Caernarfon is the correct spelling of this Welsh Royal town. The anglicised spellings of the town’s name Carnarvon and Caernarvon were used until 1974. Caernarfon is a port and resort in North West Wales on the Menai Straits; its name means ‘Fortress on the Mona’.
John Wesley passed through Caernarvon on his way to or from Ireland 6 times between 6 August 1747 and 24 March 1756, but never mentions preaching in the town.
As the President of the Irish Conference, Thomas Coke (1747-1814) from Brecon regularly travelled through North Wales. Coke realised that there was need for Welsh speaking itinerant preachers to be seconded to this important section of Welsh life. The Welsh speaking Methodist preachers at the time in North Wales were mainly Calvinistic Methodists.Coke urged the 1800 Wesleyan Conference to establish a Welsh speaking (Arminian) Wesleyan mission with itinerants who spoke Welsh. The Conference appointed the Welsh speaking Owen Davies (1752-1830) of Wrexham and John Hughes (1776-1842) of Brecon as missionaries to Wales. The appointment in the Minutes of Conference stated: "Brother Davies has a discretionary power to labour as and where he judges best, for the advantage of the Welsh Missions; and shall have the superintendence of the whole Mission, and authority to change the Preachers as he judges best."
On 16 September 1800 Owen Davies preached in the Caernarfon Calvinistic Methodist chapel, leading the service in English. On 26 October 1800 John Hughes preached in Welsh and English to a large congregation in the same chapel. In June 1802 the bi-lingual preachers Edward Jones (1778-1837) (Bathanfarn) and the former Calvinistic Methodist and now a Welsh Wesleyan itinerant John Bryan (1776-1856) were warmly welcomed by Robert Jones who had come from the Vale of Clwyd to live in Caernarfon and Samuel Ogden (1769-1839), a Local Preacher and hatter who had also recently come to live in the town from Oldham. The Town Crier was sent out to announce that there would be a service that evening in Penyrallt Street. Not knowing anything about the Wesleyans he announced that two Welsh Lions would preach at seven o’clock that evening.
On his next visit Bryan formed a Wesleyan society, which rented the Old Playhouse in Penyrallt Street for their meetings. In 1803 Caernarfon was made the head of the second Welsh Circuit which encompassed the counties of Caernarfon, Anglesey and Merioneth. John Hughes was the first Superintendent. At the first Quarterly Meeting on 11 April 1804 Samuel Ogden of Caernarfon and Thomas Templeman (1744-1833) of Anglesey (game keeper and formerly of Yorkshire) were appointed Circuit Stewards. At the time the Welsh Wesleyans' Arminian doctrines were considered by most of the other denominations as heretical. In the early days the Welsh Wesleyan ministers and preachers had to vigorously defend their beliefs. During the ministry of Hugh Hughes (1821-23) land was bought for a chapel and on 9 April 1826 Ebenezer, the largest Welsh Wesleyan chapel in the principality, was opened at a cost of £4000. In 1830 the Carnarvon and Bangor English Circuit was formed with the English minister John Gordon being stationed in Carnarvon. In 1834 an English Wesleyan Chapel was opened. The Welsh and English Societies in Carnarvon although in different Circuits worked side by side. When the former minister John Bryan amicably withdrew from the itinerancy he was eventually encouraged to return to Carnarvon in 1831 by Richard M. Preece (1797-1854), Local Preacher and JP. Bryan opened a grocery and tea dealership business and gave faithful and valuable service as a Local Preacher and Methodist leader until he died in Caernarfon on 28 May 1856.
Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
Comment on this entry