John Williams was a Welsh-born goldsmith based in London who worked for the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

Hafod Lwyfog Farmhouse and Llyn Gwynant from below Bwlch y Rhediad col - geograph

Background

He was a son of William Coetmor, and is associated with the property Hafod Lwyfog in

Nant Gwynant Nant Gwynant (also spelt Nantgwynant) is a valley in northern Wales. The A498 road descends into the valley in about two miles (3 km) from Pen-y-Gwryd; it follows the Nant Cynnyd, the Afon Glaslyn and alongside Llyn Gwynant, then beside ...

near

Beddgelert Beddgelert () is a village and community (Wales), community in the Snowdonia area of Gwynedd, Wales. The population of the community taken at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census was 460 (rounded to the nearest 10). This includes Nan ...

. In 1610 he donated a silver chalice and paten-cover to the church in Beddgelert. Williams is said to have founded a chapel at Nanwhynen.

Career

Williams was an apprentice of the London goldsmith and Mayor Richard Martin in 1584. Martin supplied silver plate to

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

. By November 1598, he was working at the Sign of the Cross Keys in Cheapside. Williams worked for

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

and Prince Henry. He provided silver gilt plate, cups and dishes, gold chains, and medallions with the king's portrait, many of which were given to ambassadors visiting London. Recipients of plate and medals bought from Williams between 1603 and 1606 include the Venetian diplomats

Nicolò Molin Nicolò Molin (1562-1608) was a Venetian noble and ambassador to England. The main residence of the Molin family in Venice was the Palazzo Molin del Cuoridoro. He commissioned the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi to build the Villa Molin near Padua ...

and Scaramelli, and other diplomats including Andrew Sinclair, Christian Barnekow, Steen Brahe,

Peder Munk Peder Munk of Estvadgård (1534–1623), was a Danish navigator, politician, and ambassador, who was in charge of the fleet carrying Anne of Denmark to Scotland. The events of the voyage led to witch trials and executions in Denmark and Scotland ...

, and

Henrik Ramel Henrik Ramel or Ramelius (–1610) was a Danish politician, ambassador, and member of the council of regents. Career He was the son of a Pomeranian nobleman Gert Ramel and Margrethe Massow. After study in Padua in 1568, and travel in Europe and As ...

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

gave

John Florio Giovanni Florio (1552 or 1553 – 1625), known as John Florio, was an English linguist, poet, writer, translator, lexicographer, and royal language tutor at the Court of James I. He is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in ...

a cup of his making at his grandchild's christening. Williams supplied the gilt plate given by King James to Adam Newton, the tutor of Prince Henry, in June 1605 when he married Katherine Puckering. Williams provided Anne of Denmark with a "fountain of silver gilt, well chased, containing one basin with two tops, one of them being three satyres or wild men, the other a woman with a sail or flag". The fountain had three taps or cocks decorated with mermaids. It was used at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...

. The

wild men The wild man, wild man of the woods, woodwose or wodewose is a mythical figure and motif that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to '' Silvanus'', the Roman god of ...

were heraldic supporters of the Danish royal arms. In September 1609, the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626), of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard ...

, asked him to provide £2000 worth of plate to the Count Vaudemont.

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton ( – ) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era, continuing to write through the reign of James I and into the reign of Charles I. Many of his works consisted of historical poetry. He was also the fir ...

mentioned his friend John Williams in a preface to ''

Poly-Olbion The ''Poly-Olbion'' is a topographical poem describing England and Wales. Written by Michael Drayton (1563–1631) and published in 1612, it was reprinted with a second part in 1622. Drayton had been working on the project since at least 1598 ...

'' (London, 1612), addressed "to my Friends the Cambro-Britans". In 1614 he made gilt plate given to

Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 1596 – 13 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. The couple's selection for the crown by the nobles of Bohemia was part of the p ...

at the baptism of her son Henry Frederick. He also made plate given to Jean Drummond on her marriage to Lord Roxburghe, to John Murray of the bedchamber, and

Audrey Walsingham Lady Audrey Walsingham (; 1568–1624) was an English courtier. She served as Lady of the Bedchamber to queen Elizabeth I of England, and then as Mistress of the Robes to Anne of Denmark from 1603 until 1619. Family connections Sometimes called ...

. In September 1615, the

Earl of Somerset Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

sent plate to Williams to be exchanged and remade in expectation of the christening of his daughter

Anne Carr Sister Anne Carr (11 November 1934 – 11 February 2008) was a Catholic nun, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an activist, and feminist theologian at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where she was the first female permane ...

. Somerset sent two Nuremberg basins and ewers as a pattern. He loaned £5000 to King James in 1621 on the security of ten jewels from the royal collection.

Family

Sources disagree about his family of children and grandchildren. A son, also John Williams (d. 1637) was a London goldsmith, who later settled at

Minster Court Minster Court is a Grade II* listed group of buildings lying off Minster Yard, in the city centre of York in England. History The complex consists of four houses, on three sides of a courtyard: No. 1 in the north-west wing, Nos. 2 and 2A in t ...

Thanet Thanet may refer to: * Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England * Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College * Thanet Ca ...

. Other children include Sir Edmund Williams (died 1644) of

Marnhull Marnhull ( ) is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Dorset, southern England. It lies in the Blackmore Vale, north of Sturminster Newton and north of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. Marnhull is sited on a low ridge of Cor ...

(a royal manor formerly in the jointure lands of

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr ( – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until Henry's death on 28 January 1547. Catherine was the final queen consort o ...

), Dorset, who married Mary Beaumont, and the royal physician Morris Williams.Daines Barrington, ''Miscellanies'' (London, 1781), p. 431: Samuel Rush Meyrick, ''Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches'', vol. 2 (Llandovery, 1846), p. 439

References

External links

Warrant to pay John Williams, 23 July 1604, Folger Shakespeare Library

Warrant from King James to pay John Williams, 31 December 1604, Folger Shakespeare Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John 17th-century Welsh businesspeople Welsh goldsmiths Material culture of royal courts People from Beddgelert