Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1769x1900] / (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
8 vols.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
David Williams, writer and political pamphleteer, was born in the parish of Eglwysilan and received his early education at a local school run by his namesake, David Williams, Independent minister (1709-1784). From 1753 to 1757 Williams attended Carmarthen Academy, where he absorbed a number of unorthodox ideas. He served as Nonconformist minister at Frome (1759-1761), Exeter (1761-1769) and Highgate, Middlesex (1769-1773) but subsequently left the ministry because the salary was too deficient to maintain the lifestyle he desired. In 1773 Williams opened an expensive boarding school in Chelsea but gave up the project following the death of his wife in 1774. In that same year he had completed his Treatise on Education. With writer, natural philosopher and politician Benjamin Franklin, Williams formed the 'Thirteen Club', a gathering of deists for whom Williams wrote his Liturgy on the Universal Principles of Religion and Morality (London, 1776). Williams's political radicalism emerged in his publication Letters on Political Liberty (London, 1782), which promoted a programme of social reform aimed in defence of the American colonists. The book was translated into French and Williams subsequently became famous in France, where he spent some time extolling his social and political views. His greatest work in terms of volume was his History of Monmouthshire (London, 1796) and his most marked achievement probably the formation of the Royal Literary Fund in 1780, which aimed to support needy writers. Williams spent the last years of his life at the Fund's headquarters in Gerrard Square, Soho, and it was there that he died.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Family of T. W. Thomas, per Miss Enid Thomas; Presentation; 1934
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers, [1769x1860], mainly of the political writer David Williams (1738-1816) from the collection of Dr T. W. Thomas, Caerphilly. They comprise: correspondence, 1783-1818, mostly addressed to David Williams; material, 1769-1845, by or relating to David Williams, his niece Mary Watkins and his daughter Emilia; papers, 1780-1807, relating to the Royal Literary Fund, which was founded by David Williams; and a draft prospectus, 1800, of a projected daily newspaper titled 'The Imperial Gazette', one of the prospective partners being David Williams; together with material, [19 cent.], of Monmouthshire interest
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 10331-10338.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume III (Aberystwyth, 1961), pp. 213-215.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Formerly Dr T. W. Thomas MSS 1-8.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MSS 10331-10338.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Williams, David, 1738-1816 -- Archives (Subject)
- Thomas, T. W., Caerphilly -- Archives (Subject)
- Thomas, T. W., Caerphilly (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
September 2008 & June 2011.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Bethan Ifan for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS, and revised by Bethan Ifan. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume III (Aberystwyth, 1961); Y Bywgraffiadur Cymreig hyd 1940 (Llundain, 1953); Oxford Dictionary of National Biography on-line;