David Charles (hymn-writer)
David Charles (11 October 1762 – 2 September 1834), was a Welsh hymn-writer.[1]
Life[]
David Charles was born at , near St Clears in Carmarthenshire, the son of Rees and Jael Charles, and the younger brother of the Methodist leader Thomas Charles, later of Bala.[1]
He was apprenticed to a flax-dresser and rope-maker at Carmarthen and afterwards spent three years at Bristol. He returned to Carmarthen when he married Sarah, the daughter of Samuel Levi Phillips, a Haverfordwest banker, and set himself up as a tradesman. Long connected with the Calvinistic Methodists, he joined the congregation at Water Street Chapel and became an elder.[1] Charles began to preach at the age of forty-six, and was one of the first lay-preachers ordained ministers in South Wales in 1811.[2]
He helped to establish the "Home Mission", but was forced to retire in 1828 after suffering a stroke. He died on 2 September 1834, and was buried at Llangunnor.[2] There is a memorial to Charles, by Daniel Mainwaring, at Water Street Chapel.[3]
His best-known hymns include "O fryniau Caersalem ceir gweled" ("From the Hills of Jerusalem are Seen").[4]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Roberts, Gomer M. "David Charles, Calvinistic Methodist minister, and hymn-writer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Tout 1887.
- ^ "Local Information Sheet 31: Carmarthen" (PDF). Capel. The Chapels Heritage Society. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ [1]
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Tout, Thomas Frederick (1887). "Charles, David". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Sources[]
Books and Journals[]
- E. Wyn James, ‘David Charles (1762–1834), Caerfyrddin: Diwinydd, Pregethwr, Emynydd’, Cylchgrawn Hanes (Cymdeithas Hanes y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd)/Journal of the Historical Society of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, 36 (2012), 13–56. ISSN 0141-5255.
Online[]
- Roberts, Gomer M. "David Charles, Calvinistic Methodist minister, and hymn-writer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
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- 1762 births
- 1834 deaths
- Welsh Methodist hymnwriters
- Welsh Methodist ministers
- 18th-century Welsh clergy
- 19th-century Welsh clergy
- 18th-century Welsh writers
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