He matriculated from Jesus College, Oxford, on 24 Oct. 1810, proceeding B.A. in 1814 and M.A. in 1820. Prior to this he was ordained, and in 1826 was presented to the vicarage of Kingston and the rectory of Bleadon, both in Somerset. The latter place appears to have been his residence, but he died at Weston-super-Mare on 7 Sept. 1850. He was elected F.G.S. in 1828, and in 1831 published his first paper, and continued to write at intervals on geological subjects till 1849. Thirty-one scientific papers appear under his name in the Royal Society's catalogue, most of them relating to the south-west of England, and seventeen treat of the geology of Cornwall and Devon. He was evidently a careful observer, but held views as to the origin of certain igneous rocks which would not be generally accepted at the present day.
[Royal Soc. Cat. of Scientific Papers; Boase and Courtney's Bibliotheca Cornubiensis; Gent. Mag. 1850, ii. 557.]
WILLIAMS, EDWARD (fl. 1650), was the author of an early descriptive work on Virginia. The book, which was entitled ‘Virgo Triumphans, or Virginia truly valued,’ was published in London in 1650, 4to. A second edition appeared the same year with the addition of a chapter on the ‘Discovery of Silk-worms,’ which last was also published separately, with a dedication to the Virginia merchants. The second edition was reprinted in volume iii. of Force's ‘Tracts,’ Washington, 1844. It is doubtful whether Williams ever visited the country which he extolled so highly; indeed his ignorance of the geography of its coast led him to formulate schemes of advancement not promising of fulfilment.
[Williams's Works; North American Review, 1815, i. 1–5; Allibone's Dict. of English Lit.]
WILLIAMS, EDWARD (1750–1813), nonconformist divine, was born at Glan Clwyd, near Denbigh, on 14 Nov. 1750. His father, a farmer of good position, sent him to St. Asaph grammar school, and he was intended for the church. But he came as a lad under the influence of the methodists of the district, and, while studying with a clergyman at Derwen (probably the curate, David Ellis, who translated several books into Welsh), attended their meetings. Finally, he joined the independent church at Denbigh, began to preach, and in 1771 entered the dissenting academy at Abergavenny. His first pastoral charge was at Ross, where he was minister from 1775 to 1777; in September of the latter year he settled at Oswestry. When Dr. Benjamin Davies left Abergavenny for Homerton, the academy was moved in May 1782 to Oswestry, and placed under Williams's care. At the end of 1791 he gave up both church and academy, and, with the new year, commenced his ministry at Carr's Lane, Birmingham. In 1792 he was appointed first editor of the ‘Evangelical Magazine’ and received the degree of D.D. from the university of Edinburgh. He left Birmingham in 1795, becoming in September theological tutor at the Rotherham academy. He died at Rotherham on 9 March 1813. Among dissenting divines he is known as the advocate of a moderate form of Calvinism, expounded in his book on the ‘Equity of Divine Government’ (London, 1813). He was also the author of a discourse on the ‘Cross of Christ’ (Shrewsbury, 1792), an abridgment of Dr. Owen's ‘Commentary on Hebrews,’ and a controversial work on baptism. His collected works were edited by Evan Davies [q. v.] in four volumes (London, 1862).
[Williams's Eminent Welshmen; Methodistiaeth Cymru, iii. 136; Cathrall's History of Oswestry; Hanes Eglwysi Annibynol Cymru, iv. 47.]
WILLIAMS, EDWARD (1746–1826), Welsh bard, known in Wales as ‘Iolo Morgannwg,’ was born on 10 March 1746 at Penon in the parish of Llan Carfan, Glamorganshire. His father was a stonemason; his mother, whose maiden name was Mathews, was of good birth and education. As a lad he was too weakly to attend school, and from the age of nine until his mother's death in 1770 he worked desultorily at his father's trade, and, with his mother's aid, made up by persistent study for his lack of schooling. On her death he left Glamorganshire, and for about seven years worked as a journeyman mason in various parts of England. He then returned to Wales, and in 1781 married Margaret, daughter of Rees Roberts of Marychurch. His occupation interfering with his health, he set up in 1797 a bookseller's shop at Cowbridge, but found the confinement irksome, and took to land surveying instead. Flemingston, in the vale of Glamorgan, now became his home, and from this centre he made long expeditions, always on foot, in search of manuscripts bearing on Welsh history. He died at Flemingston on 18 Dec. 1826, and was buried there. A tablet was erected to his memory in 1855.
Williams was not only a man of great powers of mind, but also of remarkable in-
