William Thomas Pennar Davies (12 November 1911 – 29 December 1996) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

clergyman and author. Born William Thomas Davies, in

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also * Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf Mountai ...

, the son of a miner, he took the name "Pennar" (a stream in Mountain Ash and the root of its Welsh name ''Aberpennar'') "as a sign of his identification with the native culture of Wales". Pennar Davies studied at University of Wales, Cardiff, at Balliol and

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist (Protestantism), Non ...

, and at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. In 1943 he became a

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. He was subsequently professor of Church History at Bala-Bangor Theological College and Brecon Congregational Memorial College, was Principal of Brecon Congregational Memorial College from 1950 and Principal of Swansea Memorial College from 1959 until his retirement in 1979. Davies wrote poetry under the pseudonym Davies Aberpennar. Until about 1948 he wrote in both Welsh and English, and after this almost exclusively in Welsh, which he had learnt as a young man. A member of

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 ...

, he was co-opted onto its National Executive Committee (Welsh: Pwyllgor Gwaith Cenedlaethol) at Easter 1947, Literary Editor of the party's monthly newspaper, ''The Welsh Nationalist'' from March 1947 and its Editor from April 1949. During this period, the newspaper published new poetry by

Idris Davies Idris Davies (6 January 1905 – 6 April 1953) was a Welsh poet. Born in Rhymney, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, he became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English. He was the only poet to cover signific ...

and

R. S. Thomas Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000), published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest ( Church of Wales) noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. John Betjeman, introduc ...

Davies stood as a Parliamentary candidate at

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

in the UK general elections of 1964 and the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. He was a leading campaigner for

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

broadcasting. Pennar Davies and his wife Rosemarie had five children. His eldest son Dr Meirion Pennar, became a leading Welsh language academic, poet and translator.

Works

Poetry

*''Cinio'r Cythraul'' (1946) *''Naw Wfft'' (1957) *''Yr Efrydd o Lyn Cynon'' (1961) *''Y Tlws yn y Lotws'' (1971)

Short stories

*''Y Dyn a'r Llygoden Mawr'' (1941) *''Caregl Nwyf'' (1966)

Novels

*''Meibion Darogan'' (1968) *''Mabinogi Mwys'' (1979)

Non-fiction

*''Rhwng Chwedl a Chredo'' (1966)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Pennar 1911 births 1996 deaths People from Mountain Ash, Wales 20th-century Congregationalist ministers Welsh-language poets Welsh-language writers Welsh-speaking clergy Welsh-speaking academics Welsh Congregationalist ministers 20th-century Welsh people 20th-century Welsh writers 20th-century Welsh poets