John Williams was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 Anglican clergyman

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...

 with Methodist sympathies. He also published a book of sermons.

Life

Williams, from Fishguard

Fishguard

Fishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....

, Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, was born in 1762. He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...

 from 1783, but there is no evidence that he graduated. He was ordained in 1785 and, after a spell as a private tutor and curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

, he was given charge of the Pembrokeshire parishes of Burton

Burton, Pembrokeshire

Burton is a small village in south Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village is set on a hill overlooking the River Cleddau.The setting of the village makes it a popular holiday destination . It enjoys views of the Cleddau estuary to the south east and west and has a waterfront pub on the river...

 and Williamston in addition to being curate of Rosemarket

Rosemarket

Rosemarket is a village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales.The name means "market in the hundred of Roose ". It was a marcher borough founded by the Knights Hospitaller in the 12th century. Owen, in 1603, described it as one of nine Pembrokeshire "boroughs in decay". The church, like many in...

. He became vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 of Begelly

Begelly

Begelly is a village and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated in the south of the county, 7 km north of Tenby. In addition to the village, the parish includes the hamlet of Thomas Chapel and a web of small settlements associated with the 19th century anthracite mining industry. ...

 in 1793. He was sympathetic towards the Methodist movement, and was on good terms with Methodist clergy such as Thomas Charles

Thomas Charles

Thomas Charles was a Welsh Nonconformist clergyman of considerable importance in the history of modern Wales.-Early life:...

; non-conformist clergy who visited Begelly were welcome guests at his home. He published Twenty Sermons on Miscellaneous Subjects (1805). He died in Begelly on 3 April 1802.