WILLIAMS, ROBERT JOHN (PRYSOR; 1891 - 1967), collier and actor

Born 13 April 1891 at Trawsfynydd, Meironnydd. His father, Ellis, was a carpenter and died young; his mother, Eliza, daughter of ' Eos Prysor ', raised him and his sister with the scant assistance of the Board of Guardians. He was educated at Trawsfynydd British School but he left when he was ten years old to earn his living as a farm-worker. When his mother re-married the family moved to the coalmining valleys in the South, first to Abertridwr, where he began working underground in Senghennydd colliery, and subsequently in Abergorci pit, Treorchy.

He was interested in music and drama and through his own exertions he became a precentor, an organist in the chapel (and local cinema, too, when he was short of money), and a prominent member of the opera company and drama company. At the Treorchy national eisteddfod in 1928 he met two people who were to influence his life greatly, namely Daniel Haydn Davies, who became a producer of school programmes for the B.B.C., and also one who became a lifelong friend, namely David Moses Jones, a collier and actor like himself. In 1936 Thomas Rowland Hughes, the novelist and producer, invited both of them to take part in a radio play, and for the next 30 years Prysor Williams's voice was among the most familiar on Welsh radio and television. He appeared also on stage, including performances in the Abbey in Dublin (Birds of a feather by J.O. Francis) and in the Globe, London (Rhondda roundabout by Jack Jones). He took part in five films; the best-known was Blue scar by Jill Craigie.

He married in 1917 Margaret Mary Walters and they had two daughters. He died 13 October 1967 at Treherbert and his remains were cremated at Glyn-taff.

Author

• Lorraine Davies

Sources

• Personal acquaintance and information from his daughter Betty Edwards, and Wyn Thomas, Cardiff

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q28360762

Published date: 2001

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/