William Wynn was a Welsh Anglican

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...

 priest and a poet (who wrote in Welsh

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...

).

Life

Wynn was baptised on 19 March 1709. His parents were both from the Welsh county of Merioneth, and his father and grandfather were patrons of Welsh poets. He was educated at 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...

, matriculating

Matriculation

Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...

 in 1727 and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in 1730 and a Master of Arts degree in 1735. He was ordained and served the parish of Watlington, Oxfordshire

Watlington, Oxfordshire

Watlington is a market town and civil parish about south of Thame in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Christmas Common and Greenfield, both of which are in the Chiltern Hills. The M40 motorway is from Watlington.-History:...

 from 1734 to 1739, when he was appointed vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 of Llanbrynmair

Llanbrynmair

Llanbrynmair is a village and community in Powys, Mid Wales on the A470 road between Caersws and Machynlleth. Llanbrynmair, in area, is the second largest in Powys. In 2005, it had a population of 958.-Description:...

, Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...

. In 1747, he became rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Manafon, Montgomeryshire, also becoming the parish priest of Llangynhafal, Denbighshire

Denbighshire

Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...

 in 1749, where he died on 18 January 1760.

Works

Wynn's earliest poem was written whilst he was a student at Oxford, in 1733, and he wrote further poems between then and 1738, including poems to members of the royal family. A printed copy of one of these poems were given to the Welsh antiquarian and poet Lewis Morris in 1737, Morris and Lewes being regular correspondents after that time (if they were not already), each sending copies of poems that they had written to the other. Wynn wrote few other poems, but his other work included a poem to Morris himself (1744), poems on the subject of the day of judgment and a yacht owned by William Vaughan (1755) and some carols. He owned various Welsh-language manuscripts and was known to be a scholar, leading to his becoming a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion

Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion

The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion was founded in 1751 as a literary society devoted to the preservation of the Welsh language. It was founded by two brothers, Lewis Morris and Richard Morris, natives of Anglesey...

soon after 1751.