Thomas William Davids (1816–1884) was a Welsh nonconformist minister and ecclesiastical historian.
Life
Born at
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
11 September 1816, he was the only child of William Saunders Davids, pastor of the Congregational church meeting in Providence Chapel, and his wife Bridget, daughter of Thomas Thomas of Vrowen in the parish of Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire. His father died in December 1816, and his mother in 1831; and he was adopted by his uncle Thomas Thomas of Llampeter Velfry, a man of means. For some years he was educated for the medical profession; but in 1835, against his uncle's wishes, he entered
Homerton College
Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the co ...
, then under John Pye Smith, and studied for the ministry.
In 1840 Davids was invited to become minister of the Congregational church meeting in Lion Walk,
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
. The congregation outgrew the church, and a new church was built in Lion Walk. Davids became secretary of the Essex Congregational Union, and in 1874 moved to
Forest Gate
Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross.
The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...
.
Davids was elected an honorary corresponding member of the
New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845.
NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website,
Works
For the bicentenary celebration of the Great Ejection in 1662, Davids was asked in 1862 to prepare a memorial of those who were evicted in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
. He researched manuscript authorities (in Essex parish registers, the Record Office, British Museum,
Dr. Williams's Library
Dr Williams's Library is a small English research library in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London. Historically, it has had a strong Unitarian focus. The library has also been known as University Hall.
History
The library was founded using the es ...
). Results of his researches appeared as the ''Annals of Evangelical Nonconformity in the County of Essex from the time of Wycliffe to the Restoration, with Memorials of the Essex Ministers ejected or silenced in 1660–1662'' (1863). Six further folio volumes went after his death to the library of the Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street.
Davids then took up the question of "evangelical belief" stretching centuries before the time of John Wycliffe and
Jan Huss
Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspi ...
; but his planned ''Annals of Reformers before the Reformation'' was not completed. He published historical articles and reviews, including biographies of
heretic
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
Wace
Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his care ...
; and a paper on ''Evangelical Nonconformity under the first of the Plantagenets'' ('' British Quarterly'' for September 1870).
Family
In 1841 Davids married Louisa (died 1853), daughter of Robert Winter, solicitor, of Clapham Common. The Sunday school attached to his church became well known as a model, and she published in 1847 an essay ''The Sunday School'', which was awarded a prize offered by the Sunday School Union, had four editions, and was for some years regarded as a standard text. They had six children by his first wife. Davids married a second time, on 28 April 1859, Mary, daughter of William Spelman of Norwich; they had no children.