Robert Dewi Williams (29 December 1870 – 25 January 1955) was a Welsh schoolteacher, Presbyterian minister and author.

Life

Williams was born on 29 December 1870 at Llwyn-du Isaf in

Pandy Tudur Pandy Tudur (Standardised ) is a village in Conwy county borough, in the north-west of Wales. It lies 5 miles northeast of Llanrwst. Origins of the name The name was originally ''Pandybudr'', from the Welsh ''pandy'' (' fulling mill') and ''b ...

in what was then the county of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

. He went to school in Blaenau Llangernyw followed by a couple of months at the school in

Llanfair Talhaearn Llanfair Talhaiarn (), abbreviated to ''Llanfair TH'', is a village and community approximately south of Abergele in Conwy county borough, Wales. Until 1974 it was included in Denbighshire. The population was 979 in 2001, increasing to 1,070 ...

before going to school in

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

and in

Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

– he began to preach when attending the last of these. He was then a student at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

and

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 ...

before being ordained as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister in 1900. He was the minister of Cesarea chapel in

Llandwrog Llandwrog (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, most notable for the presence of the headquarters of Welsh record label Sain (record label), Sain and the site of Caernarfon Airport. It has a population ...

from 1898 to 1904, then the minister of Jerusalem chapel in

Penmaenmawr Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an ...

from 1904 to 1917. He was appointed the headmaster of the school in

Clynnog Fawr Clynnog Fawr, often simply called Clynnog, is a village and Community (Wales), community on the north coast of Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. The communi ...

in 1917, remaining headmaster when the school moved to Clwyd College,

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

. Williams retired in 1939 and lived in

Rhuddlan Rhuddlan () is a town, community, and electoral ward in Denbighshire, Wales. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. It gave its name to the Welsh district of Rhuddlan ...

until his death on 25 January 1955, serving as Moderator of the North Wales Association of the Presbyterian Church from 1950 onwards.

Works

In addition to his skills as a preacher and teacher, Williams was a highly regarded writer. He wrote a long short-story, ', which was published in the first edition of the literary journal ''Y Beirniad'' published by

John Morris-Jones Sir John Morris-Jones (17 October 1864 – 16 April 1929) was a Welsh grammarian, academic and Welsh-language poet. Morris-Jones was born John Jones, at Trefor in the parish of Llandrygarn, Anglesey the son of Morris Jones first a schoolmast ...

, Williams being regarded the pioneer of this story form in Welsh. Other writings included contributions to periodicals, some of which were collected under the title ' (1973). The

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

holds various papers of Williams in its archive: some unpublished stories, as well as scrapbooks, drawings, cartoons and family photographs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Robert Dewi 1870 births 1955 deaths Welsh educators Welsh Presbyterians Welsh-language writers Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford People from Rhuddlan People from Clynnog Fawr