Thomas Richards F.R.Hist.S (15 March 1878 – 24 June 1962) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

historian, author and librarian.

Life and writings

Richards was born at Tal-y-bont,

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

, and was nicknamed "Doctor Tom". He studied history at the 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 ...

), before working as a history teacher at

Tywyn Tywyn (; ), formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the location of the Cadfan Stone, a ...

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

and, from 1912,

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

Secondary School, later returning to his old College as Librarian from 1926 to 1946. Kate Roberts wrote ''Traed mewn cyffion (Feet in Chains)'', which reflected the hard life of a slate-quarrying family. The book was awarded a prize at the National Eisteddford in Neath in 1934 where Richards was the judge. Roberts won the prize jointly with Grace Wynne Griffith and her novel ''Creigiau Milgwyn''. However it was alleged that ''Creigiau Milgwyn'' was unworthy of the prize according to the academic T. J. Morgan. As well as his prize-winning studies of the history of nonconformity in Wales, he published two autobiographical works in Welsh, edited journals for the Welsh Baptist Historical Society and the Welsh Bibliographical Society, gave lectures and radio talks, and was a member of the Board of Celtic Studies.

Works

*''A History of the Puritan Movement in Wales (1639–1653)'', 1920 *''Religious Developments in Wales (1654–1662)'', 1923 *''Wales under the Penal Code 1662–1687'', 1925 *''Wales under The Indulgence (1672–1675)'', 1928

Sources

* * * 1878 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Welsh historians 20th-century British male writers Welsh male non-fiction writers Welsh librarians Alumni of Bangor University {{Wales-writer-stub