William Morgan (1545 – 10 September 1604) was a Welsh

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of ...

and of

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

, and the translator of the first version of the whole Bible into

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Life

Morgan was born in 1545 at

Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant is a house located in the Wybrnant Valley, in the community of Bro Machno, near Betws-y-Coed in Conwy County Borough, North Wales. It was the birthplace of Bishop William Morgan, first translator of the whole Bible into Wel ...

, in the parish of

Penmachno Penmachno is a village in the isolated upland Machno valley, south of Betws-y-Coed in the county of Conwy, North Wales. The B4406 road runs through part of the village. The village is at the confluence of the Glasgwm and Machno rivers. It has ...

, near

Betws-y-Coed Betws-y-coed (; '' en, prayer house in the wood'') is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located in the historic county of Caernarfonshire, right on the boundary with Denbighshire, in the Gwydir Forest. ...

, North Wales (there is some doubt about the exact year of his birth, his memorial in Cambridge, for example, gives 1541). As his father was a tenant of the Gwydir estate, he was probably educated at

Gwydir Castle Gwydir Castle is situated in the Conwy valley, Wales, a mile to the west of the ancient market town of Llanrwst and to the south of the large village of Trefriw. An example of a fortified manor house dating back to c1500, it is located on t ...

, near

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

, along with the children of the Wynn family. Morgan then attended

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, where he studied a range of subjects including

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

. He graduated BA in 1568 and MA in 1571, before seven years of Biblical studies, including a study of the Bible in Greek,

and

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

and the works of the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

and contemporary Protestant theologians. He graduated BD in 1578 and DD in 1583. At Cambridge he was a contemporary of the Welsh poet

Edmwnd Prys Edmund (Edmwnd) Prys (1542/3 – 1623) was a Welsh clergyman and poet, best known for Welsh metrical translations of the Psalms in his ''Salmau Cân''. Life Prys was born in Llanrwst, Denbighshire 1542 or 1543, son of Siôn ap Rhys ap Gru ...

, who later assisted Morgan with his translation of the Bible. In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Morgan was a

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

, having been ordained in 1568 by the

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nor ...

. His first clerical

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

was the parish of Llanbadarn Fawr, which he gained in 1572; in 1575 he moved to

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

, and then became vicar of

Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant () is a village, community and an ecclesiastical parish in the extreme north of Powys, Wales; about 9 miles west of Oswestry and 12 miles south of Llangollen, on the B4580. It lies near the foothills of the Berwyn mountains ...

in 1578, where he made his Bible translation. In 1579 he became rector of

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means ''church or ...

, which he held concurrently with being vicar of nearby Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant. Morgan was still at Cambridge when

William Salesbury William Salesbury also Salusbury (c. 1520 – c. 1584) was the leading Welsh scholar of the Renaissance and the principal translator of the 1567 Welsh New Testament. Early life Salesbury was born some time before 1520 (possibly as early as 1 ...

published his Welsh

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

in 1567. While he was pleased that this work was available, Morgan firmly believed in the importance of having the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

translated into Welsh as well. He began work on his own translation of the Old Testament in the early 1580s and published this, together with a revision of Salesbury's New Testament, in 1588. Following the publication of his Bible, Morgan worked on a revision of the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

(which had also been translated by Salesbury), published in 1599. He also began work on a revision of the 1588 Bible, which contained a number of printing errors. This work was continued after Morgan's death by bishop Richard Parry and scholar John Davies, and a revised version of the Bible was published in 1620. This edition is still known as William Morgan's translation, and it is this rather than the previous edition which became the standard Welsh Bible until the 20th century and continues to be used to this day. His achievement is now looked on as a major monument in the history of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it h ...

; it meant that the Welsh people could read the Bible in their first language at roughly the same time as their English neighbours had the privilege. William Morgan was appointed Bishop of

Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...

in 1595 and was translated to the bishopric of

in 1601. He died on 10 September 1604.

Family

He married twice, first to Ellen Salesbury, before going to Cambridge, and later to Catherine, daughter of George ap Richard ap John. He had one son, Evan, who became vicar of his father's old parish of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant.

Memorials and commemorations

Morgan's birthplace

is preserved by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

as a historic house museum. A slate plaque close to the gates of the parish church of St Dogfan in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant commemorates Morgan. It was while at this church that he made his historic translations. There is a memorial in St John's College Chapel, Cambridge, where Morgan was a student. In 2019 it was announced that the new office building for the UK Government in

Central Square, Cardiff Central Square ( cy, Sgwâr Canolog) is a large public space in Cardiff, Wales, adjacent to Cardiff Central railway station and included Cardiff Central bus station between 1954 and 2015. It was redeveloped and extended in the late 2010s and ea ...

, was to be named ' Tŷ William Morgan - William Morgan House', in Morgan's honour. File:Translator's Memorial, St Asaph - geograph.org.uk - 609062.jpg, Translators' Memorial, St Asaph File:William Morgan Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 976547.jpg, St Dogfan, Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant File:Memorial, St John's College chapel - geograph.org.uk - 630609.jpg, St John's College Chapel, Cambridge File:Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant.jpg,

, Morgan's birthplace File:HMRC Central Square.jpg, William Morgan House,

Notes

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * William Morgan Bible on-line * Images of the entire 1588 Bible * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, William 1545 births 1604 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Bishops of Llandaff Bishops of St Asaph Doctors of Divinity Translators of the Bible into Welsh Welsh translators 16th-century Welsh writers 16th-century male writers People from Penmachno Bro Machno 16th-century Welsh Anglican bishops 17th-century Welsh Anglican bishops Anglican biblical scholars British biblical scholars 16th-century Anglican theologians 17th-century Anglican theologians