Davies, William Jones (1851-1916)

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Primitive Methodist Magazine 1912

Early years

William was born in 1857 at Lydham, Montgomeryshire to parents Edward and Martha. Edward was a farmer. Younger brother, Edward Robinson Davies, was also a PM Minister.

William was educated at Bishop’s Castle Grammar School. He was converted when aged fifteen and placed on the plan two years later.

Ministry

As a preacher, William was of no mean order. Fresh, thoughtful and evangelical in the best sense, his preaching was made for edification and life.

William was a frequent contributor to the Primitive Methodist Review and was on the reviewing staff of the Hibbert Journal.

William became Principal of Hartley College in 1908.

His obituary records that his character was strong in its gentleness. He was wise, kind and upright; he believed that love was the greatest thing in the world. He was always modest and quiet, with a strong sense of humour.

William’s wife also possessed gifts as a preacher and writer. She was at the front of the Women’s Missionary Federation.

Literature

William authored the following.

The Minister at Work

The Life of Richard Jones

Family

William married Emily Jane Bradford (b1862) in the spring of 1883 at Cradley Heath, Staffordshire. Census returns identify seven children.

• William Claud Howard (b1884) – a PM Minister until 1916; later a Presbyterian Minister
• Edward John (b abt1886) – a board of trade deputy superintendent (1911)
• Mary Christine (b1888)
• George Denis (1888-1959)
• Marjorie Edith (b abt1892)
• Dorothy Llewella (1893-1976)
• Donald Bradford (1903-1972)

William died on 21 June 1916 at Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, Lancashire.

Circuits

• 1877 Darlaston
• 1879 Ludlow
• 1881 Cradley Heath
• 1885 Birmingham III
• 1888 Bishop’s Castle
• 1890 Birmingham I
• 1892 Wolverhampton
• 1894 Manchester IV
• 1899 Grimsby I
• 1903 Bury
• 1905 Stockport
• 1908 Principal of Hartley
• 1913 Manchester (S)

References

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1912/758; 1915/739; 1917/733

PM Minutes 1917/251

B A Barber, A Methodist Pageant, 1932, p220

R Newman Wycherley, The Pageantry of Methodist Union, 1932, p177

W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers