Robert Isaac Jones (1813 – 7 March 1905), also known under his

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...

Alltud Eifion, was a Welsh pharmacist, writer, and printer.

Biography

Jones was born at Tyddyn Iolyn, Pentrefelin (near

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

) in 1813. Here he was educated and, in 1831, moved to become an apprentice to a

Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...

pharmacist. After this he moved to Caernarvon and London, before settling in Tremadoc. In 1838, Jones opened his Tremadoc pharmacist, the Cambrian Pill Depôt. He gained some fame as the peddler of "Tremadoc Pills", which he claimed as an effective medicine for many different illnesses. Jones was a keen printer, starting a Tremadoc printing-press where he printed several

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 about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). ...

publications. He began a weekly newspaper, entitled ''Y Brython'', in November 1858. This enterprise was unsuccessful, as it was reduced to a monthly publication by 1859, and ceased publication altogether in 1863, having obtained too little readership. Jones also published a biography of early black Welsh gardener,

John Ystumllyn John Ystumllyn (–1786), also colloquially known as Jac Du or Jack Black, was an 18th-century gardener and the first well-recorded black person of North Wales. John was of uncertain origin, possibly a victim of the Atlantic slave trade, and fr ...

(d. 1786), collated from his family and local area's oral sources. This biography has proved invaluable to modern efforts to understand Ystumllyn. Ystumllyn's biographer, Andrew Green, admitted that, while "prone to variation, embroidery and forgetfulness", it survives as the most informative" and "frank" account of Ystumllyn's life. Jones was also an active eisteddfodwr, an attendee of annual Welsh literary festivals, though he "did not excel", despite the copious amounts of poetry he produced, according to the ''

Dictionary of Welsh Biography The ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' (DWB) (also ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940'' and ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography, 1941 to 1970'') is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to ...

''.

Personal life and death

Jones was initially a Methodist, but left the church for the local Anglican church. He contributed to several religious journals - ''Yr Haul'', ''Y Llan'', and ''Cymru'' - and briefly refounded a pre-existing church periodical, '' Baner y Groes''. Jones founded a Sunday school in the Tremadoc town hall. Jones died on 7 March 1905, and was buried in

St Cynhaearn's Church, Ynyscynhaearn St Cynhaearn's Church is a redundant church standing in an isolated position on Ynyscynhaearn, a former island in Llyn (Lake) Ystumllyn, south of the village of Pentrefelin, near Criccieth in Gwynedd, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade&n ...

Publications

* ''Gwaith Barddonol Sion Wyn o Eifion'' (1861) * (ed.) ''Cyff Beuno'' by

Eben Fardd Ebenezer Thomas (August 1802 – 17 February 1863), better known to Welsh speakers by his bardic name of Eben Fardd, was a Welsh teacher and poet. Eben Fardd was born in Llanarmon, Caernarvonshire, the son of a weaver, and educated at local sch ...

(1863) * (ed.) ''Cell Meudwy'' by Ellis Owen (1877) * ''John Ystumllyn'' (1888) * ''Yr Emynydd Cristionogol'' (1889) * ''Y Gestiana, sef, Hanes Tre'r Gest'' (1892)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Robert Isaac 1813 births 1905 deaths 19th-century Welsh poets 19th-century Welsh writers 19th-century British pharmacists British publishers (people) Welsh male poets People from Ceredigion 19th-century British businesspeople People from Tremadog