Thomas Powel | |
|---|---|
 Prof. Powel photographed by John Thomas | |
| Born | 1845 |
| Died | 1922 |
| Occupation | Professor of Celtic |
Thomas Powel (1845 – 16 May 1922) was a Welsh Celtic scholar, who was Professor of Celtic at University College, Cardiff from 1884 [1] to 1918.
Powel was born in Llanwrtyd in 1845 and educated there and in Llandovery before matriculating at Jesus College, Oxford in 1869. He obtained a BA degree in Literae Humaniores in 1872.
He taught at the Independent College in Taunton from 1878 to 1880, when he was appointed headmaster of Bootle College, holding that position until 1883. He then became an assistant lecturer in classics at the new University College, Cardiff, then lecturer in Celtic. In the following year, 1884, he was appointed Professor of Celtic, continuing in this position until he retired in 1918. He edited (1879–1886) and contributed articles on linguistics and literature to the Welsh language journal Y Cymmrodor; he also edited medieval texts, including Thomas Stephens's version of Y Gododdin .
He helped Cardiff to obtain important manuscripts and books for the university and city libraries and was a member of the governing body of the National Library of Wales from its foundation. He said that he chose to give his time to his students rather than to his own research. The University of Wales awarded him an honorary D.Litt. degree in 1921. He died in Aberystwyth on 16 May 1922. [2]
Llanwrtyd is a small settlement in Powys, mid-Wales, giving its name to a community, in the historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), through which flows the River Irfon. It lies 1.5 miles north of the town of Llanwrtyd Wells.
Daniel Silvan Evans was a Welsh clergyman, scholar and lexicographer. Educated at the Independent College in Brecon, Silvan Evans worked as a schoolmaster for five years. On marriage he conformed to the Established Church, studying at St David's College, Lampeter, where he became lecturer in Welsh. Ordained deacon in 1848 and priest the following year he served curacies at Llandegwning parish in Llŷn and from 1852 to 1862 at nearby Llangian, Caernarfonshire. In 1862 he was appointed to the living of Llanymawddwy, Merioneth.
Sir John Rhŷs, was a Welsh scholar, fellow of the British Academy, Celticist and the first professor of Celtic at Oxford University.
William John Gruffydd was a Welsh scholar, poet, writer and editor, and the last Member of Parliament to represent the University of Wales seat.
David James Jones, commonly known by his bardic name Gwenallt, was a Welsh poet, critic, and scholar, and one of the most important figures of 20th-century Welsh-language literature. He created his bardic name by transposing Alltwen, the name of the village across the river from his birthplace.
Thomas Stephens was a Welsh historian, literary critic, and social reformer. His works include The Literature of the Kymry (1849,1876), Madoc: An Essay on the Discovery of America by Madoc ap Owen Gwynedd in the Twelfth Century (1858,1893), and Orgraff yr Iaith Gymraeg (1859), as well as a number of prize-winning essays presented at eisteddfodau between 1840 and 1858. He was the first Welsh historian and literary critic to employ rigorous scientific methods, and is considered to have done more to raise the standards of the National Eisteddfod than any other Welshman of his time. Stephens also figured prominently in efforts to implement social, educational and sanitary reforms both locally in Merthyr Tydfil and more broadly throughout Wales.
Henry Lewis CBE was Professor of Welsh Language and Literature at the University College of Swansea from 1921 to 1954.
John Jenkins was a Welsh poet and theologian. Known by his bardic name of Gwili, he served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1932 to 1936.
The Jesus Chair of Celtic is a professorship in Celtic studies at the University of Oxford within the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. The holder is also a Professorial Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. Just six people have held the chair since it was established in 1876, the first of whom was Sir John Rhys. The previous post-holder, Thomas Charles-Edwards, retired in 2011. An appeal to ensure the continuation of the chair successfully raised £3.25 million by the end of 2018, and in 2020 the post was taken up by its current incumbent David Willis.
The Reverend Professor Thomas Glyn Watkin KC is a Welsh lawyer and the first person to be appointed to the post of First Legislative Counsel to the Welsh Government, taking up his post in April 2007.
Gwyn Jones was a Welsh novelist and story writer, and a scholar and translator of Nordic literature and history.
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Thomas Llewellyn Thomas was a Welsh Anglican clergyman and scholar of the Welsh language. He wrote poems in English, Latin and Welsh and worked on a Basque translation of the Old Testament. He was a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford for twenty-five years, including fifteen years as Vice-Principal, but failed to be elected Principal in 1895, losing out to John Rhys.
Colin H. Williams is a senior research associate at the VHI, l St Edmund's College, the University of Cambridge, UK. He was formerly a research professor in sociolinguistics, and later a honorary professor, in the School of Welsh at Cardiff University.
John Gwyn Griffiths was a Welsh poet, Egyptologist and nationalist political activist who spent the largest span of his career lecturing at Swansea University.
Thomas Iorwerth Ellis OBE was a Welsh classicist, who wrote many books on Welsh literature and Welshmen, including a biography of his father, Thomas Edward Ellis.
Peredur Ionor Lynch is a Welsh academic who serves as professor of Welsh & Medieval Literature in the School of Welsh and Celtic Studies at Bangor University.
Percy Mansell Jones was a Welsh Professor of French.
Geraint Huw Jenkins, FBA, FLSW is a historian of Wales and a retired academic. He was Professor of Welsh History at the Aberystwyth University from 1990 to 1993, when he became Director of the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. In 2009, he retired from academia and was appointed Professor Emeritus of Welsh History at the University of Wales.
Alwyn David Rees (1911-1974) was a Welsh geographer, social anthropologist and Welsh nationalist, who wrote as Alwyn D. Rees. After studying geography and anthropology at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, he was a tutor in the College's External Department from 1936 to 1946. He was a lecturer in the Department of Geography and Anthropology until 1949, when he was appointed Director of the External Studies Department. Rees pioneered the rural sociology of Britain with Life in a Welsh countryside (1950), a community study of the Welsh village of Llanfihangel yng Ngwynfa. From 1966 until his death he edited the Welsh magazine Barn.
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