Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jones, Samuel (1628-1697)
JONES, SAMUEL (1628–1697), one of the founders of Welsh nonconformity, was the son of John Roberts of Carwen in Merionethshire, but was born near Chirk Castle in Denbighshire in 1628, and, according to the Welsh custom of that age, adopted his father's christian name for his own surname. He entered Merton College, Oxford, probably as a commoner, and in 1648 was summoned before the parliamentary board of visitors, to whose authority he refused to submit. Accordingly, he was expelled from the university on 15 May; but it was ordered on 2 Nov. that he, along with three others expelled from Merton College, should be admitted as scholars of Jesus College (Burrows, Register of the Visitors of the University of Oxford, p. 210). He graduated B.A. in 1652, and M.A. in 1654, was elected fellow of Jesus College in 1652, and bursar on 28 Jan. 1655 (ib. p. 408). He received presbyterian ordination at Taunton, and on 4 May 1657 was inducted to the living of Llangynwyd, near Bridgend in Glamorganshire, from which he was ejected on the passing of the Act of Uniformity in 1662. Nine or ten years after he established at Brynllywarch—a substantial farmhouse where he lived—the first nonconforming academy in Wales. There he educated many sons of the gentry and others for the ministry. According to Calamy he was a ‘great philosopher, a considerable master of the Latin and Greek tongues, and a pretty good orientalist’ (Nonconformist's Memorial, Palmer's ed. 1775, ii. 624). After the establishment of the Presbyterian Fund in 1689, Jones's school was selected by the board as one of the places for the education of its exhibitioners, and there were usually six students at his school, enjoying the benefits of the fund. It is from this institution that the present Presbyterian College at Carmarthen traces its origin, though it had many habitations before being finally located at Carmarthen (The Presbyterian Fund, by Walter D. Jeremy; Rees, Welsh Nonconformity, pp. 493–7).
In 1665 Jones was pressed by Dr. Lloyd, the bishop of Llandaff, to submit to re-ordination, and to accept a living, but Jones drew up a number of queries dealing with his objections and difficulties, and presumably these were not answered to his satisfaction, for the offer was not accepted (Calamy, Account, 1713, p. 721). This may have occasioned a change in the attitude of some churchmen towards him, for it is said that after the death of Dr. Lloyd, and during the time of his successor, Dr. Francis Davies, who was bishop of Llandaff from 1667 to 1674, Jones suffered imprisonment on account of his nonconformity. In 1672 he was licensed to preach at four different houses besides his own, two belonging to his father-in-law, and at last two permanent places of worship were erected through his instrumentality, one at Bettws and the other at Bridgend. His urbanity and sound judgment made him popular even with rigid churchmen; an affectionate letter addressed to him by Dr. Robert South [q. v.] is preserved among the Ayscough MSS. (4276, No. 86) in the British Museum, and is published in Dr. Rees's ‘Welsh Nonconformity’ (pp. 236–41).
Jones gained some distinction as a Welsh poet, and was present at an important eisteddfod held at Beaupré at Whitsuntide, 1681. Several of his compositions are preserved in ‘Cyfrinach y Beirdd,’ and one English poem, written on his recovery from a serious illness, was published by Rees (op. cit.)
He died 7 Sept. 1697, and was buried in the churchyard of Llangynwyd parish, where a substantial monument is about to be placed over his grave by public subscription. Jones was twice married: first, to Mary, daughter of Rees Powell of Maesteg, by Joanna, daughter of the Rev. Morgan Jones, D.D., treasurer of Llandaff, by whom he had fourteen children, most of whom died during his own lifetime; and secondly, on 14 Aug. 1677, to Maria David of St. Lythians, near Cardiff.