Thomas Stephens (
Bardic names: Casnodyn, Gwrnerth, Caradawg) (21 April 1821 – 4 January 1875) was a Welsh historian,
literary critic, and
social reformer
A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...
. His works include ''The Literature of the Kymry'' (1849,1876), ''Madoc: An Essay on the Discovery of America by Madoc ap Owen Gwynedd in the Twelfth Century'' (1858,1893), and ''Orgraff yr Iaith Gymraeg'' (1859) (an
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
of
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 ...
), as well as a number of prize-winning essays presented at
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 ...
au between 1840 and 1858. He was the first Welsh historian and literary critic to employ rigorous scientific methods, and is considered to have done more to raise the standards of the National Eisteddfod than any other Welshman of his time. Stephens also figured prominently in efforts to implement social, educational and sanitary reforms both locally in
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
and more broadly throughout
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 ...
.
Life
Thomas Stephens was born on 21 April 1821 at
Pont Nedd Fechan
Pontneddfechan, also known as Pontneathvaughan (pronounced ) ("bridge over the Little Neath" in Welsh) is the southernmost village in the county of Brecknockshire, Wales, within the Vale of Neath, in the community of Ystradfellte and in the pr ...
, Glamorganshire, Wales, the son of a boot-maker. In 1835 he was apprenticed as a
chemist and druggist
''Chemist + Druggist'' (also known as C+D) is an online publication aimed at community pharmacists and pharmacy staff in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (U ...
in
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
and took over the business in 1841. He was also appointed manager of the ''Merthyr Express'' newspaper in 1864.
Stephens suffered a series of strokes from 1868. He died on 4 January 1875 in Merthy Tydfil and was buried at
Cefncoedycymmer cemetery.
Writings
Stephens began submitting prize-winning essays to
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 ...
au from 1840. His
bardic names were Casnodyn, Gwrnerth, and Caradawg. Stephens' book, ''The Literature of the Kymry'' (1849, 2nd ed. 1876),
was based on his essay "The Literature of Wales during the Twelfth and Succeeding Centuries" which won the Prince of Wales Prize at the 1848 eisteddfod held in
Abergavenny. In this work, Stephens pioneered the use of rigorous methods of literary criticism in the study of medieval Welsh literature.
Stephens' 1858 eisteddfod essay ''Madoc: An Essay on the Discovery of America by Madoc ap Owen Gwynedd in the Twelfth Century,'' which demolished Welsh claims of the
discovery of the Americas
The prehistory of the Americas (North America, North, South America, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean) begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age. These groups are generally believed to have ...
by
Madoc
Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd (also spelled Madog) was, according to folklore, a Welsh prince who sailed to America in 1170, over three hundred years before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492.
According to the story, he was a son of Owain Gwyned ...
, was acknowledged as the outstanding submission. However, although convincing, the essay was not awarded the prize due to the adjudicators' reluctance to discard the old claims. Disgusted, Stephens refused to compete in future eisteddfod competitions.
Other works include ''Orgraff yr Iaith Gymraeg'' (1859) (an orthography of the Welsh language), articles for ''
Archaeologia Cambrensis
''Archaeologia Cambrensis'' is a Welsh archaeological and historical scholarly journal published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains historical essays, excavation reports, and book reviews, as well as society not ...
'' and the
South Wales newspapers and Welsh periodicals, essays on the life and works of the
bard Aneurin, and an English translation of ''
Y Gododdin
''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia a ...
.''
The rigorous methods of literary criticism applied in his works often made Stephens unpopular with the less discriminating enthusiasts for the glory of Wales, but he earned the respect of serious scholars.
Stephens' manuscripts and letters are included in the
National Library of Wales General Manuscript Collection.
Social reforms
With the encouragement and friendship of
Lord Aberdare, Sir
Josiah John Guest
Sir Josiah John Guest, 1st Baronet (2 February 1785 – 26 November 1852), known as John Josiah Guest, was a Welsh engineer, entrepreneur and politician.
Early life
Guest was born on 2 February 1785 in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He ...
, and
Lady Charlotte Guest
Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest (née Bertie; 19 May 1812 – 15 January 1895), later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English aristocrat who is best known as the first publisher in modern print format of the '' Mabinogion'', the earliest prose l ...
, Stephens was a prominent promoter of welfare, education and sanitary schemes in Merthyr Tydfil and organised relief for families of victims of coal mine explosions. He was appointed
High Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
of Merthyr in 1858.
Legacy
Literary critic
Meic Stephens
Meic Stephens (23 July 1938 – 2 July 2018) was a Welsh literary editor, journalist, translator, and poet.
Birth and education
Meic Stephens was born on 23 July 1938 in the village of Treforest, near Pontypridd, Glamorgan. He was educated ...
states that Stephens "is generally considered to have been the first Welsh literary critic to adopt a scientific method and to have done more, as an adjudicator, to raise the standards of the National Eisteddfod and to win for it the confidence of scholars, than any other Welshman of his time".
However, he also notes that author
Emyr Humphreys
Emyr Humphreys (; 15 April 191930 September 2020) was a Welsh novelist, poet, and author. His career spanned from the 1940s until his retirement in 2009. He published in both English and Welsh.
Early life and career
Humphreys was born on 15 ...
presents a "less favourable view" in his 1983 work ''The Taliesin Tradition''.
Stephens' modern biographer Marion Löffler describes his "main contributions to the shaping of Wales" in terms of his work to transform Merthyr's social organisation and modernise Welsh culture, and "his pioneering works of scholarship".
Works
* (eisteddfod essay)
* (eisteddfod essay)
*
* (eisteddfod essay)
* (eisteddfod essay)
* (originally published as ''The Gododdin of Aneurin Gwawdrydd: An English Translation with Copious Explanatory Notes; A Life of Aneurin; and Several Lengthy Dissertations Illustrative of the "Gododdin", and the Battle of Cattraeth'')
* (eisteddfod essay)
*
* A series of critical essays, including:
**
**
**
**
* Numerous shorter articles in newspapers such as ''
The Cambrian
The Cambrian, a weekly newspaper started by George Haynes and L. W. Dillwyn in 1804, was the first newspaper published in Wales. Its original publisher was Thomas Jenkins. The full masthead proclaimed ''The Cambrian and Weekly General Advertise ...
'', ''The Merthyr Guardian'', ''The
Monmouthshire Merlin
The ''Monmouthshire Beacon'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper covering the areas of Monmouthshire, south Herefordshire and western Gloucestershire. It has been in continuous publication since 1837. Since 1980 the newspaper has been part of the ...
'', and ''The Silurian,'' and in periodicals including ''
Seren Gomer
''Seren Gomer'' was the first Welsh-language weekly newspaper. The first number was published in 1814 in Swansea by the local Baptist minister and writer Joseph Harris (Gomer).
Publishing history
The weekly was intended to cover news from the w ...
'', ''
Yr Ymofynnydd
''Yr Ymofynnydd'' (the Inquirer), is the monthly magazine of Welsh-speaking Unitarians, published since 1847."They thought for themselves": a brief look at the story of ... D. Elwyn Davies - 1982 - Page 170
This argument appeared in many forms b ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', and ''Y Beirniad.''
(Sources for works: Dictionary of Welsh Biography,
National Library of Wales,
Stephens,
NLW Welsh newspapers
)
References
Further reading
*
External Sources
*
*
*
*
The Life of Thomas Stephens. 1876.
*
A List of the Mss. Essays and Writings of Thomas Stephens. 1876.
*
Notable Men of Wales. Thomas Stephens. 1882.
* (Portrait of Stephens once in Cardiff Reference Library)
*
*
Stephens, Thomas. 1908. (Biography)
* (Connections with
Joseph Edwards and
Charles Wilkins
Sir Charles Wilkins (1749 – 13 May 1836) was an English typographer and Orientalist, and founding member of The Asiatic Society. He is notable as the first translator of ''Bhagavad Gita'' into English, He supervised Panchanan Karmakar to c ...
)
* (Includes Stephens' birthplace)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Thomas
Welsh literary critics
19th-century Welsh historians
Celtic studies scholars
1821 births
1875 deaths
19th-century British journalists
British male journalists
19th-century British male writers
People from Merthyr Tydfil