Ifan ab Owen Edwards
Encyclopedia
1895 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1895 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales — The Prince Albert Edward, son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom*Princess of Wales — Alexandra of Denmark...
– 23 January 1970
1970 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1970 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - Charles, Prince of Wales*Princess of Wales - vacant*Secretary of State for Wales - George Thomas*Archbishop of Wales - Glyn Simon...
), 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...
academic, writer and film-maker, best known as the founder of Urdd Gobaith Cymru
Urdd Gobaith Cymru
dde|200px|thumb|The Urdd logoUrdd Gobaith Cymru, literally, the Welsh League of Hope, but normally translated as the Welsh League of Youth, or merely referred to as the Urdd, is a Welsh-medium youth movement with over 1,500 branches and over 50,000 members...
, the Welsh League of Youth.
He was born at Tremaran, Llanuwchllyn
Llanuwchllyn
Llanuwchllyn is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, near the southern end of Bala Lake . Its population according to the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 834., of which approximately 81% were Welsh-speaking....
, Merionethshire
Merionethshire
Merionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974...
, the son of Sir Owen Morgan Edwards
Owen Morgan Edwards
Owen Morgan Edwards was a Welsh historian, educationalist and writer. He is often known as O. M. Edwards....
, and was educated at Bala
Bala, Gwynedd
Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...
grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
and University of Wales, Aberystwyth
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the university had over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The university was founded in 1872 as...
. After military service on the Western Front during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he studied at Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, taking a degree in history. He worked as a teacher and lecturer from 1920 to 1948, when he gave up the profession to concentrate on his work for the Urdd.
In 1922, Edwards wrote a letter to the periodical Cymru'r Plant, which led to the founding of the Urdd, and the first Urdd recreational camp was held at Llanuwchllyn in 1928, under his direction. The first ever Urdd local branch was founded in Treuddyn
Treuddyn
Treuddyn is a small village and community in Flintshire, Wales, located just off the A5104 road, around 4 miles south-east of Mold and 3 miles north-west of Caergwrle. The community includes the nearby village of Coed Talon, to the east, and Rhydtalog, to the south-west on the Denbighshire border...
. It was gradually followed by more permanent camps and residential centres. In partnership with J. Ellis Williams, he made the first Welsh language
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...
sound film, The Quarryman. In 1947 he was knighted in recognition of his youth work, and the Urdd had his portrait painted by Alfred Janes
Alfred Janes
Alfred George Janes was a Welsh artist, who is also remembered as one of The Kardomah Gang; a group of bohemian friends that included the poets Dylan Thomas and Vernon Watkins, and the composer Daniel Jones....
in 1956. He was a director of Television Wales and the West
Television Wales and the West
Television Wales and the WestTelevision Wales and the WestTelevision Wales and the West , accessed 19 August 2006, accessed 19 August 2006 was the British "Independent Television" contractor for the franchise area serving 'South Wales and West of England' 1956–68 Television Wales and the...
and encouraged the making of television programmes in Welsh. His son, Owen Edwards
Owen Edwards (broadcaster)
Owen Edwards was a Welsh broadcaster, and the first chief executive of the Welsh language television channel S4C, the fourth television channel in Wales, a post he held from 1981-89....
, would become the first chief executive of S4C.
Works
- A catalogue of Star Chamber proceedings relating to Wales (1929) (ed.)
- Yr Urdd 1922-43 (1943)
- Clych Atgof (1961) (autobiography)