Owen Prys (25 September 1857 – 12 December 1934) was a Calvinistic Methodist minister and first Principal of the United Theological College in

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(1906–27) and Moderator of the

Presbyterian Church of Wales The Presbyterian Church of Wales ( cy, Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru), also known as Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity in Wales. History The church was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the ...

in 1910.Owen Prys
on the

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 ...

The Welsh scholar Sir Ifor Williams described him as one of the most powerful preachers of the 20th-century.

Biography

Born in 1857 the son of Absalom and Ann Prys of the Factory,

Pen-llwyn Pen-llwyn is a hamlet in the community of Melindwr, Ceredigion, Wales, which is 72.5 miles (116.7 km) from Cardiff and 175.4 miles (282.3 km) from London. Penllwyn is represented in the Senedd by Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) and is part of ...

, near

, he studied at the National School in Pen-llwyn under his uncle after which he was for a period a pupil-teacher at the local British School. In 1876 he attended the

Normal College A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

in Bangor following which he was headmaster of the Board School at

Goginan Goginan is a small village in Ceredigion, about 7 miles outside Aberystwyth on the A44 between Ponterwyd and Capel Bangor. The Afon Melindwr runs through the village, and is a tributary of the Afon Rheidol. The village originally grew around farm ...

until 1893. At Bangor he had studied music and mathematics, but after leaving college he was influenced by

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

and

William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...

and developed an interest in

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. In 1883 he went to

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, but on winning a £100 scholarship he transferred to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

from where he graduated in 1886 with first class honours in the Moral Sciences Tripos. He remained for a further year at Cambridge and in 1887 was appointed lecturer at

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

as assistant to Robert Adamson. He then spent a year in Germany, spending most of his time there at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

.D. Ben Rees (ed), ''Vehicles of Grace and Hope: Welsh Missionaries in India, 1800-1970'', William Carey Library (2002)
-

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

pg 175John Venn (ed), ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge from the Earliest Times to 1900: Volume 2 From 1752 to 1900''

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

(2011) - Google Books] pg 213 Prys began to preach in 1883 and quickly came to notice for the enthusiasm, depth and intelligence of his sermons. In 1890 he was appointed a tutor at Trefeca#Trevecca College, Trevecka College and in 1891 was ordained and appointed Principal; the college moved to Aberystwyth in 1906 as the United Theological College and amalgamated with

Bala College Bala-Bangor was a theological seminary belonging to the Welsh Independents ( Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg), an association of Welsh congregationalists. It was founded in 1841 at Llanuwchllyn, then moved to a permanent location at Bala, Gwyne ...

in 1922 with Prys remaining as Principal through all these changes until his retirement in 1927 when he was succeeded by

Howel Harris Hughes Howel Harris Hughes (7 September 1873 – 23 November 1956) was a Welsh theologian and Presbyterian minister. He was Principal of the United Theological College in Aberystwyth in from 1927 to 1939. Biography Hughes was born in Brynteg, Llanfa ...

. He taught

Divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

and

Christian Ethics Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system: it is a virtue ethic which focuses on building moral character, and a deontological ethic which emphasizes duty. It also incorporates natural law ethics, whic ...

with a devout fervour. He married Elizabeth Parry, the eldest daughter of John Parry of Tal-y-bryn, Bwlch, Brecknock in 1893 and with her had two daughters. In 1904 he delivered the ‘Davies Lecture’ at Cardiff on ‘The Doctrine of Man.’ He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly in 1910 and of the South Wales Association in 1917. In 1922 he was given the honorary degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

by the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

. He was again elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the

for the 1935 bi-centenary celebrations of the denomination but died in December 1934 before he could take up that office. His papers are held by the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

.Prys, Owen (1857-1934) Principal of Aberystwyth Theological College
-

Collection

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prys, Owen 1857 births 1934 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Manchester Principals of the United Theological College, Aberystwyth People from Aberystwyth Welsh-speaking clergy Welsh-speaking academics 19th-century Welsh educators 19th-century Welsh theologians 20th-century Welsh educators 20th-century Welsh theologians Welsh Presbyterians Welsh scholars and academics Welsh theologians 19th-century Presbyterians 20th-century Presbyterians