Howell Harris
Encyclopedia
Welsh Methodist revival
The Welsh Methodist revival was an evangelical revival that revitalised Christianity in Wales during the 18th century. Methodist preachers such as Griffith Jones, William Williams and Howell Harris were such powerful speakers that they converted thousands of people back to the church...
in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland
Daniel Rowland
Daniel Rowland —sometimes spelt as Rowlands—was one of the foremost leaders of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist revival along with Howell Harris and William Williams. For most of his life he served as curate in the parishes of Nantcwnlle and Llangeitho, Ceredigion...
and William Williams Pantycelyn
William Williams Pantycelyn
William Williams Pantycelyn , also known as Williams Pantycelyn and Pantycelyn, is generally acknowledged as Wales' most famous hymn writer. He was also one of the key leaders of the 18th century Welsh Methodist revival, along with Daniel Rowland and Howell Harris. As a poet and prose writer he is...
.
Life
Harris was born at TalgarthTalgarth
Talgarth is a small market town and community in southern Powys , Mid Wales, with a population of 1,645. Notable buildings in the town include its 14th-century parish church and 13th century Pele Tower, located in the town centre, now home to the Tourist Information and Resource Centre...
in Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...
in 1714. He underwent a religious conversion in 1735 while listening to a sermon by the Rev. Pryce Davies in the parish church on the necessity of partaking of Holy Communion. While listening to that sermon Harris came to the conviction that he had received mercy through the blood of Christ. He immediately began to tell others about this and to hold meetings in his own home encouraging others to seek the same assurance that he had of Christ's forgiveness.
Having failed to be accepted for ordination in 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...
because of his "Methodist" views, he became a travelling preacher and was tireless in his determination to spread the word throughout Wales. His preaching often led him into personal danger, and he endured considerable persecution and hardship before gaining a following.
In 1750, having fallen out with Daniel Rowland
Daniel Rowland
Daniel Rowland —sometimes spelt as Rowlands—was one of the foremost leaders of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist revival along with Howell Harris and William Williams. For most of his life he served as curate in the parishes of Nantcwnlle and Llangeitho, Ceredigion...
, and having been the subject of a public scandal as a result of his close friendship with "Madam" Sidney Griffith
Sidney Griffith
Sidney Griffith , known in her time as "Madam" Griffith, was an important figure in the Welsh Methodist revival of the mid-18th century....
, he retreated to his home at Trefeca
Trefeca
Trefeca was the home of 18th-century Methodist leader Howell Harris, located in Wales between Talgarth and Llangorse Lake.-Teulu Trefeca:...
, near Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
. In 1752, inspired by the example of the Moravians, he founded a religious community there, known as Teulu Trefeca (=The Trefeca family) with himself as "father".
However, Harris had not given up preaching, and resumed his former activities in 1763, after reconciliation with Daniel Rowland. When he died, ten years later, and was buried close to his birthplace at Talgarth, twenty thousand people are said to have attended his funeral.
He was effectively the founder of the Presbyterian church of Wales
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...
, also known as the Calvinistic Methodist church
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...
.
The papers of Howell Harris
Harris kept a detailed diary, in addition to a careful filing of letters he sent and received during his ministry. His papers afford access to a first eye witness of the Welsh Methodist revival. After his death, theywere left to gather dust for over a century until O. M. Edwards, in the 1880s, noted their importance and suggested they ought to be taken care of. By this time, the once-home of Harris at Trefeca had been turned into a college. The deputy head of the College, Edwin Williams, took on the task of putting the papers in order. They were kept at Trefeca until 1910 when the Presbyterian church of WalesPresbyterian 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...
(which ‘owned’ the papers) decided to set up a committee whose responsibility it would be to take care of the papers and to study them.
By 1913 the scale of the work needing to be done on the papers became apparent. As many of the papers were in Latin, it was estimated that it would take much of a decade and a vast sum of money to ready the papers for publication. In 1913, it was decided that a better use of resources would be to set up a Historical Society of the Presbyterian church of Wales that would be responsible for publishing a regular journal to include, amongst other articles, some of Howell Harris’s papers.
It is believed that around 1932, the papers were moved from Trefeca to the denomination's theological College in Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
. Those papers, along with others from Coleg y Bala (an old college of the denomination in Bala, North Wales), were taken in 1934 to be stored safely at 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...
. The papers are in the vaults to this day. Recently Dr. Geraint Tudur (son of R. Tudur Jones
R. Tudur Jones
R. Tudur Jones was a Welsh Nationalist and a Protestant Christian. He was the most important Christian scholar in Wales during the 20th century and is hailed as the giant of Protestantism in Wales during a century that saw Wales, as a whole, turn against its traditional Reformed Protestant...
), Chair of Church History at University of Wales, Bangor, published a biography of Harris: Howell Harris: From conversion to separation, 1735-1750, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000.
External links
- Bennett, Richardhttp://www.revival-library.org/index.html?http://www.revival-library.org/catalogues/world1/bennettr/contents.htm, The Early Life of Howell Harris, 1974.
- Lloyd-Jones, Martyn, Howell Harris and revival. Reproduction of article first published in 1973.
- Powys Digital History Project, Howell Harris 1714-1773
- Howell Harris at 100 Welsh Heroes