![Memorial to David Williams, Caerphilly, May 2020 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Memorial_to_David_Williams%2C_Caerphilly%2C_May_2020_02.jpg)
David Williams (1738 – 29 June 1816) was a Welsh philosopher of the
Enlightenment
Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to:
Age of Enlightenment
* Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...
period. He was an ordained minister, theologian and political
polemic
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...
ist, and was the founder in 1788 of the
Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...
, of which he had been a proponent since 1773.
Upbringing
Williams was born in a house called Waun Waelod in Watford
near
Caerphilly
Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley.
It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...
. His early education was partly under John Smith, vicar of Eglwysilan, and he went on to a local school run by his namesake,
David Williams. His father, William David, was converted to
Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
by
Howell Harris
Howell Harris ( cy, Howel Harris, italic=no; 23 January 1714 – 21 July 1773) was a Calvinistic Methodist evangelist. He was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland and William Wil ...
; it was at his request that David Williams entered the ministry. Rev. David, an unfortunate speculator in mines and miners' tools, died in 1752; the family consisted of one surviving son and two daughters.
His father on his deathbed made David promise to enter
Carmarthen Academy to qualify as a dissenting minister. He studied there, with an exhibition from the London presbyterian board (1753 to Christmas 1757), under Evan Davies, a pupil of
John Eames
John Eames (2 February 1686 – 29 June 1744) was an English Dissenting tutor.
Life
Eames was born in London on 2 February 1686. He was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School on 10 March 1696–7, and was subsequently trained for the dissenting m ...
. The academy, hitherto Calvinist, had begun to acquire a heterodox repute. From February 1755 the London congregational board sent no students, owing to the alleged
Arianism
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...
of Davies's assistant, Samuel Thomas. Davies himself resigned his chair in 1759 under suspicion of
Arminianism
Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...
. Williams' views were unconventional, largely thanks to his four years study at Carmarthen Academy, and he was regarded as a
Deist
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...
.
Ordination
Williams was ordained in 1758 to the charge of the dissenting congregation at
Frome
Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...
, Somerset, on a stipend of £45. This was the congregation from which
Thomas Morgan, the deist, had been dismissed in 1720. Williams's theological views did not prove satisfactory. In 1761 he moved to the Mint meeting,
Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, founded by
James Peirce
James Peirce (1674?–1726) was an English dissenting minister, the catalyst for the Salter's Hall controversy.
Early life
The son of John Peirce, he was born at Wapping about 1674. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, were members of ...
. Here he was reordained. He prepared ''A Liturgy on the Principles of the Christian Religion'', which is said to have been adopted by his congregation. He soon quarrelled with 'elder members' who objected to his opinions. He retorted by finding fault with their morals. By way of an 'accommodation' he left Exeter about 1769 to take charge of a waning congregation in Southwood Lane,
Highgate
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...
. To this congregation the father of
John Wilkes
John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...
used to drive in a coach-and-six. In this charge he appears to have remained till 1773. His withdrawal was ascribed by himself to 'the intrigues of a lady', and to no rejection of revelation, 'which he had taken for granted'. His successor, in 1774, was
Joseph Towers
Joseph Towers (31 March 1737 – 20 May 1799) was an English Dissenter and biographer.
Life and work
He was born in Southwark on 31 March 1737. His father was a secondhand bookseller, and at the age of 12 he was employed as a stationer's errand b ...
. His first publication, ''The Philosopher, in Three Conversations'', 1771, (dedicated to
Lord Mansfield
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...
and
Bishop Warburton), containing a project of church reform, drew the attention of
John Jebb. With the co-operation of John Lee, a proposal was set on foot for opening a chapel in London with an expurgated prayer-book. Williams was to draw attention to the plan through the public papers. His communications to the ''Public Advertiser'' republished as ''Essays on Public Worship, Patriotism, and Projects of Reformation'', 1773, were so deistic in tone as to put an end to the scheme.
Letter to David Garrick
A taste for the drama led to his acquaintance with
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
whom he met at the house of a hostess of 'the wits of the time.' With this lady he visited
Henry Mossop
Henry Mossop (1729 – 18 November 1773) was an Irish actor.
Life
He was born in Dunmore, County Galway, where his father was a clergyman. He made his first stage appearance as Zanga in Young's tragedy ''The Revenge'' at the Smock Alley Theatr ...
, the actor, who attributed his misfortunes to Garrick's neglect. Williams wrote to the papers embodying Mossop's view, but the communication was not printed. Three
months later he published his keen but truculent ''Letter to David Garrick'', 1772. According to a note by
John Philip Kemble
John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on t ...
in the British Museum copy there was a second edition; Williams, in an advertisement at the end of his ''Lectures'', 1779, vol. i., claims the authorship of the ''Letter'', and affirms that there was 'a surreptitious edition'. Morris, who reprints the ''Letter'' with a wrong date (1770), says it was withdrawn from sale. In the ''Private Correspondence of David Garrick'', 1831, is a letter (2 October 1772), signed ''D. Ws'' hinting that the published 'Letter' was by 'a young man who is making himself known us a first-rate genius.... His name is Williams. He is intimate at Captain Pye's.
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
knows him, and I have seen him go into
Johnson
Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...
's'.
James Boaden
James Boaden (23 May 1762 – 16 February 1839) was an English biographer, dramatist, and journalist.
Biographer
He was the son of William Boaden, a merchant in the Russia trade. He was born at Whitehaven, Cumberland, on 23 May 1762, and at ...
, the editor of the 'Correspondence' calls the writer (evidently Williams himself) an 'arrogant boy '. On Mossop's death (18 November 1773) Williams wrote to Garrick, and received a touching reply.
School and churches
In 1773 Williams took a house in Lawrence Street,
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, married Mary Emilia, a woman without a fortune, and set up a school. As the fruit of his ministry he published a volume of ''Sermons, chiefly upon Religious Hypocrisy'' (1774). His educational ideas, founded on those of
John Amos Comenius
John Amos Comenius (; cs, Jan Amos Komenský; pl, Jan Amos Komeński; german: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considere ...
, he embodied in his ''Treatise on Education'' (1774). Book-learning he subordinated to scientific training based on a first-hand knowledge of facts. He made a novel application of the
drunken helot plan, obtaining from a
workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
a 'lying boy' as a
object lesson His school 'prospered beyond his expectations', but the death of his wife (in 1774)
[ for a time unmanned him. He tore himself away, 'leaving his scholars to shift for themselves', and 'secluded himself in a distant country' for 'many months'. He went to ]Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level. , according to some accounts; he never returned to Chelsea.
In 1774 Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
'took refuge from a political storm' in Williams's house, and became interested in his method of teaching arithmetic. Franklin joined a small club formed at Chelsea by Williams, the manufacturer Thomas Bentley
Thomas Bentley (23 February 1884 – 23 December 1966) was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, ''The Man in the Street'' (1926), '' ...
(partner of Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
), and James "Athenian" Stuart
James "Athenian" Stuart (1713 – 2 February 1788) was a Scottish archaeologist, architect and artist, best known for his central role in pioneering Neoclassicism.
Life
Early life
Stuart was born in 1713 in Creed Lane, Ludgate Street, London ...
. At this club Williams broached the scheme of a society for relieving distressed authors, which Franklin did not encourage him to pursue. It was noted at the club that most of the members, though 'good men', yet 'never went to church'. Franklin regretted the want of 'a rational form of devotion'. To supply this, Williams, with aid from Franklin, drew up a form. It was printed six times before it satisfied its sponsors, and was eventually published as ''A Liturgy on the Universal Principles of Religion and Morality'', 1776.[
On 7 April 1776, Williams opened for morning service a vacant chapel near ]Cavendish Square
Cavendish Square is a public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square in the much lar ...
(the building was replaced in 1858 by All Saints, Margaret Street
All Saints, Margaret Street, is a Grade I listed Anglo-Catholic church in London. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built between 1850 and 1859. It has been hailed as Butterfield's masterpiece and a pioneering buil ...
), using his liturgy, and reading lectures, with texts usually from the Bible, sometimes from classic authors. He got 'about a score of auditors', who seem to have been persons of distinction. The opening lecture was published. Copies of the liturgy were sent to Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
and to Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
, who returned appreciative letters in bad French and good English respectively. International botanical travellers Sir Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...
and Daniel Solander
Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.
Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil.
Biography
...
'now and then peeped into the chapel, and got away as fast as they decently could'. Williams's ''Letter to the Body of Protestant Dissenters'', 1777, is a plea for such breadth of toleration as would legally cover such services as his. All the expenses fell on Williams, who was saved from ruin only by the subscription to his ''Lectures on the Universal Principles and Duties of Religion and Morality'' 1779. These lectures (critical rather than constructive, and not eloquent, though well written) were read at the chapel in 1776–1777. The experiment is said to have lasted four years, but it is probable that after the second year the services were not held in Margaret Street; they were transferred, on the advice of Robert Melvill
General Robert Melvill (or Melville) LLD (12 October 1723 – 29 August 1809) was a Scottish soldier, antiquary, botanist and inventor.
Melvill invented (1759) the Carronade, a cast-iron cannon popular for 100 years, in co-operation with the ...
e, to a room in the British Coffee House
The British Coffee House was a coffeehouse at 27 Cockspur Street, London.
It is known to have existed in 1722, and was run in 1759 by a sister of John Douglas (bishop of Salisbury), and then by Mrs. Anderson, and was particularly popular with t ...
, Cockspur Street
Cockspur Street is a short street in the City of Westminster, London, within which a very short part of Trafalgar Square links Charing Cross to Pall Mall/Pall Mall East at the point where that road changes name, opposite the traffic exit from ...
, Melville giving a dinner in Brewer Street
Brewer Street is a street in the Soho area of central London, running west to east from Glasshouse Street to Wardour Street.
The street was first developed in the late 17th century by the landowner Sir William Pulteney. It first appears on ...
after service, 'with excellent Madeira
)
, anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira")
, song_type = Regional anthem
, image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg
, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
'. The statement by Thomas Somerville that Melville took him, in the period 1779–1785, to the service in 'Portland' Square is no doubt due to a slip of memory. Somerville's further statement that the 'dispersion of his flock' was due to Williams's 'immorality' becoming 'notorious' seems a groundless slander. No hint of it is conveyed in the satiric lampoon ''Orpheus, Priest of Nature'' 1781, which affirms, on the contrary, that Williams's principles were too strict for his hearers. The appellation 'Priest of Nature' is said to have been first given him by Franklin; 'Orpheus' ascribes it to 'a Socratic woollen-draper of Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
'. Gregoire affirms that he had it from Williams that a number of his followers passed from deism
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the Philosophy, philosophical position and Rationalism, rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that Empirical evi ...
to atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
.
Williams now supported himself by taking private pupils. After the speech of Sir George Savile on 17 March 1779 in favour of an amendment of the Toleration Act, Williams published a letter on ''The Nature and Extent of Intellectual Liberty'', 1779, claiming that religious toleration
Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
should be without restriction. It was answered by Manasseh Dawes. In the same year, and with the same object, he translated and published Voltaire's ''Treatise on Toleration'', ''Ignorant Philosopher'' and ''Commentary on Beccaria''. In 1780 he issued ''A Plan of Association on Constitutional Principles''; and on the formation of county associations for parliamentary reform he published his ''Letters on Political Liberty'' (1782).[ This was translated into French the following year by ]Jacques Pierre Brissot
Jacques Pierre Brissot (, 15 January 1754 – 31 October 1793), who assumed the name of de Warville (an English version of "d'Ouarville", a hamlet in the village of Lèves where his father owned property), was a leading member of the Girondins dur ...
, then in London conducting the Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...
. Jean-Marie Roland, vicomte de la Platière
Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
* Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult expert, and graduate in criminal law
* Jean-Marie Ch ...
, a friend of Brissot, visited London in 1784, when Williams made his acquaintance.
Williams's publications at this period include ''Letters concerning Education'' 1785; ''Royal Recollections on a Tour to Cheltenham'' (anon.), 1788; ''Lectures on Political Principles'' 1789; ''Lectures on Education'', 1789; ''Lessons to a Young Prince'' (anon.), 1790.
Literary fund
The idea of a "literary fund" to aid "distressed talents" was again suggested by Williams in a club of six persons, formed on the discontinuance of his Sunday lectures (1780), and meeting at the Prince of Wales's coffee-house, Conduit Street
Conduit Street is a street in Mayfair, London. It connects Bond Street to Regent Street.
History
The street was first developed in the early 18th century on the Conduit Mead Estate, which the Corporation of London had owned since the 15th centu ...
. Among its original members, besides Williams, were Captain Thomas Morris, John Gardner (vicar of Battersea
Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park.
History
Batter ...
), and perhaps the printer John Nichols. Fruitless applications were made after 1783 to William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
(who thought the matter very important), Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...
, Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
, and Sir Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...
. An advertisement was published (October 1786), 'with no material effect'. The death in a debtors' prison
A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Historic ...
(1 April 1787) of Floyer Sydenham led Williams to press the matter. The club, not being unanimous, was dissolved, and another (of eight members) formed. At its first meeting (spring of 1788) the constitution of the Literary Fund, drawn up by Williams, was adopted, each member subscribing a guinea. An advertisement (10 May 1788) invited further subscriptions. The first general meeting to elect officers was held on Tuesday 18 May 1790 at the Prince of Wales's coffee-house. In the course of twelve years £1,738 was distributed among 105 persons. The society was incorporated 19 May 1818; in 1842 it became the Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...
. By the close of the century it possessed an income exceeding £4,000, half from investments, and half from annual contributions.
Later life
At the instance of Dr. Hooper of Pant-y-Goetre and Morgan of Tredegar, Williams undertook to write a history of 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 ...
, and in 1792 visited the county to collect materials. Shortly afterwards Roland
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
, during his second term of office as minister of the interior, invited Williams to Paris. He went over about August 1792, was made a French citizen, and remained till the execution (21 January 1793) of Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
, a measure which he strongly deprecated. While in Paris he published ''Observations sur la derniere Constitution de la France'', 1793. He brought with him, on his return, a letter to William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...
, from Lebrun, minister of war, who wished to make Williams a medium of communication between the two governments; but no notice was taken of it. An engagement previously entered into for completing the continuation of Hume's ''History of England'' was cancelled, owing to the political odium incurred by his visit to France. His ''History of Monmouthshire'', 1796, with illustrations drawn and partly engraved by his friend Gardner, and a very modest introduction, was considered a standard work on the subject; unfortunately it has no index.
After the peace of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...
(1802) he again visited France. It was surmised that he had been entrusted with some confidential mission by the English government. Before leaving he had published ''Claims of Literature'', 1802, an authorised account of the Literary Fund. On his return he issued one or two anonymous political tracts, showing, it is said, a diminished confidence in revolutionary methods. His authorship of some anonymous publications is doubtful. On internal evidence he is credited with ''Egeria'', 1803, intended as a first volume of a periodical devoted to political economy. His pecuniary resources failed him.
He had suffered from paralytic attacks, and had a severe stroke in 1811, from which time his faculties declined. He was invited to take up his abode in the house of the Literary Fund, 36 Gerrard Street, Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, and there he remained till his death, regularly attending the society's meetings. At a special meeting of the general committee, held without Williams's knowledge on 25 July 1815, it was resolved to offer him £50 every six months, as evidence of the committee's 'attachment to the first principles of their society'. Only one instalment was paid before his death on 29 June 1816. A second instalment was handed to his niece and housekeeper, Mary Watkins. On 6 July he was buried in St Anne's Church, Soho
Saint Anne's Church serves in the Church of England the Soho section of London. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the parish church of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Anne, created from part of the par ...
, where there is a brief inscription to his memory.
His will, dated 16 July 1814, left his papers to his executors, Richard Yates and Thomas Wittingham; his other property went to his niece and housekeeper, Mary Watkins (died 5 February 1845), who moved from Gerrard Street to Lower Sloane Street, and afterwards to King's Road, Chelsea.
A memorial to Williams was erected in 1911 in the park adjoining Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle ( cy, Castell Caerffili) is a medieval fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales. The castle was constructed by Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to maintain control of Glamorgan, and saw extensi ...
, now named David Williams Park. It was listed Grade II in 1999.
Works
*''Treatise on Education'' (1774)
*''A Liturgy on the Universal Principles of Religion and Morality'' (1776)
*''Letters on Political Liberty'' (1782)
*''History of Monmouthshire'' (1796)
References
*
;Attribution
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, David
1738 births
1816 deaths
People from Caerphilly County Borough
Welsh Congregationalist ministers
18th-century Congregationalist ministers
19th-century Congregationalist ministers
Welsh theologians
Welsh philosophers
18th-century Welsh historians
18th-century British philosophers
18th-century British male writers
18th-century Welsh educators
19th-century British philosophers
19th-century Welsh writers
Burials at St Anne's Church, Soho