Thomas Gee (24 January 181528 September 1898), 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 ...
Nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
preacher, journalist and publisher.
Gee was born in
Denbigh, Wales. At the age of fourteen he went into his father's printing office,
Gwasg Gee, but continued to attend the grammar school in the afternoons.
In 1837 he went to London to improve his knowledge of printing, and on his return to
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 ...
in the following year, he threw himself into literary, educational and religious work. Among his publications were the well-known quarterly magazine ''
Y Traethodydd
''Y Traethodydd'' (''The Essayist'') is a quarterly cultural magazine published in the Welsh language covering historical, literary and theological topics. It is the oldest magazine in Wales and the oldest magazine in the Welsh language still in ...
'' ("The Essayist"), ''
Y Gwyddoniadur Cymreig'' ("Encyclopaedia Cambrensis"), and Dr. Silvan Evans; ''English-Welsh Dictionary'' (1868), but his greatest achievement in this field was the newspaper ''Baner Cymru'' ("The Banner of Wales"), founded in 1857 and amalgamated with ''
Yr Amserau
''Yr Amserau'' (established in 1846 by William Rees and John Jones) was a bi-weekly Welsh language newspaper, distributed in Merseyside and North Wales. It covered local and national news, supporting radical and nonconformist principles The popul ...
'' ("The Times") two years later as ''
Baner ac Amserau Cymru
The ''Baner ac Amserau Cymru'' (established in 1857) was a weekly Welsh language newspaper, distributed throughout Wales and in the Liverpool area. It contained local and national news and information. It was formed by the amalgamation of ''Baner ...
''.
This paper soon became regarded as an oracle in Wales, and played a great part in promoting the
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
and
home rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
movement in the country. In educational matters he waged a long and successful struggle on behalf of undenominational schools and for the establishment of the intermediate school system. He was an enthusiastic advocate of church
disestablishment, and had a historic newspaper duel with
John Owen (afterwards
Bishop of St David's
The Bishop of St Davids is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids.
The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the St Davids, city of ...
) on this question. The
Eisteddfod
In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music.
The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...
found in him a thorough friend and a wise counsellor. His commanding presence, mastery of diction, and resonant voice made him an effective platform speaker. He was ordained to the
Calvinistic Methodist ministry, at
Bala in 1847, and gave his time and talents ungrudgingly to
Sunday school and
temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
work. Throughout his life he believed in the itinerant unpaid ministry rather than in the settled pastorate.
In 1886 he founded the Welsh Land League to campaign for the rights of tenants.
Gee attended the founding meeting of the
Welsh National Liberal Council in August 1898, and was elected as the organisation's president.
He died in September, and his funeral was at the time the most imposing ever seen in northern Wales.
References
*
Further reading
*
Ieuan Wyn Jones
Ieuan Wyn Jones (born 22 May 1949) is a Welsh politician who was the Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Government from 2007 to 2011. He was the Member of the Senedd for the Ynys Môn constituency from 1999 to 2013, and he was also leader of P ...
- ''Y Llinyn Arian'' (1998)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Thomas
People from Denbigh
Welsh Protestant religious leaders
Welsh journalists
Welsh-speaking clergy
1815 births
1898 deaths
19th-century British journalists
British male journalists
19th-century British male writers