Joseph Harris (Gomer)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Harris was a Welsh
Baptist
minister, author, and journal editor. A Welsh language
poet, he took the Biblical name of Gomer
as his bardic name
. On 1 January 1814 he launched the first Welsh-language weekly Seren Gomer
("Star of Gomer") in Swansea
.
Gomer was born on a farm in Wolf's Castle
, Pembrokeshire
. He became a preacher during the religious revival of 1795. He married Martha Symons, and took on Back Street chapel. One of his best-known works, Cofiant Ieuan Ddu, was a biography of his son, John Ryland Harris, who worked as a typesetter for his father's printing press and died at the age of twenty.
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...
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister, author, and journal editor. A 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...
poet, he took the Biblical name of Gomer
Gomer (Bible)
Gomer was the eldest son of Japheth , and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible, ....
as his bardic name
Bardic name
A bardic name is a pseudonym, used in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement....
. On 1 January 1814 he launched the first Welsh-language weekly Seren Gomer
Seren Gomer
Seren Gomer was a Welsh language periodical founded in 1814 by the clergyman and writer Joseph Harris . The title means "star of Gomer".The weekly was intended to cover news from the whole of Wales, and had a religious flavour...
("Star of Gomer") in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
.
Gomer was born on a farm in Wolf's Castle
Wolf's Castle
Wolfscastle also spelt Wolf's Castle, is a village in Pembrokeshire, between Haverfordwest and Fishguard, in southwest Wales.- Geography and transport links :...
, 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....
. He became a preacher during the religious revival of 1795. He married Martha Symons, and took on Back Street chapel. One of his best-known works, Cofiant Ieuan Ddu, was a biography of his son, John Ryland Harris, who worked as a typesetter for his father's printing press and died at the age of twenty.
Works
- Casgliad o Hymnau (1796)
- Yr Anghyffelyb Broffeswr (1802)
- Bwyall Grist yng Nghoed Anghrist (1804)
- Traethawd ar Briodol Dduwdod ein Harglwydd Iesu Grist (1816-17)
- Cofiant Ieuan Ddu