Timothy Rees was a Cardiganshire man, educated at St David's College School and then St David's College Lampeter where he was as a member of the 16' Club. He subsequently pursued a monastic vocation at the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield in Yorkshire. When in 1931 he became Bishop of Llandaff he was the first member of a religious community to be appointed to an Anglican see in Wales for over three centuries. He was a distinguished speaker both in English and Welsh and a respected hymnographer.
He was born to David Rees and his wife Catherine at Llain, Llanbadarn Trefeglwys, Ceridigion. The National Library of Wales, and others, report his birth as 15 August 1874, though some sources claim 1869.
Education
He was educated at Ardwyn School, Aberystwyth, the College School, Lampeter, and St David's College. He graduated B.A. in 1896. After a year at St Michael's College, Aberdare, he was ordained deacon in December 1897, and priest a year later.[1]
Rees's grave in the churchyard of Llandaff Cathedral, May 2020.
Service
He served two years as curate at Mountain Ash, then returned to S. Michael's College as lecturer. In 1906 he joined the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield, Yorks. He was principal of the theological college at Mirfield from 1922 to 1928.[2] He served there until his appointment as Bishop of Llandaff in 1931. He became bishop at the most acute stage of the industrial depression; he was instantly faced with the problems caused by widespread unemployment in the mining communities.[2] Although a prominent member of the Welsh establishment, he was definitely on the side of the working man.[3] As president of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Council of Social Service, he took a leading role in the promotion of occupational clubs and other activities for the jobless.[2] In 1935 he led a deputation to Whitehall to ask for government help in the rejuvenation of South Wales.[3] Rees remained at Llandaff until his death on 29 April 1939.[1] He was buried in the shadow of the cathedral; there is a floor brass to him in the Lady Chapel.[1]
Awards
He served as chaplain to the Forces for five years, from 1914 to 1919, working in Gallipoli, Egypt and on the Somme.[3] He was awarded the M.C for his work in rescuing and aiding wounded soldiers on the Somme.[1][2][4]
Hymns
He was the author of several hymns including "Holy Spirit, ever living as the church's very life," "God is love, let heaven adore him," (set to the tune Twigworth by Herbert Howells in 1968)[5] and "O crucified Redeemer."[6] His "Hymn for the Saints of Wales" can be found in this discussion thread.
Erik Reginald Routley was an English Congregational churchman, theologian and musician and arguably the most significant hymnologist of the 20th century. His nearly 40 books on theological thought and music of the Christian church are renowned. Raised in Brighton in a Congregational family, he spent his formative years at Lancing College in West Sussex. In 1936 he received an exhibition to Magdalen College, Oxford and afterward ministerial training at Mansfield College, Oxford. Ordained in 1943, Routley held pastorates in Wednesbury and Dartford before returning to Mansfield in 1948 as Chaplain, Lecturer, Librarian and Director of Music. In 1953, he was named to the Mackennal Chair of History. It was during these years that he became visible as an historian and hymn expert. He was also Chaplain of the Oxford Congregationalist Society and left a significant positive imprint on those he worked with. He joined the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1943 and became Editor of the Bulletin, their quarterly newsletter, for 27 years. He also wrote regularly for The British Weekly and the Congregational Monthly. His Oxford DPhil thesis (1951), The Church and Music: An enquiry into the history, the nature and scope of Christian judgement on music became the source for much of his writing for the rest of his life.
Rowland Williams was a Welsh theologian and educationalist. He was vice-principal and Professor of Hebrew at St David's College, Lampeter, from 1849 to 1862 and one of the most influential theologians of the nineteenth century. He supported biblical criticism and pioneered comparative religious studies in Britain. He was also a priest in the Church of England, and the vicar of Broad Chalke in Wiltshire, where he is buried. Williams is also credited with introducing rugby football to Wales; Lampeter's team was the first to be established in the nation.
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Gwilym Owen Williams was a prominent figure in the Church in Wales who served as Bishop of Bangor from 1957 to 1982 and Archbishop of Wales from 1971 to 1982.
Joshua Hughes was Bishop of St Asaph, an Anglican diocese in Wales, United Kingdom.
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Barry Cennydd Morgan KStJ is a Welsh from Neath, Wales who, from 2003 to Jan 2017, was Archbishop of Wales. He was both Primate and Metropolitan of the Church in Wales; Morgan was the Bishop of Bangor from 1992 to 1999, and was the Bishop of Llandaff from 1999 until his retirement in January 2017. He was the longest serving archbishop in the entire Anglican Communion.
The Community of the Resurrection (CR) is an Anglican religious community for men in England. It is based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and has 14 members as of April 2023. The community reflects Anglicanism in its broad nature and is strongly engaged in the life of the Anglican Communion. It also has a long tradition of ecumenical outlook and practice.
St Padarn's Institute came into being in 2016. Until then the site belonged to St Michael's College, an Anglican theological college in Llandaff, Wales. St Michael's college was founded in Aberdare in 1892, and was situated in Llandaff from 1907 until 2016. Among its many alumni was the poet R. S. Thomas. The original building on the site was a house constructed for himself by John Prichard. After his death, that building was incorporated into the newly-founded St Michael's College, which was built mainly to the designs of F. R. Kempson between 1905-1907. In the late 1950s, a chapel was built by George Pace. The college had significant financial problems in the early 21st century and was eventually closed.
Alwyn Rice Jones was Bishop of St Asaph from 1981 to 1999 and also Archbishop of Wales, the Welsh province of the Anglican Communion, from 1991 to 1999. During Rice Jones' tenure, the Church of Wales reformed its rules in order to ordain women priests, and to allow divorcees to remarry in church.
Leonard Hodgson was an Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, historian of the early Church and Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford from 1944 to 1958.
Rice Rees was a Welsh cleric and historian.
Howell Arthur John Witt was an Australian Anglican bishop for over 25 years who served two very different dioceses. During his time as Bishop of North West Australia, he published his memoir, entitled Bush Bishop. He subsequently served as Bishop of Bathurst from 1981 to 1989.
Roy Thomas Davies was a Welsh Anglican clergyman, who served as Bishop of Llandaff from 1985 to 1999.
Richard Lewis was the Anglican Bishop of Llandaff in Wales from 1883 to 1905.
Albert William Parry was a Welsh clergyman who served as the eighth Dean of St David's between 1940 and 1949 and Editor of Y Llan and Church News, the newspaper of the Church in Wales.
Richard David Fenwick OStJ is an Anglican prelate, and was Bishop of St Helena from 2011 to 2018.
John Rhys Davies was a Welsh Anglican priest of the Church in Wales, he served as Archdeacon of Merioneth from 1952 until his sudden death in January 1953.
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