Henry Richard

A minister who became an MP and Secretary of the Peace Society

Born:

1812

Place of Birth:

Tregaron

School:

Llangeitho and Highbury College

Biography:

Henry Richard was a nonconformist minister who became known on the international stage as 'The Apostle of Peace'.

He was was born in Tregaron in 1812. Like his father the Rev. Ebeneser Richard, he too became a Nonconformist Minister.

He was opposed to war for moral and religious reasons, and was appointed Secretary of the Peace Society in 1848.

His life story is told in a plaque at the foot of the bronze statue which the sculptor Albert Toft was commissioned to design following Richard's death in 1888.

The monument was unveiled in a special ceremony in Tregaron main's square in August 1893 and still stands there today. The wording of the plaque reads as follows:

'Born here in Tregaron, he was educated for the Christian ministry, and in 1835 he was ordained in London. In 1848 he was appointed secretary to the Peace Society gaining an international reputation as 'The Apostle of Peace'.

In 1868 he became M.P. for the Merthyr constituency: and such was his concern for Welsh affairs that he became known as 'The Member for Wales'. He was also a prominent pioneer in education: he served on several commissions of enquiry, and in 1883 he became the first Vice-President of Cardiff University College

"I have always been mindful of three things: not to forget the language of my country: and the people and cause of my country: and to neglect no opportunity of defending the character and promoting of the interests of my country". "My hope for the abatement of the war system lies in permanent conviction of the people, rather than the policies of cabinets or the discussions of parliaments."'

your comments

Luke,Tregaron
Yes i think they should have more stuff to say about him.

Rhodri Edwards Tregaron
Yes i agree that they should have more stuff to do.

J. Cynddylan
My grandmother told me that he was a cousin of some kind. My father looked much like him. I used to go shearing in the 50s around that area, representing one farmer or another on pony-back. Halcyon days.

Brian Bothomley, Seattle USA
As a child I remember my grandparents who lived at Stags Head talking about Henry Richards with pride and reverence. I now live in Seattle WA USA and just east of Seattle is an area named Neport Hills with a town named Newcastle. There is a road that runs near the area called Richards Road, on an old map I discovered that it was once named Henry Richards Road. In the 1800 the area was a coal producing region with many coal mines. Just south of the Newport Hills is a place named Bryn Mawr, now how much more Welsh can you get. There must have been many early settlers that were miners from Wales that named these places and (Henry) Richards Road runs through there: http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/trafficcam/BellevueMap.htm this link has web cams on Richards Road. Anyway I find it interesting that I have ended up for the last 25 plus years in a place that has many ties to Wales and possibly Tregaron.

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