Ann Griffiths
Life
Born: 1776
Died: 12 August 1805
Biography
Ann Griffiths (née Thomas) was a Welsh poet and writer of Methodist hymns.
A tenant farmer's daughter from the village of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa, near Llanfyllin in the former county of Montgomeryshire in Powys, mid-Wales, she was brought up in the Anglican Church, but joined the Methodist movement after hearing the preaching of Rev. Benjamin Jones of Pwllheli, in 1796. Following the deaths of both her parents, she married Thomas Griffiths, a farmer from the parish of Meifod and an elder of the Methodist church. She died following childbirth aged 29, and was buried on 12 August 1805 at Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.
She left behind a handful of stanzas in the Welsh language. These were preserved and published by her mentor, the Calvinistic Methodist minister, John Hughes of Pontrobert, and his wife, Ruth, who had been maid at Ann Griffiths' farm and was a close confidante. She is the most prominent female hymn-writer in Welsh. Her work is regarded as a highlight of Welsh literature, and her longest poem was described by the dramatist and literary critic, Saunders Lewis, as 'one of the majestic songs in the religious poetry of Europe'.
Settings of text by Ann Griffiths
External links
View the Wikipedia article on Ann Griffiths.
- Ann Griffiths website at Cardiff University