William Glyn Hughes Simon (14 April 1903 – 14 June 1972) was a Welsh prelate who served as the Anglican
Archbishop of Wales
The post of Archbishop of Wales () was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came ...
from 1968 to 1971.
Early life
Simon was born in
Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
, where his father was curate at St Gabriel's church. He was baptised by
David Lewis Prosser, later to become the third
Archbishop of Wales
The post of Archbishop of Wales () was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came ...
.
Educated from 1913 at
Christ College, Brecon
Christ College, Brecon, is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school, located in the cathedral and market town of Brecon in mid-Wales. It currently caters for pupils aged 4–18 years.
History
Christ College was founded by Roya ...
, Simon went to
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...
in 1922 where he studied
Greats. He trained for the priesthood at
St Stephen's House, Oxford, and was ordained deacon at
Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...
in 1928, being appointed to the parish of St Paul's
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...
.
Career
In 1931 Simon became warden of the Church Hostel at
Bangor; the poet
R. S. Thomas was a resident student there in 1932, and touchingly, would go on addressing Simon as "Dear Warden" in letters to him even when he was Archbishop. In 1939 he was appointed warden of
St Michael's College, Llandaff, and in 1941 he married, which some colleagues felt improved his interpersonal skills.
In 1948 he became
Dean of Llandaff, a position which carries with it the role of vicar of (the parish of)
Llandaff
Llandaff (; ; 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 the Bisho ...
, since
Llandaff Cathedral doubles as a parish church. As Dean, Simon was largely responsible for the reconstruction of the war-damaged nave of the cathedral, commissioning
Epstein's ''Majestas'' or statue of
Christ in Majesty. With Archbishop John Morgan he strongly but unsuccessfully opposed the building of a technical college marring the view of the cathedral.
Becoming
Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in 1953, Simon developed a sympathy for the Welsh language and for the architecture of the Welsh countryside. Translated to
Llandaff
Llandaff (; ; 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 the Bisho ...
in 1957, he represented a moderate form of
Anglo-Catholicism
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...
, notably on one occasion refusing to join in an ovation for a priest who had done a great deal to foster devotion in the Church in Wales to the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
.
As well as overseeing the development of a number of new churches, he also created an industrial chaplaincy at the Port Talbot steelworks.
Elected
Archbishop of Wales
The post of Archbishop of Wales () was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came ...
in 1968, he held the post only until 1971, when he retired, suffering from
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
. He resigned as Archbishop in June of that year, while remaining in post as Bishop of Llandaff until August thus permitting his participation in the election of the new archbishop - but as the illness made certain tasks, such as handwriting, difficult, he decided to retire altogether.
Criticism
Simon's public interventions include his vigorous stance at the time of the
Aberfan disaster
The Aberfan disaster () was the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip on 21 October 1966. The tip had been created on a mountain slope above the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, and overlaid a natural spring. Heavy rai ...
(1966). His interview with the BBC reporter Vincent Kane was notable
as was his visit to the imprisoned language campaigner
Dafydd Iwan
Dafydd Iwan Jones (born 24 August 1943) is a Welsh people, Welsh singer and Welsh nationalism, nationalist politician who rose to fame writing and performing folk music in the Welsh language. From 2003 to 2010, Iwan was the president of Plaid ...
(1970). Another television debate engaged Simon in
eirenic debate with Sir
Bernard Lovell of the
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Jodrell Bank Observatory ( ) in Cheshire, England hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio as ...
. Key issues which engaged his attention included
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
(there was a notable altercation with the Glamorgan captain
Wilf Wooller over a visiting South African cricket team) and nuclear disarmament.
Simon's remarks concerning the way bishops were elected in the Church in Wales earned him criticism from Carl Witton-Davies and a satire in the ''Western Mail'' in 1961 by the writer and broadcaster Aneurin Talfan Davies. Relations became tense with the then archbishop, the English-born
Edwin Morris, whose suitability to fill the Archbishopric Simon had questioned on the grounds that Morris was a monoglot English speaker and could not communicate in Welsh.
At an earlier date Simon had criticised the ceremonial attached to the
Gorsedd of Bards
Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...
, remarking that the robes of the Archdruid seemed to be approximating those worn by the Archbishop.
Pastorally Simon had excellent communication skills with children but was somewhat less at ease with adolescents. His forthright expression commended itself however to university students and gained him considerable popularity (see Rowan Williams in "Sources").
Personal life
Simon accepted several public positions, for periods holding the post of President of the
Ecclesiological Society and that of the
Cambrian Archaeological Association
The Cambrian Archaeological Association () was founded in 1846 to examine, preserve and illustrate the ancient monuments and remains of the history, language, manners, customs, arts and industries of Wales and the Welsh Marches and to educate t ...
. Simon married Sheila Roberts, a native Welsh speaker, in 1941. They had four children, one of whom died young. One of his sons is the art historian and critic
Robin Simon
Robert "Robin" Simon (born 12 July 1956) is a British guitarist who was a member of Ultravox, Magazine and Visage.
Biography Early career
Simon began playing guitar in a Halifax-based band, Kandahar, in the early to mid-1970s. He also met an ...
. Sheila died in 1963. Simon remarried in 1970 and retired to
Goathurst, Somerset. He died in hospital at
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
in 1972 aged 69.
Works
*The Origins of the Church in Wales, and her History up to the Reformation (Welsh Church Congress),1953.
*''Torch Commentary'' I Corinthians, 1959.
*Then and Now (primary visitation),1961.
*The Landmark,1962.
*Feeding the Flock, 1964.
* A Time of Change (second visitation),1966.
*transl. of J. Danielou, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church, 1961.
*ed. Bishops, 1961
References
Sources
*Williams, Rowan, "Simon, (William) Glyn Hughes", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press), 2004–2012
*
O. W. Jones, ''Glyn Simon: His Life and Opinions'' (Gomer Press, 1981) ISBN 978-0850886948
*P. Ferris, ''The Church of England'' (Penguin, 1964)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Glyn
Archbishops of Wales
Bishops of Swansea and Brecon
Bishops of Llandaff
Clergy from Swansea
1903 births
1972 deaths
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Holders of a Lambeth degree
People educated at Christ College, Brecon
Deans of Llandaff
Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford
20th-century Anglican archbishops
Anglican pacifists
Welsh-speaking clergy
Welsh Anglo-Catholics
Anglo-Catholic bishops
Wardens of St Michael's College, Llandaff
20th-century bishops of the Church in Wales
20th-century Anglican theologians