Rowland Heylyn (or Heilin or Heylin) (1562–1631) was a successful London merchant, sheriff of London in 1624–1625 and publisher of a Welsh bible in 1630.

Life

Heylyn was the son of David Heylyn of the historical Heylyn family of Pentreheylin in Powys, Wales. He entered the free school of Shrewsbury in 1570 and was a pupil of Thomas Lawrence. In 1576 he was apprenticed to Thomas Wade of London, and was admitted to freedom of the

Ironmongers' Company The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers is one of the Great Twelve livery companies of the City of London, incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1463. History The Ironmongers, who were originally known as the Ferroners, were incorporated unde ...

in 1584. In 1601 he purchased considerable lands at Laleham and Staines. He was assistant of the Ironmongers in 1612 and served as master in 1614. He continued to buy property and in 1619 acquired land at Mayfield, Colton, Haywood and Blithbury in Staffordshire. He lived in the Parish of St Alban Wood Street and was elected alderman of Cripplegate ward in 1624 and was Sheriff of London that year. In 1625 he was master of the Ironmongers company again. Heylyn supported with Thomas Myddelton publication of the Welsh

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

Bible of 1630, which was bound with the Welsh Prayer Book and the

Edmund Prys Edmund (Edmwnd) Prys (1542/3 – 1623) was a Welsh clergyman and poet, best known for Welsh metrical translations of the Psalms in his ''Salmau Cân''. Life Prys was born in Llanrwst, Denbighshire 1542 or 1543, son of Siôn ap Rhys ap Gruff ...

translation of the

Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...

. Other works he saw into print were the Welsh-Latin dictionary of John Davies, and the ''Practice of Piety'' of

Lewis Bayly Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohea ...

in the translation by

Rowland Vaughan Rowland Vaughan (1559–1629) was an English manorial lord who is credited with the introduction of a new irrigation system that greatly improved the grass and hay production of meadows through a system of periodic "drownings". This method so i ...

. A portrait of Heylyn by

Henry Cocke Sir Henry Cocke (1538 – 24 March 1610), of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, was an English politician. He was the eldest son of John Cock, the Master of Requests, 1550–1552 and educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge (Easter 1553) and the I ...

in the

Ironmongers' Hall The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers is one of the Great Twelve livery companies of the City of London, incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1463. History The Ironmongers, who were originally known as the Ferroners, were incorporated unde ...

is described as "Mr Rowland Heylyn a good benefactor. This gentleman's features are represented as emaciated, but pleasing; with white beard and whiskers; habited in a black gown and cap; his right hand on a book. He was described by Blakeway in the Sheriffs of Montgomery as "The pious and munificent Rowland Heylyn Alderman of London, promoter of the Welsh translation of the bible and of every other laudable undertaking in his day". He left £300 for the poor of Shrewsbury and 83 books to Shrewsbury School. Heylyn married Alice Aldworth, but had no surviving children. He owned property in Laleham and Staines in Middlesex, and manors in Staffordshire and other counties which he left to the children of his two sisters. He was the uncle of Henry Heylyn whose son Peter Heylyn was a notable ecclesiastic and author.The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 74, Part 2
/ref>

References

*''

Concise Dictionary of National Biography ''The Concise Dictionary of National Biography: From Earliest Times to 1985'' is a dictionary of biographies of people from the United Kingdom. It was published in three volumes by Oxford University Press in 1992.. The dictionary provides summa ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Heylyn, Rowland 1562 births 1631 deaths Welsh merchants Sheriffs of the City of London People from Powys 16th-century merchants 17th-century merchants 16th-century Welsh businesspeople 17th-century Welsh businesspeople 16th-century English businesspeople 17th-century English businesspeople People educated at Shrewsbury School