Rowland Meyrick, L.L.D., was born at Bodorgan, in Anglesea, in 1505. He was educated at Oxford, where he subsequently became principal of New-Inn Hall; and after holding various preferments, he was advanced to the bishopric of Bangor in 1559, where he died in 1565.
Sir Hugh Middleton, well known as the maker of the New River, London, was the son of Richard Middleton, Esq., governor of Denbigh Castle, under Edward the Sixth, Mary, and Elizabeth. Having settled in London as a goldsmith, he made several successful speculations in some mines in Cardiganshire, and became an alderman. Observing the scarcity of good water in London, he took entirely upon himself to supply the metropolis with a stream of pure water; for the corporation, with all its wealth, conceiving the undertaking to be too difficult, refused to have any share in it. He, however, patriotically persevered; and after almost the ruin of his own fortune, he succeeded in obtaining assistance from the King for a share, and it was completed. The water was let in before an immense concourse on Michaelmas-day, in 1613. He was knighted, and in 1622 he was created a baronet. His death took place in 1631.
Robert Morgan, D.D., was born at Llandysilio, Montgomeryshire, in 1608. He was entered at Jesus College, and thence he removed to St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he graduated. Having taken orders, he became chaplain to Bishop Dolben, who preferred him, in 1632, to the vicarage of Llanwnog, Montgomeryshire, and rectory of Llangynhaval. He was afterwards prebendary of Chester, vicar of Llanvair, Denbighshire, and rector of Trevdraeth, and Llandyvnan, in Anglesea; out of all which he was ejected during the usurpation of Cromwell, during which he was a great sufferer for his loyalty. In 1660 he was restored to his benefices, and was promoted to the archdeaconry of Meirioneth; and in 1666 he was raised to the bishopric of Bangor. He died in 1673, and was buried in his cathedral, which had been greatly improved at his cost.
William Morgan, D.D., the first translator of the Bible into the Welsh language, was born at Penmachno, Caernarvonshire, and was educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge. He was vicar of Welsh-pool, in Montgomeryshire, and obtained other preferment. Having occasion to go to London to see Archbishop Whitgift, his grace conceived a high opinion of his abilities, and appointed him his chaplain. At the Archbishop’s desire, he undertook a translation of the Bible into Welsh, which was published in 1588, black letter, folio. The New Testament was only corrected by him from a translation by William Salusbury, a Denbighshire gentleman, who first published the Epistles and Gospels for the whole year, in Edward the Sixth’s time. Queen Elizabeth rewarded Dr. Morgan with the bishopric of Llandaff, in 1595, and he was translated to the see of St. Asaph in 1601. He died in 1604.
Hugh Morris, one of the first of Welsh poets, was born at Pont-y-Meibion, in Denbighshire, in the year 1622. Being a younger son, he was apprenticed by his father, who was a respectable freeholder, to a tanner in Flintshire. He did not carry on his trade, but lived a life of retirement in the cultivation of his talent for poetry, of which he has left us splendid memorial. The productions of his pen are numerous; and these valuable poems have been patriotically collected and published by an eminent Welsh scholar and divine, in two volumes. Hugh Morris, on the breaking out of the civil war, was a stanch friend to royalty, and he exerted all the powers of his pen in its support, and there is no doubt but that his writings had great influence over the minds of the common people, ever attached to poetry. His satirical poems, where he lashes the religious cant and vile hypocrisy of the times, are unequalled for the keen wit and cutting irony, which he handles in so masterly a manner. He was universally esteemed for his great abilities and excellent character, and always exercised his influence in behalf of justice and benevolence, and in the furtherance of religion. He died at the place of his birth in 1709, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.
Lewis Morris, an eminent poet and antiquary, was born in the Isle of Anglesea in the year 1702. In his youth he received but a slender education; but, however, he and three other brothers, through self-instruction, and cultivation of their natural talent, became eminent characters in various branches of knowledge and science. He was chiefly employed in the service of government; and in 1737 he was appointed by the admiralty to survey the coast of Wales, which he accomplished with great satisfaction, and an account of it was published in 1748. At the same period he had the appointment of the surveyorship of the crown lands in Wales, and in 1750 he had the additional offices of superintendent and agent of the King’s mines in the principality. He was a very good poet in his native language, and several of his productions have been published. As an antiquary he was eminently skilful, and it is greatly to be lamented that a valuable work entitled “Celtic Remains,” which he left in manuscript, has never been sent to the press, as his acute and learned remarks would be a great addition to illustrate our national antiquities. He collected about eighty volumes of Welsh manuscripts, which are now deposited in the Welsh School Library, in London. He died in 1765, in Cardiganshire.
Goronwy Owen, A.M., was born about the year 1722, at Llanvair Mathavarn Eithav, in Anglesea. His parents being in a humble condition, were not able to bestow upon him a proper education in his youth, but his great abilities and industry overcame every obstacle. He was at a respectable seminary at Pwllheli, where he became second master, and from thence he removed to Oxford. He was ordained deacon in 1745, and for a short time he held the curacy of his native parish, where he enjoyed great happiness among his friends and early acquaintances. He was obliged to resign this, to make room for a friend of the bishop’s chaplain, who had appointed him to it, and this took place with the bishop’s sanction. He next removed to the neighbourhood of Oswestry, and soon after he was appointed curate of Oswestry. In the year 1748, he became curate of Donington, in Shropshire, where he kept also a school in order to add to his small income, and support an increasing family. Here he composed “Cowydd y Varn,” one of his most celebrated pieces; and what portion of time he could spare from the drudgery of school-keeping, he spent in the study of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldee. In 1733 he removed to the curacy of Watton, in Lancashire. His great desire was to obtain even the smallest preferment in any part of his native country, but he was disappointed and neglected; and in 1755 he resigned his curacy and went to London, where his countrymen had an intention of building a Welsh church, and to which he was to be appointed minister. When this plan did not succeed, he became curate of Northold, where he remained two years, when an offer was made to him of preferment in America; and by the assistance of the Cymmrodorion in London, he crossed the Atlantic, to St. Andrew’s, in Virginia; here he settled for some time, but afterwards removed to New Brunswick, and from thence to Williamsburg. The time of his death is not well known. This talented man was one of the greatest poets that ever appeared among the Welsh, and his poetical works were printed, with other productions, in a volume, under the title of “Diddanwch Teuluaidd.”
Henry Owen, an eminent divine and philologist, was the son of a gentleman of fortune, in Merionethshire, where he was born, at Tanygader, in 1716. He was educated at Ruthin Grammar school, from whence he removed to Jesus College, Oxford. He originally intended to practise physic, but entered into orders, and after various preferment, he became rector of St. Olave, Hart-street, London, and vicar of Edmonton, Middlesex. His numerous works consist chiefly of theological subjects, and he edited “Xenophon’s Memorabilia,” “Critical Disquisitions,” and “Critica Sacra, or Hebrew Criticism.” He also furnished several papers to the “Archaiologia.” His death took place in 1795.
John Owen, the celebrated epigrammatist, was a native of Caernarvonshire. He was educated at Winchester School, and New College, Oxford, where he graduated L.L.D., and became a fellow. He afterwards held the mastership of a grammar-school, near Monmouth, whence he removed to a similar situation in Warwick. While here, he distinguished himself by his skill in Latin poetry, and more particularly epigrams. This talent, however, did great harm, for he was struck out of the will of a rich uncle for his satirical epigrams on the church of Rome. He died in 1622, and he was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral, at the expense of Archbishop Williams, by whom he was supported in the latter part of his life. His epigrams have been several times reprinted, both in England, and on the Continent; they are justly admired for their wit and purity of language.
John Owen, D.D., the most eminent of Nonconformist divines in this country, was descended of a respectable family in North Wales, though born at Stadham, in Oxfordshire, in 1616, of which place his father, a native of Wales, was vicar. He was educated at Queen’s College, Oxford, where he was supported by a rich uncle, living in North Wales; but who, being a royalist, was offended at his nephew’s principles, and died without leaving him anything. On the breaking out of the civil war, he sided with the parliament, and became a Presbyterian in his religious opinions; and his display of Arminianism, which was published in 1642, so recommended him to the prevailing party, that he was presented to the living of Fordham, in Essex, and subsequently by the Earl of Warwick, at the request of the parishioners, to that of Coggeshall, in the same county. Having now acquired great celebrity, and become acquainted with General Fairfax during the seige of Colchester, he was appointed to preach at Whitehall the day after the execution of Charles the First. He soon after became a favourite with Cromwell, whom he accompanied on his expeditions to Ireland and Scotland; and in 1651 he was appointed to the deanery of Christ Church, Oxford, on which appointment he received his doctor’s degree, and in 1652, Cromwell being chancellor, Owen was made his vice-chancellor, which office he held for five years. On the death of his patron, the Protector, he was deprived of his office and deanery, through the influence of the Presbyterian party, whom he had offended by adopting the Independent mode of worship, which he thought more conformable to the New Testament; and he published his reasons for thinking so, in two volumes, quarto. On the Restoration, his merit was so highly appreciated, that Lord Clarendon offered him immediate preferment if he would conform, which he respectfully declined. This eminent man died at Ealing, Middlesex, in 1683. His works, which are of high Calvinistic principles, are very numerous, amounting to seven folio, twenty quarto, and thirty octavo volumes.