 1823 - 1887), poet him a friend of men of the calibre of Joseph Loth of the University of Rennes, and E. B. Cowell of Cambridge. He is reputed to have given the latter considerable help with his translations into English of the poems of Dafydd ap Gwilym. Ioan Mai wrote many poems in the free metres, some of them for competition at various eisteddfodau, but although his unfinished essay on 'The characteristics of Welsh
WILLIAMS, JOHN ELLIS CAERWYN (1912 - 1999), Welsh and Celtic scholar Academy in 1978 (gaining the Academy's Derek Allen Prize in 1985); in 1990 he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy. Two Festschriften were presented to him (the latter of the two posthumously): Bardos (ed. R. Geraint Gruffydd, 1982) and Cyfoeth y Testun (ed. I. Daniel et al., 2003). Caerwyn Williams was undoubtedly one of the world's foremost Celtic scholars during the second half of
WILLIAMS, Sir JOHN KYFFIN (1918 - 2006), painter and author gallery. Although his mother would allow no Welsh to be spoken in the home, his parents were both fluent Welsh speakers, and Kyffin himself spoke a good deal of Welsh, being able to recite passages of poetry by Dafydd ap Gwilym, and he used to write to his close friends in Welsh. When Kyffin declared in the 1980s 'I paint in Welsh', this meant that he had overcome his mother's taboo. When signing books
WILLIAMS, MORRIS (Nicander; 1809 - 1874), cleric and man of letters Born at Caernarvon, 20 August 1809, son of William Morris and Sarah his wife (she was a sister of Peter Jones (Pedr Fardd), and had been maidservant to Dewi Wyn - her husband had been a servant to Robert ap Gwilym Ddu. When he was a child, his parents moved to Coed Cae Bach, Llangybi, Caernarfonshire. He had some schooling at Llanystumdwy and was apprenticed to a carpenter; he began to write
WILLIAMS, PETER (Pedr Hir; 1847 - 1922), Baptist minister, author, and eisteddfodwr kind of college education, was, in 1881, invited to become minister to the Baptists of Abergele, where he met Emrys ap Iwan; in 1886 he moved south to Shiloh, Tredegar; in 1897 he became minister of Balliol Road church, Bootle, Lancashire, and there he remained until his death on 24 March, 1922. In person he was immensely tall, broad in proportion, a fine handsome presence; as a preacher he developed
WILLIAMS, ROBERT (Robert ap Gwilym Ddu; 1766 - 1850), poet Aber-erch churchyard, near Pwllheli. As a craftsman in the classical forms of poetry, Robert ap Gwilym Ddu carried on the tradition of the finest poets of the old dispensation, and some of his englynion are pure gems. He learned much from Goronwy Owen, but he was also indebted to the traditions of his own neighbourhood. In his hymns he united the conciseness of the classical form with the lyrical
WILLIAMS, THOMAS OSWALD (ap Gwarnant; 1888 - 1965), Unitarian minister, author, poet and public figure magazine of the Unitarians in Wales, from January 1926 to December 1933 and in 1937, during the illness of his successor, Rev. T.L. Jones. He served on the consultative commiteee of Yr Ymofynnydd until the end of his life. He contributed frequent articles under his own name as well as ' T.O.W. ', ' O ', ' Ap Gwarnant ', ' E.W.O. ', ' Na N. ', ' Gwalch Ogwr ' etc. He wrote a series about denominational
WILLIAMS, Sir TREVOR (c. 1623 - 1692) Llangibby, politician descended from the marriage of Howel Gam ap David (fl. 1300) to a daughter of the Scudamore family. The surname was first adopted by his grandfather, Roger Williams (died 1583), who was sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1562 and was succeeded in the office in 1627 by his son, Sir Charles Williams; the latter, Sir Trevor's father, knighted in 1621, also represented the county in Parliament that year
WILLIAMS, WILLIAM (Ap Caledfryn; 1837 - 1915), portrait painter his friends were Dr. Joseph Parry, T. H. Thomas (Arlunydd Penygarn), and Owen Morgan (Morien). Ap Caledfryn painted landscapes in water-colour, but is better known for his portraits in oils, many of which are to be found in private hands in South Wales. Two portraits of his father are to be found, at Groes-wen, Caerphilly, and the Welsh Folk Museum, St. Fagans. He died at Groes-wen in 1915, and was
WILLIAMS, WILLIAM (Caledfryn; 1801 - 1869), Congregational minister, poet, and critic churches at Peniel (Llannerch-y-medd) and Maenaddwyn on 2 June 1829. He later held pastorates at Pendref (Caernarvon), 1832-48; Aldersgate-street, London, 1848-50; Llanrwst, 1850-56; Beulah near Bangor, 1856-7; and Groes-wen, Glamorganshire from 1857 till his death on 23 March 1869. He was thrice married and had one son, William (Ap Caledfryn), and a daughter, Margaret Mary. Caledfryn was admitted a bard
WILLIAMS, WILLIAM (Myfyr Wyn; 1849 - 1900), blacksmith, poet and local historian blacksmith in the smithy of the Sirhowy iron-works, where he also moved among several local poets, such as Joseph Bevan (Gwentydd), and Ezechiel Davies (Gwentwyson); but his chief teacher in the art of poetry was Evan Powell (Ap Hywel). Towards the middle of his life he moved to Glamorgan, and pursued his trade at Porth, and elsewhere, and finally at Aberdare. His health weakened, and in his latter years

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