Abraham Matthews (November 1832- 1 April 1899) was a Welsh Independent (Congregationalist) minister and one of the founders of the Welsh settlement in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

Early life

He was born at Llanidloes,

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

, in November 1832. His parents were John Matthews, a weaver, and Ann Jones, but Abraham was raised by relatives who were farmers. He had little formal education but eventually went to Bala College in his twenties, where he was influenced by Michael D. Jones.

Ministry in the Aberdare Valley

He was ordained at

Horeb, Llwydcoed Horeb, Llwydcoed is an Independent (Congregationalist) chapel in Llwydcoed, Aberdare, Wales. Early history Prayer meetings had been held in the Llwydcoed district for many years by members of Ebenezer, Trecynon. Eventually they built a schoolroom ...

and Elim, Cwmdare in 1859 and remained there until 1865. In that year he gave up his pastorate in order to join the first group of migrants to Patagonia. He was presented with a testimonial at Horeb although some of the members expressed doubts about the venture.

Abraham Matthews in Patagonia

In May 1865, Matthews sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

on the ''

Mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resemb ...

'' and was a member of the first party of Welsh settlers to leave for Patagonia. The ship arrived in South America on 28 July 1865 and the settlers landed at what later became known as Porth Madryn. The settlers had very few resources and Matthews was struck by a serious illness while crossing the prairie between Porth Madryn and the Camwy valley. He was instrumental in persuading the settlers to remain in Patagonia when several of their number sought to abandon the enterprise. For many years he was the leading figure in the Welsh settlement and was known as Esgob y Wladfa (the Bishop of the settlement). He remained in Patagonia for the rest of his life, although paying several visits to Wales. He died in April 1899. He left a widow, Gwenllian, whom he had married in 1862.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Abraham Welsh Congregationalist ministers 1832 births 1899 deaths People from Llanidloes