Beriah Gwynfe Evans (12 February 1848 – 4 November 1927) was a journalist, Congregationalist,

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician and

Welsh Nationalist Welsh nationalism ( cy, Cenedlaetholdeb Cymreig) emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self determination which includes ...

Early life

Born at

Nant-y-glo Nantyglo () is a village in the ancient parish of Aberystruth and county of Monmouth situated deep within the South Wales Valleys between Blaina and Brynmawr in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent. Governance An electoral ward in the same name ...

, near

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, Evans was educated at the Beaufort British School and became a teacher at

Gwynfe Gwynfe () or Capel Gwynfe is a small village inside the portion of Brecon Beacons National Park that is in Carmarthenshire, a county of southwestern Wales. This village is situated between Trichrug and the western slopes of the Black Mountain, t ...

and

Llangadog Llangadog () is a village and community located in Carmarthenshire, Wales, which also includes the villages of Bethlehem and Capel Gwynfe. A notable local landscape feature is Y Garn Goch with two Iron Age hill forts.The Welsh Academy Encycloped ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

. However, his ambition was to become a journalist.

Teacher and playwright

As a playwright, Evans helped to introduce a sceptical Nonconformity to contemporary drama with a patriotic play, ''

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...

'', performed at the

Llanberis (; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking ...

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

of 1879. Evans was heavily involved in

Welsh language literature Welsh-language literature ( cy, Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg) has been produced continuously since the emergence of Welsh from Brythonic as a distinct language in around the 5th century AD. Huws Daniel National Library of Wales and Centre for Advanced W ...

and publishing, as a member of the Gorsedd.

Journalist

In 1880, Evans established the monthly magazine ''Cyfail yr Aelwyd'', and in 1887 gave up teaching for a career in journalism, joining the staff of the ''South Wales Daily News'' in Cardiff. Concurrently he edited the Welsh section of the ''Cardiff Times and South Wales Weekly News''. In 1892, he moved to

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...

as Managing Editor of the Welsh National Press Co., publishers of '' Y Genedl Gymreig'', ''The North Wales Observer'' and other papers. In 1917 he became editor of the Congregationalist weekly ''Y Tyst''. Beriah Evans was an ally of

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

and others present at the Newport meeting of 16 January 1896. As Secretary of Cymru Fydd from 1895, Evans was in the vanguard of its offensive across Wales. Lloyd George spoke against a motion to make Evans's post at Newport merely unpaid and honorary, "and curiously enough we carried that." Once Lloyd George had swung the meeting against the resolution, the decision was made to exclude him from any discussion on the second motion, that of four sub-federations. The Cardiff Cymru Fydd society became known as "Beriah's baumkin". He then turned his hand to writing novels and produced a fine biography of Lloyd George. In his final years, he joined the infant

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

. Evans, as a

Liberal Imperialist The Liberal Imperialists were a faction within the British Liberal Party around 1900 regarding the policy toward the British Empire. They supported the Boer War which most Liberals opposed, and wanted the Empire ruled on a more benevolent basis. Th ...

, broke with Lloyd George over the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

Works

*''The Life Romance of Lloyd George'' (1915) *''Owain Glyndŵr'' (play) (1880)Virtual reality recreates Owain Glyndwr's Sycharth home
BBC News. 12 September 2019 *''Dafydd Davis'' (novel) (1898)

References

*R. Tudur Jones, ''Congregationalism in Wales'' *''

Dictionary of Welsh Biography The ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' (DWB) (also ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940'' and ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography, 1941 to 1970'') is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to ...

'' *National Library of Wales, D. A. Thomas Papers *National Library of Wales, William George Papers *National Library of Wales, Sir John Herbert Lewis Papers {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Beriah Gwynfe 1848 births 1927 deaths Welsh journalists Welsh-language writers People from Ebbw Vale Welsh dramatists and playwrights Liberal Party (UK) politicians Plaid Cymru politicians Bards of the Gorsedd