Life

Williams's father, also called John, was agent to the Gwydir

Gwydir Castle

Gwydir Castle is situated in the Conwy valley, North Wales, a mile to the west of the ancient market town of Llanrwst and to the south of the large village of Trefriw...

 Estate in Llanrwst

Llanrwst

Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....

. Williams 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...

, matriculating

Matriculation

Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...

 on 15 May 1777, then obtaining degrees of Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 (1781) and Master of Arts. He was appointed to a Fellowship of the college in 1783. He was ordained on 19 September 1784, in the Diocese of Bangor, and was licensed to the chapelry in Betws-y-Coed

Betws-y-Coed

Betws-y-Coed is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It has a population of 534. The name Betws or Bettws is generally thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon Old English 'bed-hus' - i.e. a bead-house - a house of prayer, or oratory...

. In 1791, he became master of the Free school in Llanwrst (holding this post until 1812), and also became perpetual curate

Perpetual curate

A Perpetual Curate was a clergyman of the Church of England officiating as parish priest in a small or sparsely peopled parish or districtAs noted below the term perpetual was not to be understood literally but was used to indicate he was not a curate but the parish priest and of higher...

 of Dolwyddelan

Dolwyddelan

Dolwyddelan, Welsh language : 'the meadow of Gwyddelan', is a village and community in Conwy county borough, north Wales, on the main A470 road between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Betws-y-Coed...

 and Capel Curig

Capel Curig

Capel Curig is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales. It lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226...

. He became rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Llanbedr-y-Cennin

Llanbedr-y-Cennin

Llanbedr-y-Cennin is a small village in Conwy county borough, Wales.It lies in the foothills on the western side of the Conwy valley, in North Wales. The river Conwy runs through the valley, running into the sea to the north, at the town of Conwy, which is about five miles north of the village. ...

 and Caerhun

Caerhun

Caerhun is a village and rural community on the west bank of the River Conwy, to the south of Henryd and to the north of Dolgarrog, in Conwy County Borough, north Wales. The population was 1200 at the 2001 Census.-Features:...

 in 1802. He died in 1826 and was buried at Llanbedr-y-Cennin.

Williams had a particular interest in Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 literature. He preserved a large collection of papers from the Wynns of Gwydir, and also letters from Goronwy Owen

Goronwy Owen (poet)

Goronwy Owen was one of the 18th century's greatest Welsh poets. He mastered the traditional bardic metres and, although forced by circumstances to be an exile, played an important role in the literary and antiquarian movement in Wales often described as the Welsh Eighteenth Century Renaissance...

 and Edward Owen

Edward Owen (translator)

Edward Owen was a Welsh Anglican priest, headmaster and translator.-Life:Owen was born in 1728 or 1729 . His father was from Llangurig, Montgomeryshire, Wales...

. Various manuscripts held by the National Library of Wales

National Library of Wales

The National Library of Wales , Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales; one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies.Welsh is its main medium of communication...

came from his collection as well.