WILLIAMS, JOHN (1854 - 1921), Calvinistic Methodist minister
Name: John Williams
Date of birth: 1854
Date of death: 1921
Spouse : Edith Mary Williams (née Hughes)
Parent: Jane Williams (née Rowlands)
Parent: John Williams
Gender: Male
Occupation: Calvinistic Methodist minister
Area of activity: Religion
Author: John Edward Hughes
Born at Cae’r-gors, Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, 24 December 1854; his father, John Williams, hailed from the neighbourhood of Mynydd y Garn, and his mother, Jane Rowlands, from Cemaes. When he was nine, his parents removed to Beaumaris, and there (1871) he went to the grammar school kept first by John Evans and afterwards by Hugh Williams (1843 — 1911). In 1873 he began preaching, and in 1875 went to Bala College under Dr. Lewis Edwards. Called in 1878 to the pastorate of Brynsiencyn, he quickly won a popularity as a preacher which he retained throughout his life. After becoming (1895) pastor of Prince’s Road church in Liverpool, he married (1899) Edith Mary Hughes; they had a son and two daughters. Retiring from his pastorate in 1906, he made his home at Llwyn Idris, Brynsiencyn, where he died 1 November 1921; he was buried at Llanfaes, near Beaumaris. He had a fine presence, a powerful voice, clear articulation, a rich vocabulary, a lively imagination, and incomparable eloquence. He was recognised as the greatest master of Welsh ‘classical’ pulpit oratory. In 1907 he was moderator of the North Wales Calvinistic Methodist Association, in 1913 of the Calvinistic Methodist General Assembly, and in 1921 Davies lecturer. He took an active part in promoting the formation of the Welsh division during the war of 1914-18, and was its honorary chaplain. In 1917 he was given the honorary degree of D.D. by the University of Wales. There is a biography (1929) by R. R. Hughes, and two volumes of his sermons were published, 1922 and 1923.