Peter Williams (Welsh Methodist)

Peter Williams
Born	15 January 1723
Died	8 August 1796 (1796-08-09) (aged 73)
Spouse	Mary Jenkins
Children	Eliezer Williams (1754-1820), Peter Bailey Williams (1763-1836)

Peter Williams (15 January 1723 – 8 August 1796) was a prominent leader of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism in the eighteenth century, best known for publishing Welsh-language bibles and bible commentary.

Personal life

Williams was born on 15 January 1723 at West Marsh Farm in Laugharne in Carmarthenshire, the son of Owen and Elizabeth Williams. In 1748, he married Mary Jenkins and settled at Llandyfaelog in Carmarthenshire.

Career

While a student at Carmarthen Grammar School in 1743, Williams was converted after hearing a sermon by George Whitefield. For a short time, he was the schoolmaster at Cynwyl Elfed. He was ordained a deacon in 1745 and briefly held curacies in the diocese of St Davids, at Eglwys Gymyn, Swansea, and at Llangrannog and Llandysilio Gogo in Ceredigion.Roberts, G. M., (1959). WILLIAMS, PETER (1723 - 1796), Methodist cleric, author, and Biblical commentator. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 13 Apr 2023, from https://biography.wales/article/s-WILL-PET-1723 He was refused ordination as a priest due to his Methodist sympathies and became associated with Water Street Chapel Carmarthen.

Williams joined the Methodists in 1747 and began to tour the country preaching. He became one of the outstanding leaders of the first generation of Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, together with Howell Harris, Daniel Rowlands, the hymn writer William Williams Pantycelyn and Howel Davies, the 'Apostle of Pembrokeshire'.Roberts, G. M., (1959). WILLIAMS, PETER (1723 - 1796), Methodist cleric, author, and Biblical commentator. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 13 Apr 2023, from https://biography.wales/article/s-WILL-PET-1723; Revd Ivor J. Bromham: "Welsh Revivalists of the Eighteenth Century" Churchman (72/1 1958), at pp. 11, 13-14.

In 1770 Williams began to publish copies of Welsh language bibles at an affordable price, with commentaries on each chapter. (The inclusion of commentaries assisted Williams in avoiding the claim to monopoly publication rights over the Welsh Bible hitherto asserted by the Royal Printer and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge). The first edition, published in Carmarthen in 1770, and printed by John Ross, was the first ever publication in Wales of the Welsh Bible. It sold out in the same year. There was a demand for many more editions. In due course Williams produced thousands of copies of Welsh language bibles and 'Beibl Peter Williams' remained popular in Wales throughout the nineteenth century.

In 1773 Williams published a biblical concordance in the Welsh language (the Mynegeir Ysgrythurol) which greatly assisted study of the Welsh Bible.

Williams was also a writer and a poet. In 1771 he was the first translator into English of the popular hymn 'Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah' from the original Welsh of Williams Pantycelyn; the first verse of his English translation is still sung today.

Williams' commentary on John i.1 led to the charge that he sympathized with Sabellianism. The controversy sharpened in 1790 when he published a Welsh language bible with a Welsh translation of the biblical annotations first published in 1647 by the English Puritan minister John Canne. In 1791, the matter came to a head at a Methodist 'Sasiwn' (Association meeting) at Llandeilo and Williams was expelled.

Death

His last years were spent in conflict with the Methodists. At this time Williams denied them use of the chapel in Water Street. Williams died at Llandyfaelog on 8 August 1796 and is buried in Llandyfaelog churchyard.

Careers of his sons

Eliezer Williams and Peter Bailey Williams were educated at Carmarthen grammar school and Jesus College, Oxford. Both became clergymen in the Established Church.

Eliezer Williams was Vicar of Lampeter (1805 to 1820).

Peter Bailey Williams was Rector of Llanberis and Llanrug (1792-1836). In 1798 he led the first recorded rock climb in Britain.

Sources

• Roberts, Gomer M. "Peter Williams, Methodist cleric, author, and Biblical commentator". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 1 February 2017.