Thomas Edwards (Caerfallwch, 1779–1858), was a Welsh writer and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

born in

Northop Northop ( cy, Llaneurgain) is a village, community and electoral ward situated in Flintshire, Wales, approximately 12 miles west of the city of Chester, midway between Mold and Flint, and situated just off junction 33 of the A55 North Wales Exp ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, Wales. He wrote an ''Analysis of Welsh

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 ...

'' and an ''English and Welsh Dictionary''.

Life and writings

At the age of 14, Edwards was apprenticed to a saddler named Birch, in whose family he cultivated his taste for Welsh-language literature. He married in 1801 or 1802. He moved to London and became a secretary to Nathaniel M. Rothschild. In 1838, Edwards was appointed with five others to improve Welsh orthography, in connection with the

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

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 ...

. In 1845 he published his ''Analysis of Welsh Orthography''. For many years he was a member of the ''

Cymmrodorion The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion ( cy, Anrhydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorion), often called simply the Cymmrodorion, is a London-based Welsh learned society, with membership open to all. It was first established in 1751 as a social, cultural ...

'' and delivered several lectures there. One of them, entitled "Currency", later appeared in print. In addition, he was a frequent contributor to Welsh magazines.

Dictionary

Edwards's most notable work was his ''English and Welsh Dictionary'', published by Evans of

Holywell, Flintshire Holywell ( '','' cy, Treffynnon) is a market town and community in Flintshire, Wales. It lies to the west of the estuary of the River Dee. The community includes Greenfield. Etymology The name Holywell is literally ' + ' in reference to St W ...

in 1850. A second edition appeared in 1864, and then another in the United States. It is considered by some to be the best dictionary of the Welsh language.

Death

Family grave of Thomas Edwards in Highgate Cemetery

Thomas Edwards died at 10

Cloudesley Square Cloudesley Square is a square in the Barnsbury district of Islington, North London. It is bounded by Georgian terraced houses, all of which are listed buildings. The central area is occupied by the Gothic Revival former Holy Trinity Church, design ...

, London, on 4 June 1858. He was interred in a family grave in

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

, near the top end on the western side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Thomas 1779 births 1858 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery 19th-century Welsh writers 19th-century Welsh people People from Northop