Famous People from the Vale
Iolo Morgannwg
Edward Williams (1747 –
1826)
His work
Edward Williams from Llancarfan near
Cowbridge, spent most of his life working as a stonemason in the
Vale of Glamorgan and in London. A critic and a bard he was known
in literary circles as Iolo Morgannwg. A volume of his work
entitled Poems, Lyric and Pastoral was published in English in
London in 1794.
A colourful character
Iolo Morgannwg was a very interesting and
complex character and known as a bit of a forger. During his
lifetime he ‘invented’ several traditions. Iolo set up a
number of businesses but ended up in Cardiff prison for bankruptcy
several times. It's believed that his flamboyant character was
down to a particular form of the drug opium, which he took
throughout his life.
Famous creations
Include the Gorsedd of Bards, which he created
in 1792 when he persuaded some of the London Welsh to hold the
Gorsedd of Bards on Primrose Hill. The Gorsedd did not receive
a very warm welcome in Wales initially and he had to wait
until 1819 before any formal relationship between the Gorsedd and
the Eisteddfod was established. That year, the Eisteddfod was
held in the Ivy Bush Hotel in Carmarthen.
After his death
When Edward Williams passed away in his home
in Flemingston in the Vale of Glamorgan in 1826 a number of
interesting manuscripts, letters and volumes on a wide-ranging
number of subjects were found.
Present day
A large collection of his work can be found in
the National Library of Wales.In Cowbridge opposite the Town Hall
there is a memorial plaque inscribed with the words ‘Y gwir yn
erbyn y byd’.
Grace Williams (1906 – 1977)
Composer (1906 - 1977)
Education
Grace Williams was born in Barry in 1906 and was educated at
Barry Grammar School. Her father was a music teacher and the
conductor of the Romilly Boys Choir.
It was when the National Eisteddfod came to Barry in 1920 that
Grace Williams decided that she would like to pursue a career in
music. She won the Morfydd Owen Scholarship and went on to study
music at University College, Cardiff.
From there she went on to the Royal College of Music where she
studied composition with Vaughan Williams. Another scholarship
enabled her to go Vienna where she studied with Egon Wellez. In
1931 she decided to return to Britain where she took up a teaching
post in London and it was there her friendship with Benjamin
Britten began to develop.
After the war
Grace worked for the BBC Schools Department but she
suffered from persistent bouts of ill health and eventually decided
to return to Barry where she spent the rest of her life. Her last
work, Two Choruses for chorus, harp and two horns is set in the
seaport of Barry. Grace Williams died in 1977.
Orchestra
Grace Wiliams wrote mainly for orchestra and voices with
orchestra, although she wrote a number of memorable songs. Welsh
folk tunes often feature in her work for voices and in the Fantasia
on Welsh Nursery Tunes written for the orchestra.
Many of her works echo the rhythms and cadences of old Welsh
poetry. One of Grace Williams’s most famous works is the Penillion
for orchestra, which was comissioned for the National Youth
Orchestra of Wales in 1955.
Works include:
Fantasia on Old Welsh Nursery Tunes (1940); Sinfonia Concertante
for Piano & Orchestra (1940); Symphony No 1 (1943); Sea
Sketches for String Orchestra (1944); The Dancers (1951); Penillion
(1955); Symphony No 2 (1956); Ave Maris Stella (1973).
Gwynfor Evans
Politician (1912 - 2005)
Born in Barry
In 1912 where his father owned and ran the
well-known department store ‘Dan Evans’. Gwynfor was educated
in the town before going on to study Law in University College
Aberystwyth and Oxford University. Aged 18 he decided to learn
Welsh.
A student politician
Where he set up a branch of Plaid
Cymru. Gwynfor Evans was also a pacifist and a Christian
and when the Second World War broke out he refused to join the
armed forces.
In 1945 he was elected President of Plaid
Cymru and in 1966 he won a by-election in Carmarthen following the
death of Labour MP, Dame Megan Lloyd George. This was a major
turning point in the politics of Britain as this was Plaid Cymru’s
first seat in Westminster.
Campaigning
During much of the 50's he campaigned to
secure an assembly for Wales and was a vociferous opponent of the
intention to drown the village of Cwm Celyn to provide a water
reservoir for the city of Liverpool.
In 1970 he lost his seat to Labour candidate,
Gwynoro Jones but four years later, along with two new Plaid Cymru
members Dafydd Ellis Thomas and Dafydd Wigley, he became an MP once
again. In 1979 he lost his seat and never returned to Westminster
although he remained very active in Welsh politics.
Striking
In 1980 he decided to go on hunger strike in
an effort to persuade Margaret Thatcher’s government to establish a
Welsh Language television channel. With support throughout
Wales many people decided not to renew their television licenses in
protest.
Retired
In 1981 he retired as President of Plaid Cymru
and devoted much of his time to writing. He wrote a number of books
in both Welsh and English. Gwynfor Evans passed away in his home in
Pencarreg, Carmarthenshire, on April 21 2005. He was 92.
More coming soon.....