This is a list of the

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

s of

Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a , a district and, as Merionethshire, a county. It is currently a committee area within the county Gwynedd. Kingdom (Meirion, with as a Welsh suffix of land, literally 'La ...

. The Archdeacon of Meirionydd is the priest in charge of the archdeaconry of Meirionydd, an administrative division of the Church in Wales

Diocese of Bangor The Diocese of Bangor is a Diocese#Church of England and Anglican Communion, diocese of the Church in Wales in North West Wales. The diocese covers Anglesey, most of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire and the western part of Montgomeryshire. His ...

. The archdeaconry comprises the five deaneries of Ardudwy, Arwystili, Cyfeiliog/Mawddwy, Llyn/Eifionydd and Ystumaner.

Archdeacons of Meirionydd

Medieval period

*(1328)(1331) Tudur ap Adda *1358-1387 Samuel de Wyk *1387 - John Sloley *-1404 John ap Rhys *1404- John Fychan *1405 Gruffydd Young *-1410 (Matthew Peyworden (alias Wotton) *1410- Roger Hungarten *1416- John Estcourt *1436 Richard Gele *1485 Richard Bulkeley

Modern period

*1504 Richard Bromfield *?-1524 William Glyn (afterwards Archdeacon of Anglesey, 1524) *1524-1562 William Roberts *1562-1566 Nicholas Robinson, then held ''

in commendam In canon law, commenda (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastica ...

'' to 1573 (afterwards

Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Diocese of Bangor of the Church in Wales. The Episcopal see, see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Bangor Cathedral, Cathedral Church of Sa ...

, 1566) *1574-1576 Humphrey Robinson *1576-1623

Edmund 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, then Denbighshire but now Conwy, in 1542 or 1543, son of ...

*1623-1657 Robert White *1660–1666 Robert Morgan (afterwards

, 1666) *1666-1668 John Lloyd *1668-1672 William Lloyd (later

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's cathedra, seat is in the Llandaff Cathedral, Cathedral Chu ...

, 1675) *1672-1676 Simon Lloyd *1676-1680 Michael Hughes *1680-1683 Hugh Pugh *1683-1713 Francis Lloyd, *1713-1716 Lancelot Bulkley *1716 Richard Langford *1733 Hugh Wynne *1754 John Ellis *1785 John Roberts *1802-1809 Peter Williams *1809-1834 John Jones *1834-1857 Richard Newcombe *1857-1866 Henry Weir White (deceased) *1866-1891 John Evans (deceased) *1891-1906 Thomas Williams (deceased) *1906-1931 John Lloyd Jones *1931-1940 Thomas Williams *1940-1952 David Jenkins *1952-1953

John Rhys Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor known for portraying Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy and Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise. He has received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, with one win, and ...

(deceased) *1953-1959 Henry Williams *1959-1976

Wallis Thomas Wallis Huw Wallis Thomas (10 March 1906 – 2001) was a Church in Wales priest who, at the time of his death, was the oldest working priest in Britain. He was Archdeacon of Merioneth from 1959 to 1976, but was still thought of as the Archdeac ...

*1976-1983

Thomas Bayley Hughes Thomas Bayley Hughes (1916-1988) was a Welsh Anglican priest. Hughes was educated at the University of Wales and St Michael's College, Llandaff. He was ordained deacon in 1941 and priest in 1942. After curacies at Llanrug and Llanberis he held ...

(afterwards Archdeacon of Bangor) *1983-1986

Elwyn Roberts Elwyn Roberts (1931 – February 2009) was a Welsh Anglican priest. Roberts was educated at Bangor University; Keble College, Oxford; and St Michael's College, Llandaff. He was ordained deacon in 1955 and priest in 1956. After a curacy in ...

(afterwards

Archdeacon of Bangor The Archdeacon of Bangor is the priest in charge of the archdeaconry of Bangor, an administrative division of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. In 1844, the Archdeaconry of Bangor was combined with the Archdeaconry of Anglesey to form the Arc ...

, 1986) *1986-1993 Barry Morgan (afterwards

, 1993) *1993-1999

Saunders Davies Francis James Saunders Davies (30 December 1937 – 30 March 2018) was the Anglican Bishop of Bangor from 2000 until 2004. Early life Davies was educated at the University College of North Wales and Selwyn College, Cambridge. Professiona ...

(afterwards

, 2000) *2000-2002

Carl Cooper Carl Norman Cooper (born 4 August 1960) is a Welsh former Anglican bishop who was the Bishop of St David's from 2002 to 2008. Early life Cooper was born on 4 August 1960 and grew up in Wigan in Lancashire. He first spent time in Wales as an und ...

(afterwards

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in ...

, 2002) *2002-2004

Arfon Williams Arfon Williams (born 1958) is a Welsh Anglican priest. Williams was educated at Aberystwyth University and Wycliffe Hall Oxford. After a curacy in Carmarthen he held Incumbencies in Aberystwyth and . He was Archdeacon of Merioneth This is a ...

*2004-2010

Emyr Rowlands Emyr Wyn Rowlands (b February 1942) is a Church in Wales priest. He was Archdeacon of Merioneth from 2004 to 2010. Jones was educated at St. Michael's College, Llandaff and the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. After a curacy at Holyhead ...

*2010–2023 Andrew Jones (resigned March or 24 February 2023) *1 October 2023present Robert Townsend Robert William Townsend (born 1968) was announced on 4 June 2023 as the next Archdeacon of Meirionnydd, starting from his collation on 1 October 2023. After studying at University College of North Wales (now

Bangor University Bangor University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 ...

), he trained for the ministry at St Michael's College, Llandaff. Townsend was made deacon on 3 July 1993 and ordained priest on 24 June 1995, serving his title posts as

assistant curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

Dolgellau Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...

(until 1994) and then a

Minor Canon A minor canon is a member of staff on the establishment of a cathedral or a collegiate church. In at least one foundation the post may be known as "priest-vicar". Minor canons are clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religi ...

Bangor Cathedral Bangor Cathedral () is the cathedral church of Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Deiniol, Saint Deiniol. The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship ...

(1994–1996). He was then an incumbent in the same diocese until 2003, when he became Diocesan Schools Officer of the Diocese of St Davids and (at the same time)

Priest-in-Charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent; they will normally work on a short-term contract and have less freedom to act within the ...

Llanilar Llanilar () is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales, about southeast of Aberystwyth. It is the eponym of the hundred of Ilar. The population at the 2011 census was 1,085. The community includes Rhos-y-garth. Name In Welsh placenames ...

until 2006; during this time, he was awarded his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA) by

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

in 2004. He returned to Bangor diocese in 2006, holding several parochial and diocesan posts simulataneously since then: including Diocesan Director of Education, Area Dean, Communications Officer since 2012, Canon of

since 2012, and Ministry Area Leader of Bro Seiriol since 2019.

References

Sources

British history online
* :s:Page:Fasti ecclesiae Anglicanae Vol.1 body of work.djvu/158 * :s:Page:Fasti ecclesiae Anglicanae Vol.1 body of work.djvu/159 {{Archdeacons in the Church in Wales

Merioneth Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is an anglicisation of the Welsh placename ''Mei ...