Lewis Edwards

For the American businessman and politician, seeLewis A. Edwards.

Photographic portrait byJohn Thomas(c. 1875)

Portrait byJerry Barrett(1877)

Lewis Edwards(27 October 1809 – 19 July 1887) was a Welsh educator andNonconformistminister.

Life

He was born inPen-llwyn,Ceredigion,Wales, the eldest son of Lewis and Margaret Edward. He was educated atAberystwythand atLlangeitho.He ran schools in both these places and then became private tutor to a family inMeidrim,Carmarthenshire.

He had preached for theCalvinistic Methodistsand, in 1829, was accepted as a regular preacher by the Calvinistic Methodist congregation at Llangeitho. In 1830 he was accepted for study at theSeceders' College, Belfast,but chose instead to study in London, at a college which later becameUniversity College London.After one year in London he became a minister and schoolteacher inLaugharne,Carmarthenshire.in 1833 he went toEdinburgh University,where he studied underThomas Chalmersand Christopher North. By a special dispensation he graduated after three years instead of the usual four, obtaining an MA with honours. He was awarded an honoraryD.D.by the University of Edinburgh in 1865.

He was now better able to further his plans for providing a trained ministry for his church. Previously, the success of the Methodist preachers had been due mainly to their natural gifts. Edwards made his home atBala,and there, in 1837, withDavid Charles,his brother-in-law, he opened a school, which ultimately, asBala College,became the denominational college for north Wales.

In 1836 he married Jane Charles, the granddaughter ofThomas Charles(1755–1814), a prominent Calvinistic Methodist minister. Their sonThomas Charles Edwardsbecame the first principal of theUniversity College of Wales, Aberystwyth.

He died on 19 July 1887, and was buried inLlanycilchurchyard near the grave of his grandfather-in-law Thomas Charles.

Influence

Edwards may fairly be called one of the makers of modern Wales. Through his hands there passed generation after generation of preachers, who carried his influence to every corner of the principality. By fostering competitive meetings and by his writings, especially inY Traethodydd,a quarterly magazine which he founded in 1845 and edited for ten years, he did much to inform and educate his countrymen on literary and theological subjects. A new college was built at Bala in 1867, for which he raised £10,000.His chief publication was a noteworthy book on thedoctrine of the Atonement,cast in the form of a dialogue between master and pupil; the treatment isforensic,and emphasis is laid on merit. It was due to him that the North and South Wales Calvinistic Methodist Associations united to form an annualGeneral Assembly;he was its moderator in 1866 and again in 1876. He was successful in bringing the various churches of thePresbyterianorder into closer touch with each other, and unwearying in his efforts to promote education for his countrymen.

Publications

Edwards was closely involved with several magazines and periodicals. He was editor ofYr Esboniwrand assistant editor ofY Geiniogwerth.In 1845 he foundedY Traethodyddtogether withRoger EdwardsandThomas Gee.

His published books included:

• Athrawiaeth yr Iawn
• Traethodau Llenyddol
• Traethodau Duwinyddol
• Hanes Duwinyddiaeth
• Person Crist

Edwards wrote several influential essays, including:

• Schools of languages for the Welsh (1849)
• Revisers of hymns (1850)
• Goethe(1851)
• Welsh poetry (1852)
• Goronwy Owen(1876)

He translated several English hymns into Welsh.

Sources

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Edwards, Lewis".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Stephen, Leslie,ed. (1889)."Edwards, Lewis".Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 17. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Further reading

• Morgan, D. Densil (2009).Lewis Edwards.University of Wales Press.ISBN9780708321942.