William Rees
William Rees (disambiguation) • Illustration — Dr William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog) William Rees (8 November 1802 – 8 November 1883), usually known in Wales by his bardic name of Gwilym Hiraethog, was a Welsh poet and author, one of the major figures of Welsh literature during the 19th century. Gwilym Hiraethog took his pseudonym from his birthplace, a farm called Chwibren-isaf, near Llansannan, on Mynydd Hiraethog in Denbighshire. He was the second son of Anne and David Rees, a farmer.
Also recorded as Gwilym Hiraethog
William Rees
Thomas, John · http: The National Library of Wales Catalogue · Public domain
- Born
- 1802 · Llansannan.
- Died
- 1883
- Occupation
- poet · christian minister · politician
- Honours
- Medal of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
- Languages
- English
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Age three, he contracted smallpox and lost the sight in his right eye. He worked on the farm and as a shepherd in his teens. His older brother Henry Rees became a Calvinistic Methodist leader. Largely self-educated, having only attended the village school in winter, Rees was a polymath, who took an interest in astronomy and political science as well as being a Nonconformist minister and a leading literary figure. This gave him public attention. He joined the Independents church and became a popular preacher in the Welsh language. He became a minister in 1831 in Mostyn, later working in Denbigh and Liverpool. In 1843, he founded the Welsh language journal Yr Amserau ("The Times") in Liverpool. He used the newspaper to campaign for the disestablishment of the Church in Wales. Rees also penned the hymn text of Dyma gariad fel y moroedd (Here is love, vast as the ocean), which was first published in 1847 but strongly associated with the 1904-1905 Welsh revival. His Helyntion Bywyd Hen Deiliwr (Predicaments of an Old Tailor) (1877) was a pioneering attempt to fashion a Welsh-language novel. He retired in 1875 soon after the death of his wife Ann and moved to Chester to live with his daughter, where he died on his birthday on 8 November 1883.
Source:
Poetry
Poetry
• Emmanuel (1861) • Tŵr Dafydd sef, Salmau Dafydd (1875) (Metrical Psalms) • Gweithiau Barddonol Gwilym Hiraethog (1855)
Prose
Prose
• Llythyrau 'Rhen Ffarmwr (1878)
Novels
Novels
• Aelwyd F'Ewythr Robert (1852) • Helyntion Bywyd Hen Deiliwr (1877)
Drama
Drama
• Y Dydd Hwnnw
A portrait from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales. Depicted person: William Rees – Welsh minister and writer (1802-1883)
John Thomas · This image is available from the National Library of Wales You can view this image in its original context on the NLW Catalogue
A portrait from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales. Depicted person: William Rees – Welsh minister and writer (1802-1883)
John Thomas · This image is available from the National Library of Wales You can view this image in its original context on the NLW Catalogue
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1802
William Rees born at Llansannan.
1883
William Rees died.
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog), revision 1333597908 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.REES, WILLIAM (Gwilym Hiraethog; 1802 - 1883), Independent minister, writer editor, and political leader Dictionary of Welsh Biography. biography.wales.
- 2.Rees, William [pseud. Gwilym Hiraethog] (1802–1883), Congregational minister and writer. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 10.1093/ref:odnb/23290.
- 3.Rees, Henry (1798–1869), Calvinistic Methodist minister. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 10.1093/ref:odnb/23284.
- 4.REES, HENRY (1798 - 1869), the most famous minister among the Calvinistic Methodists in his day Dictionary of Welsh Biography. biography.wales.
- 5.Newspaper Publishing in Wales. Newsplan Wales.
- 6.Cariad Crist. Hymnology Archive.
- 7.Brooks, Simon (2017), Why Wales Never Was: The Failure of Welsh Nationalism, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, p. 63
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- D. Ben Rees - The Polymath: Reverend William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog 1802-1883) (Modern Welsh Publications)
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He also worked under the name Gwilym Hiraethog. The authorities additionally record the heading Gwilym Hiraethog. His recorded language was English. His recorded confession was congregationalist polity. Recorded as having received Medal of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion.
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