Robert Roberts (1680–1741) 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 ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

cleric and writer. He was

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of the parish of

Chirk Chirk ( cy, Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwy ...

in north-east Wales for over thirty years, and during his time there he wrote a bi-lingual explanation of the

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

and the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

for the use of the inhabitants of Chirk and the surrounding area, where both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

were spoken.

Life

Roberts was the son of Henry Roberts, who is described in the records of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

relating to Robert Roberts as being a "gentleman" and as being from

Llandysilio Llandysilio is a small village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Its population at the 2001 Census was 962, increasing to 1,122 at the 2011 census. The present parish church, dedicated to Saint Tysilio Saint Tysilio (also ...

, near Llangollen in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, Wales. Robert Roberts was educated at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

. He matriculated at the University of Oxford in March 1699, when he was recorded as being eighteen years old, and he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1702. Roberts was then ordained as a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and, in 1709, was appointed as vicar of the parish of

, Denbighshire. He remained there until his death in 1741, his tombstone recording that he was then 61 years old. Roberts wrote a booklet, in both

and

, entitled ''A duo-glott-exposition of the Creed, the ten Commandments and the Lords Prayer, calculated for the borders of England and Wales, but particularly for the use of the parish of Chirk, whose inhabitants are partly Welsh and partly English'' – the Welsh title was ''Sacrament Catechism, neu Gatechism i barattoi rhai i dderbyn Sacrament Swpper yr Arglwydd.'' The booklet was published in 1720 in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

by the printer and bookseller

Thomas Durston Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Robert 1680 births 1741 deaths 18th-century Welsh Anglican priests Welsh theologians Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford People from Chirk 18th-century Welsh theologians 18th-century Welsh writers 18th-century British male writers