Author: WALTERS, John
Biography:
WALTERS, John (1721-97: ODNB)
His father was John Walter or Walters but his mother’s name is not known. ODNB gives the date and place of his baptism as 22 Aug. 1721 in Llanedi, Carmarthenshire; DWB agrees on the place but gives 22 Aug. as the date of his birth. No public records have been located to confirm this, and it is just possible that he was the John Walter, son of John, who was baptised at Llangyndeyrn, Carmarthenshire, on 16 Mar. 1720. His parents died when he was very young. He is said to have taught at a school in Basaleg, Monmouthshire, before studying Greek and Latin at the Cowbridge school. He became a schoolmaster at Margam, Glamorgan, and was ordained in 1750. He benefited from the patronage of the Mansel Talbot family and wrote a history of the family which remains unpublished. Walters served as a curate at Baglan and in 1754 was appointed perpetual curate at Michaelston (both Glamorgan). On 1 Mar. 1759 he was awarded the rectorship of Llandough in the Vale of Glamorgan; he also served as vicar at St. Hilary and was a prebendary of Llandaff cathedral. On 14 Sept. 1758 he married Hannah Clark, housekeeper to the Mansel Talbot family; they had five sons, including John Walters (1760-89), q.v. Walters died on 1 June 1797 at Cowbridge and was buried at Llandough on 4 June. Walters's most enduring work was as a lexicographer. In 1771 he published Dissertation on the Welsh Language. His An English-Welsh Dictionary was issued by subscription in fifteen parts from 1770 to 1794. Initially the parts appeared regularly but progress slowed because of financial trouble caused not only by the failure of subscribers to pay promptly but also because of issues with his printer. Nevertheless, the dictionary was a significant achievement and went to three editions (1815, 1828). Walters was predeceased by three of his sons, including John for whose monument at Efenechdid, Denbighshire, he contributed a Latin inscription. (ODNB 23 Jan. 2026; DWB 23 Jan. 2026; ancestry.co.uk 23 Jan. 2026; findmypast.co.uk 23 Jan. 2026; Robert Williams, A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen [1852]) SR