Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [early 19 cent.]-1904 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
28 volumes.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Henry Richard (1812-1888) politician and 'Apostle of Peace', was born in Tregaron, Cardiganshire, on 3 April 1812. His father Ebenezer Richard (1781-1837), a prominent Calvinistic Methodist minister, was one of the principal organisers of his denomination and the chief supporter of the Sunday school movement in South Wales. Henry Richard received his early schooling at Llangeitho then, in 1826, was apprenticed as a draper in Carmarthen. He decided to enter the ministry and from September 1830 attended Highbury College, London. From November 1935 until June 1850 he was minister of Marlborough Congregational chapel, Old Kent Road, London. He was appointed chairman of the Congregational Union in 1877. Richard was a pacifist and was appointed secretary of the Peace Society in 1848. He organized a succession of international conferences and travelled widely throughout Europe in an effort to bring peace between nations. He was also a leading member of the Liberation Society, which opposed state interference in religion, and this led to his career in politics. In 1868 he was elected to Parliament as the Liberal MP for Merthyr Tydfil. At Westminster he defended the rights of the Welsh and of Nonconformists, becoming known as the 'Member for Wales'. He published a number of letters on the social and political condition of Wales, for the benefit of English readers. He married Matilda Augusta Farley of Kennington on 20 August 1866; there were no children from the marriage. Henry Richard died while visiting friends in Treborth, Bangor, on 20 August 1888 and was buried in London. A statue of Richard was unveiled in Tregaron in 1893.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
NLW MSS 5503-5511: Misses Magdalen and Mary Evans (nieces of Henry Richard); Kensington; Donation; [1925].
NLW MSS 10196-10208: Misses Magdalen and Mary Evans (nieces of Henry Richard); London; Donation; 1935.
NLW MSS 14020-14024: Miss Mary Evans (niece of Henry Richard); London; Donation; 1937.
NLW MS 15498B: Rev. Henry Richard Evans (grand nephew of Henry Richard); Broadhempston; Donation; May 1953.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of Henry Richard and his family, [early 19 cent.]-1904, including correspondence, 1808-1904; travel journals, 1849-1886; a few items relating to education in Wales, 1870-1883; sermons by Ebenezer Richard, [early 19 cent.]-1834; a family register, 1809-1836; and papers of James Hughes (Iago Trichrug), [1800x1844].
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
All records donated to the National Library of Wales have been retained.
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 5503-5511, 10196-10208, 10420-14024, 15498B.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- English
- French
- Welsh
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Welsh, French.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
A detailed list of the contents of NLW 10420-14024, together with an index to NLW 5503-5C, may be found in A Schedule of Letters Relating to the Richard Family, available at the National Library of Wales.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of fonds.
Note
Letters, 1888-1904, to Henry Richard's widow postdate his death.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Project identifier
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Richard, Henry, 1812-1888 -- Archives. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
March 2003 and June 2010.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: NLW, Schedule of letters relating to the Richard family; Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales (Aberystwyth, 1943-), II (1951) and III (1961); Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Lewis Appleton, Memoirs of Henry Richard, the Apostle of Peace (London, 1889); Charles S. Miall, Henry Richard M.P.: A Biography (London, 1889); Eleazar Roberts, Bywyd a Gwaith y diweddar Henry Richard, A.S. (Wrexham, [1902?]); Carey Jones, Gyrfa'r Gŵr o Dregaron (Swansea, 1988); D. Ben Rees, The Life and Work of Henry Richard (Nottingham, 2007); Matthew Cragoe, 'Richard, Henry (1812-1888)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography website (www.oxforddnb.com), viewed 20 August 2008;
Archivist's note
Compiled by Annette Strauch for the ANW project and revised by Rhys Morgan Jones.