For others of this name, see Daniel Williams (disambiguation)

Daniel Williams (disambiguation)

Daniel or Dan Williams may refer to:* Dan Williams , American baseball player* Dan Williams , American football defensive end...

.

The Revd. Dr. Daniel Williams (c.1643 – 26 January 1716) was a Welsh Presbyterian

Presbyterian Church of Wales

The Presbyterian Church of Wales , also known as The Calvinistic Methodist Church , is a denomination of Protestant Christianity. It was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the preaching of Hywel Harris Howell Harris in the 18th century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811...

 benefactor, minister and theologian.

Early ministry

Williams was born in Wrexham

Wrexham

Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

, Denbighshire

Denbighshire

Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...

, and was a cousin of Stephen Davies, minister at Banbury

Banbury

Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

. He became a preacher by the age of nineteen: details of his education are unknown, though it was probably cut short by his refusing to conform to Anglicanism

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

 on the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

.

He ministered in Ireland from 1664 to 1687. This posting was a result of his accepting an invitation from the countess of Meath to be her chaplain. He was a regular preacher to Drogheda

Drogheda

Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

's joint Presbyterian–Independent congregation (1664–67) and then became Samuel Marsden's colleague at the congregation at Wood Street, Dublin (1667–87). He acted as a peacemaker amongst the Scottish Presbyterians, fiercely opposed Catholicism and helped to maintain the Presbyterians' union with the other Dissenting

Dissenter

The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...

 congregations in Ireland, as well as exorcising a house by prayer in 1678 (as recounted by Richard Baxter

Richard Baxter

Richard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...

).

London

On a new outbreak of the Troubles and after being abandoned by Gilbert Rule

Gilbert Rule

Dr Gilbert Rule was a nonconformist divine and the Principal of Edinburgh University from 1690 to 1701.Rule had previously been Regent in the University of Glasgow, afterwards sub-Principal of King's College, Aberdeen. Before the Restoration, he had been the minister at Alnwick, Northumberland...

 (a Scottish exile, and Williams' assistant since 1682), Williams left for London in September 1687. There he became an influential Dissenter

Dissenter

The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...

, becoming friends with the leading ministers Richard Baxter and John Howe and twice being invited to preach before London's Lord Mayor, the Independent

Independent (religion)

In English church history, Independents advocated local congregational control of religious and church matters, without any wider geographical hierarchy, either ecclesiastical or political...

 Sir John Shorter. At a meeting at Howe's house in May 1688 as to the making an address of thanks to James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

 for his Declaration of Indulgence

Declaration of Indulgence

The Declaration of Indulgence was two proclamations made by James II of England and VII of Scotland in 1687. The Indulgence was first issued for Scotland on 12 February, and then for England on 4 April 1687...

, Williams opposed any such address since (in his words) "it were better for [the Dissenters] to be reduc'd to their former Hardships, than declare for Measures destructive of the Liberties of their Country" and likely to cause an open split with the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

. He refused to be convinced to return to Ireland by the Dublin congregation, and spent the rest of his career in London, where he advised William III

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

 on Irish matters.

He died in Hoxton

Hoxton

Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...

, possibly from asthma

Asthma

Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...

, and he was buried in a vault at Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....

. He left almost his whole estate of £50,000 to charity. His legacies included funds to establish a library from his book collection (now known as the Dr Williams's Library

Dr Williams's Library

Dr Williams's Library is a small research library located in Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, London.-History:It was founded using the estate of Dr Daniel Williams as a theological library, intended for the use of ministers of religion, students and others studying theology, religion and...

), as well as the foundation of seven charity schools in North Wales and of scholarships to Glasgow University

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

for candidates to the ministry in the Nonconformist church.

Marriages and issue

He married Thomas Juxon's daughter Elizabeth in Ireland in 1675 - she died in 1698, and they had had no children. By his second wife Jane Guill (daughter of a refugee Huguenot merchant), who he married in 1701, he had one son and two daughters.

External links

• Daniel Williams on Welsh Biography Online