Morris Williams 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...

 clergyman and writer, commonly known by 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....

 of Nicander so as to differentiate him from others of the same name.

He was born at Caernarfon

Caernarfon

Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...

, the son of William Morris. His mother, Sarah, was the sister of Peter Jones (Pedr Fardd). The family moved to moved to Coed Cae Bach, Llangybi

Llangybi

Llangybi can refer to one of several villages named after Saint Cybi, their reputed founder.In Wales*Llangybi, Ceredigion*Llangybi, Gwynedd*Llangybi, Monmouthshire...

, and he went to school at Llanystumdwy

Llanystumdwy

Llanystumdwy is a village and community on the Llŷn Peninsula of Gwynedd in Wales, although it is not regarded as being part of Llŷn, but belonging instead to the local region of Eifionydd...

 before being apprenticed to a carpenter. His talent for poetry was recognised, and he was able to attend the King's School, Chester, followed by 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...

. He was ordained as an Anglican clergyman 1836, and became curate at Holywell

Holywell

Holywell is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee.-History:The market town of Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel...

, later of Bangor and Pentir and eventually of Amlwch

Amlwch

Amlwch is the most northerly town in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. The town has no beach, but it has impressive coastal cliffs. Tourism is an important element of the local economy. At one time it...

.

In 1840 he married Ann Jones of Denbigh, and they had eight children.

At the Aberffraw eisteddfod of 1849, he won the bardic chair for an awdl

Awdl

An awdl is a long poem written in Welsh in one of the twenty-four strict metres, using cynghanedd. Such poems are considered among the finest work that a poet can aim to produce, and prizes are given at eisteddfodau for the best awdl....

on the Creation. he became rector of Llanrhuddlad (with Llanfflewin and Llanrhwydrus) in 1859. In terms of belief, he was a follower of the Oxford Movement

Oxford Movement

The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...

.

Edited

• Llyfr yr Homiliau (1847)
• Metrical version of the Psalter
  Psalter
  A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
  
   (1850)
• Works of Dafydd Ionawr (1851)

Sources

• Welsh Biography Online