Part 3

_Humffrey Lloyd_, D.D., was born in 1610, at Trawsvynydd, Merionethshire. He received an academical education; and having taken orders, he became in time, a prebendary of York, and vicar of Rhiwabon, in Denbighshire, and likewise a prebendary of Chester; out of which he was ejected in the great rebellion; but living to be restored in 1660, he was made canon of St. Asaph the following year, and in 1667 dean of the same cathedral; in 1673 he was raised to the bishopric of Bangor. He was a great benefactor to his cathedral, and greatly increased the revenues of his see. He died in 1688.

_John Lloyd_, D.D., was a native of Caermarthenshire, where he was born in 1638. He was entered at Merton College, Oxford, whence he removed to Jesus College, where he graduated, and of which in time he became prebendary. He also discharged the office of vice-chancellor in that University with great satisfaction, and was held in high esteem for his piety and learning. In 1686 he was promoted to the bishopric of St. David’s, but by reason of ill health he removed to Oxford, and died at Jesus College in 1687.

_Nicholas Lloyd_, an eminent divine, and philological writer, was born in Flintshire in 1634. He received his education at Winchester School, and Wadham College, Oxford, where he obtained a fellowship. He was for some years rector of Newington Butts, near London, to which he had been appointed by the Bishop of Worcester, to whom he was chaplain. He died there in 1680. He published an excellent and highly esteemed “Historical and Geographical Dictionary,” in Latin, which has been the basis of many similar compilations.

_William Lloyd_, D.D., an eminent prelate, was the son of the Rev. Richard Lloyd, Rector of Tilehurst, Berks, who came from Henblas, in Anglesea, and was born at his father’s living in 1627. At the early age of eleven he was entered at Oriel College, Oxford, whence he removed to New College, and subsequently to Jesus College, where he became successively a scholar and fellow. Having taken orders in 1648, he was presented to the rectory of Bradfield, Berks, in 1654, which he afterwards resigned. He was appointed chaplain to Charles the Second, and prebendary of Salisbury, then rector of St. Mary’s, in Reading, and archdeacon of Merioneth; four years after, he was made dean of Bangor. After various other preferment, he was advanced to the bishopric of St. Asaph in 1680. He was one of the seven bishops who were committed to the Tower for subscribing and presenting a petition to King James, deprecating his assumed power of suspending the laws against popery. Bishop Lloyd having heartily concurred in the Revolution, was appointed lord almoner to King William, and in 1692 he was translated to Lichfield and Coventry, and thence in 1699 to Worcester. His writings, which relate to history and divinity are greatly prized, and are distinguished for the learning and acute judgment exhibited in them. He died in 1717.

_William Lloyd_, D.D., was a native of Wales, and was educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge, and graduated there. Having taken orders, he obtained various preferment, and in 1675 he was made bishop of Llandaff, from whence he was translated to Peterborough in 1679, and thence in 1685 to the see of Norwich, out of which he was ejected for not taking the oath to King William and Queen Mary. He retired to Hammersmith, near London, where he died in 1710.

_Edward Llwyd_, M.A., an eminent British antiquary and naturalist, was a native of Cardiganshire, where he was born about 1670. At the age of seventeen, he was entered at Jesus College, Oxford, where he graduated. He succeeded Dr. Plot, the keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, and applied himself with great diligence to the study of the language of the early Britons, and for that purpose he travelled in the countries where it still remained. After having visited Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, and Bretagne, and making himself perfect in the various dialects, he published the results of his accurate observations in the “Archæologia Britannica,” which was the first volume of a series on a great plan, which he did not live to carry on; and his death taking place before the ample materials which he had provided were properly arranged for the press, the whole of his manuscripts were sold to Sir Thomas Sebright, but not before Jesus College and the University had refused to purchase them. They subsequently came to the possession of Colonel Johnes, of Havod, and were mostly burnt in the fire which nearly destroyed that gentleman’s mansion. He died in 1709. He was also author of “Lithophylacii Britannici Ichnographia,” and a catalogue of the manuscripts in the Ashmolean Museum, besides several papers published in the Philosophical Transactions.

_Humfrey Lloyd_, M.A., a learned antiquary and historian, was born in the town of Denbigh in 1527. He was entered a gentleman commoner of Brazen-nose College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1551, and studied medicine. He returned to his native place, where he practised his profession, and also represented it in parliament. He was highly esteemed by Camden, and the geographer Ortelius, to whom he addressed his “Commentarioli Britannicæ descriptionis fragmentum,” published at Cologne in 1572. He also translated Caradog of Llancarvan’s “History of Cambria,” which was edited by Dr. Powel, in 1584, quarto, and he was author of a letter “De Monâ Druidum Insulâ antiquitati suæ restitutâ.” He died in 1568.

_Christopher Love_, an eminent Presbyterian divine, was born at Caerdiff, in 1618. He was originally intended for trade, and was apprenticed in London; but his father was persuaded afterwards to give him an University education, and accordingly he was entered at New-Inn Hall, Oxford, where he proceeded in due order to his degrees of bachelor and master of arts, and entered the church. Upon his refusal to subscribe to the canons which were enjoined by Archbishop Laud, he was expelled the congregation of masters. Upon the establishment of the Presbyterian government, he was ordained to preach at St. Mary’s, Aldermanbury; and he was one of the commissioners appointed by parliament at the treaty of Uxbridge. He was one of the London ministers who signed a declaration against putting the King to death, and subsequently he took an active share in a conspiracy to place Charles the Second on the throne, which was detected by the vigilance of Cromwell; and Mr. Love was tried, and beheaded on Tower-hill in August, 1651.

_Richard Lucas_, D.D., an excellent divine, and classical scholar, was born at Presteign, Radnorshire, in 1648. He received an University education at Jesus College, Oxford, where he graduated. In 1683 he was elected by the parishioners to the lectureship of St. Olave’s, Southwark, and the vicarage of St. Stephen’s, Coleman-street. He obtained afterwards a stall in Westminster, which he held for nineteen years. His writings consist of sermons and various other theological works.

_Francis Mansel_ was the third son of Sir Francis Mansel, of Muddlescomb, Caermarthenshire, where he was born in 1588. He was educated at Hereford School, and Jesus College, Oxford. He became a fellow of All Souls, and in 1620 he was elected principal of Jesus College. He was ejected from his office at the parliamentary visitation in 1648, and he retired to Wales, where he assisted the royal cause with his greatest exertions, and consequently exposed himself to the persecutions of the parliamentary party. He was a very great benefactor to his college, and considerably increased its revenues, and he obtained besides for it a valuable library. He died in May, 1665.

_Henry Maurice_, D.D., an eminently learned and talented divine, was born in 1648, at Llangristiolus, in Anglesea. He was sent to Jesus College, Oxford, in his sixteenth year, where his abilities and great merit recommended him to the notice of the principal, Sir Leoline Jenkins, who made him a scholar of the college, and afterwards fellow. When Sir Leoline was sent on an embassy to Cologne, he appointed Mr. Maurice to be his chaplain, in which station he gave the greatest satisfaction by his diligent attention to his duties; and on his return to England, he became acquainted with Dr. Lloyd, afterwards bishop of St. Asaph, who recommended him to Archbishop Sancroft, and he was appointed his chaplain, and soon after rector of Newington, and prebendary of Chichester. He published some treatises against popery; and in 1691 he was elected Lady Margaret’s professor of divinity in Oxford. He died suddenly in 1693, at Newington. It was observed when Dr. Maurice was appointed chaplain to the Archbishop, that several of the highest offices in church and state had been filled by Welshmen. Dr. Dolben was Archbishop of York, Dr. Lloyd Bishop of St. Asaph, Sir George Jefferies Lord Chancellor, Sir Leoline Jenkins Secretary of State, Sir Thomas Jones Lord Chief Justice, Sir John Trevor Master of the Rolls, and Sir William Williams Speaker of the House of Commons.

_Thomas Maurice_, the celebrated orientalist, was a member of a respectable Welsh family. On the death of his father, who had been a master in Christ’s Hospital for twenty-six years, Thomas, the eldest of six children, was admitted on the foundation there, but he was afterwards removed to various seminaries in the country for the benefit of his health; the last of which was the celebrated one of Dr. Parr’s, at Stanmore-hill. At the age of nineteen he was entered at St. John’s College, Oxford, whence he subsequently removed to University College, and here he commenced author at an early period, by publishing a translation of “Sophaclis Ædipus Tyrannus,” which gained him great credit; this was soon followed by some other pieces of verse and prose. On taking orders, he obtained the curacy of Woodford, in Essex, and afterwards he purchased a chaplaincy in the ninety-seventh regiment. In 1783 he commenced the arduous undertaking of his “History of India,” the various volumes of which appeared successively at different times—the last in 1804. He was presented by Earl Spencer to the vicarage of Wormleighton, in Warwickshire, in 1799; and the appointment of assistant librarian to the British Museum was also bestowed upon him; and in 1804 he was presented to the living of Cudham, Kent, by the Lord Chancellor. He died at his rooms in the Museum, March 30th, 1824. Besides his great works on India, he was the author of numerous poems, dissertations, and other miscellanies, all of which ranked him high as a literary character.

_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.

_John Owens_, D.D., was the son of Owen Owens, of Bodsilin, in Caernarvonshire, the last archdeacon of Anglesea. He was born at Burton Latimers, Northamptonshire, where his father was rector, and was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow, and succeeded to his father’s living in 1618. He was appointed chaplain to Charles the First, when he was Prince of Wales, who, on the supposition that he was a Welshman, which he was in every respect excepting the place of his nativity, preferred him to the bishopric of St. Asaph in 1629. This excellent prelate was distinguished for his incomparable skill in the Welsh language, and for his pious zeal in promoting the good of his diocese. He was the first who established there preaching in Welsh, and laid out great sums of money in new building and beautifying several parts of his cathedral, and especially in the erection of an organ. Upon the breaking out of the civil war, he was a great and extraordinary sufferer; and he died near St. Asaph, 1651, and was buried under the episcopal throne, when the church was used as a stable for horses and oxen. He was author of “Herod and Pontius Pilate reconciled.”

_Lewis Owen_, who distinguished himself by his writings against the Jesuits, was born in Meirionethshire in 1572. He went abroad, and entered the Society of Jesuits in Spain, but being disgusted at their behaviour and principles, he withdrew from them, and made use of the information which he had gained in exposing them in his works, which are the “Running Register.” “Unmasking of all popish priests,” &c., and “Speculum Jesuiticum,” which abound in details to their disadvantage. He died in 1631.