John (2) Williams

Revd. John (2) Williams DD
File:Williams, John (2).jpg
Born	1792
Died	1858
Residence	Cardigan
Occupation	church educator
Society Membership membership ESL Ordinary Fellow left not on printed lists elected_ESL 1855.12.05

Notes

House Notes

Archdeacon of Cardigan

number after name to distinguish from another fellow of the same name

Notes From Elsewhere

WILLIAMS , JOHN ( 1792 - 1858 ), cleric, scholar, and schoolmaster ; b. at Ystrad Meurig , 11 April 1792 , son of John Williams ( 1745/6 - 1818 ) (q.v.) and Jane his wife. He attended his father's school there, and then went to teach at Chiswick . After a further period at school at Ludlow he matriculated at Oxford from Balliol College , 20 Nov. 1810 . He took his B.A. in 1814 , after obtaining the highest honours in classics; he taught at Winchester for four years, and subsequently at Hyde Abbey school , near that city. During this period he took holy orders , and in 1820 , after the death of Eliezer Williams (q.v.) , he was offered the living of Lampeter by bishop Burgess (q.v.) . He accepted it, and continued the excellent work done by his predecessor. He was not chosen first principal of S. David's College , but his school so prospered that some boys were sent to him from Scotland , including a son of Sir Walter Scott . In 1823 , his brother David , who had succeeded their father as headmaster of Ystrad Meurig , died; but John Williams did not succeed to his place. However, in 1824 , he was appointed first rector of Edinburgh Academy , and began his work there on 1 Oct. Here he met with great success; and although he accepted in Aug. 1827 the chair of Latin in London University (resigning it nine months later) he was re-elected to his rectorship and remained there till 1847 . When Llandovery College was founded, John Williams (who had been archdeacon of Cardigan since Oct. 1833 , being re-instituted in Aug. 1835 owing to a technical error) was invited to become the first warden . He started on his work on S. Davids Day, 1848 , and remained there till he retired owing to illhealth at Easter, 1853 . By that time the school's reputation was established. After retiring, John Williams lived at Brighton , Oxford and Bushey ; he d. at the last-named place on 27 Dec. 1858 , and was buried there on 4 Jan. 1859 . He m. Mary , only daughter of Thomas Evans of Llanilar , and they had six daughters. John Williams was considered to be one of the best classical scholars whom Wales has produced; he was also, according to all accounts, an excellent teacher . There is a portrait of him in his old school at Edinburgh , and also a bust (unless recently removed) in the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth . He published a number of books on classical subjects (see the list in D.N.B. ), and in 1851 produced an edition of Theophilus Evans (q.v.) , Drych y Prif Oesoedd .