Dictionary of Welsh Biography

ARNOLD family Llanthony, Llanvihangel Crucorney, The founder of the fortunes of this old Monmouthshire family, descended from Gwilym ap Meurig but adopting the surname Arnold at an early stage, was Sir NICHOLAS ARNOLD (1507? - 1580), a gentleman pensioner of Henry VIII who, in consequence of his work for Thomas Cromwell at the Dissolution (18 June 1546) acquired Llanthony abbey (living, however, on his Gloucestershire estates), became a rabid
ARTHUR (fl. early 6th century?), one of the leaders of the Britons against their enemies ' Lancelot ' and ' Mort Artu,' Thomas Malory, etc.), Arthur's court, with the Company of the Round Table, became a mirror of the chivalry of the Middle Ages and the starting point of every adventure; and the tales became more and more complicated, particularly by being combined with the tales about the Holy Grail. Finally, from being a hero of the Britons, Arthur became a hero of the British, and the tales
ATKIN, JAMES RICHARD (1867 - 1944), lawyer and judge to obtain briefs connected with the broking firms and Stock Exchange. The success of his commercial law practice reflects the influence during his pupillage of his master Thomas Edward Scrutton; eventually both men were sat together in the Court of Appeal. After more than twenty years practice as a barrister, Atkin became a judge of the King's Bench division of the High Court in 1913 and was
ATKIN, LEON (1902 - 1976), minister of the Social Gospel and a campaigner for the underclass in south Wales , David Llewelyn Mort. He did well, coming third out of six, saving his deposit, and receiving 8% of the vote, more than the Communist and Plaid Cymru candidates together. The result was as follows: Neil McBride (Labour), 18,909; R. Owens (Liberal) 4,895; Reverend Leon Atkin (People's Party), 2,464: Miss A. P. Thomas (Conservative), 2,272; E. Chris Rees (Plaid Cymru), 1,620; Bert Pearce (Communist Party
AUBREY, THOMAS (1808 - 1867), Welsh Wesleyan Methodist minister Born 13 May 1808 at Cefncoedcymer, the eldest child of Thomas and Anne Aubrey. He began to preach before attaining the age of 15, and in 1826 was accepted into the Wesleyan Methodist ministry. He 'travelled' extensively on North Wales circuits, in London, Liverpool, and Merthyr Tydfil between 1826 and 1865, when he became a supernumerary. From 1854 to 1865 he was chairman of the North Wales
AUBREY, WILLIAM (c. 1529 - 1595), civil lawyer Son of Thomas Aubrey and scion of an old Brecknock family, was born at Cantref, Brecknock. He is said to have been educated at Christ College, Brecon, whence he proceeded to read law at Oxford, taking his B.C.L. in 1549, his doctorate in 1554, becoming Fellow of All Souls and Jesus and principal of New Inn Hall. He was appointed by queen Mary to a readership in Civil Law, but Strype's conjecture
BACON family, iron-masters and colliery proprietors parish of Workington; he also held, in partnership, a vast estate in the province of Virginia, in the American Colonies. He was considered to be one of the wealthiest men in Britain at that time. Bacon had married Elizabeth Richardson, but their only son had died in 1770, aged 12. He had, however, five natural children by Mary Bushby, of Gloucestershire, all of them minors in 1786 - Anthony, Thomas
BADDY, THOMAS (d. 1729), Independent minister and author
BAKER, ELIZABETH (c. 1720 - 1789), diarist from the diary, together with details of her struggle on her own behalf and on behalf of the Hengwrt house and estate, were printed (ed. B. B. Thomas) in N.L.W. Jnl., iii, 81-101; they throw much interesting light on local history and persons both in the Dolgelley district and elsewhere. She was buried in Dolgelley churchyard on 26 November 1789, probably in a pauper's grave.
BAKER, WILLIAM STANLEY (1928 - 1976), actor and producer was not credited on that occasion. For Welsh television audiences, Baker was a relatively infrequent presence until the last decade of his life. In 1965, he joined his friends the novelist Gwyn Thomas (1913-1981) and the actor Donald Houston (1923-1991) in Television Wales and the West's landmark documentary Return to the Rhondda. Baker reflected sensitively on his determination to escape the mines
BALLINGER, Sir JOHN (1860 - 1933), first librarian of the National Library of Wales assistance and advice there of such people as James Ifano Jones and Professor Thomas Powel. With the help of Ifano he arranged for publication in 1898 a catalogue of the Welsh and Celtic portions of the contents of the Cardiff Public Library; evidence of Ifano's assistance is also seen in what Ballinger published on Vicar Prichard of Llandovery (1899), the Trevecka printing press (1905), and The Bible in
BARKER family, artists BENJAMIN BARKER (died 1774?), foreman and enamel painter at the japan works, Pontypool, expert at painting sporting and animal figures Art and Architecture According to the Trevethin church register (quoted by Sir Joseph A. Bradney), he was paid six guineas in 1774 for painting a royal coat of arms. A sporting scene painted by him on japanware is in the N.M.W. His sons, Thomas Barker, R.A., and

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