Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1834 / (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Taliesin Williams (Ab Iolo or Taliesin ab Iolo, 1787-1847), schoolmaster and author, was the son of Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg). He was born in Cardiff on 9 July 1787 and grew up in the Vale of Glamorgan. He became a schoolmaster at Gileston, then an assistant at the Rev. David Davis's school in Neath. In 1816 he opened a school in Merthyr Tydfil, which he ran for the rest of his life.
Taliesin assisted his father with the publication of Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain (1829). Taliesin inherited his father's manuscripts and his druidic beliefs, oblivious to Iolo's inventions, and became his foremost defender. He edited selections from Iolo's manuscripts, published posthumously by the Welsh MSS Society as Iolo Manuscripts (Liverpool, 1848). His poems Cardiff Castle (1827) and The Doom of Colyn Dolphyn (1837) were based on Iolo's manuscripts. He became an important figure in the eisteddfodau of the time, winning prizes for his essays and poetry.
Taliesin married Mary Petherick of Merthyr Tydfil and they had six children, including the Edward Williams (1826-1886), the Middlesbrough ironmaster. Taliesin Williams died in Merthyr on 16 February 1847.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A notebook given to John Montgomery Traherne by Taliesin Williams ('Ab Iolo') in 1834, containing transcripts by 'Ab Iolo' of a poem by Ieuan ap Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd to Mair o Benn Rys from a manuscript (not NLW MS 6511B) written by Llywelyn SiƓn of Llangewydd in 1596 and of an English song in praise of Glamorgan by Sir John Stradling of St Donats from a copy belonging to Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') .
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
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Conditions of access and use area
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Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Welsh, English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
The description is also available in the Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume II (Aberystwyth, 1951).
Generated finding aid
Allied materials area
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Existence and location of copies
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Notes area
Note
Formerly known as Traherne-Mansel Franklen 3.
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 6513B.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Ieuan ap Rhydderch, fl. 1430-1470 (Subject)
- Llywelyn Sion, 1540-1615? (Subject)
- Mair, o ?Penrice -- Poetry (Subject)
- Stradling, John, Sir, 1563-1637 (Subject)
- Iolo Morganwg, 1747-1826 (Subject)