Professor John Morris-Jones (1864-1929), c. 1890

Description

Photographed by John Thomas.

John Morris-Jones (1864-1929) was born in Llandrygarn, Anglesey, but was brought up at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll. He was educated at Friars School, Bangor, and Christ College, Brecon, before graduating in Mathematics at Jesus College, Oxford, in 1883. During his time at Oxford, he began to take an interest in Welsh studies under the influence of Sir John Rhŷs, and studied Celtic for a year. In 1886, he was one of the founding members of 'Cymdeithas Dafydd ap Gwilym' - the Welsh student society at Oxford. In 1889, he was appointed lecturer in Welsh at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, and was made Professor of Welsh six years later. He was knighted in 1918.

John Morris-Jones excelled in a number of literary fields: he edited the work of Ellis Wynne, 'Gweledigaethau y Bardd Cwsc' (1896), and published a pioneering analysis of the strict metres ('cynghanedd') in his volume 'Cerdd Dafod' (1925). He is perhaps best known for his work as a grammarian: in addition to his substantial work, 'A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative' (1913), and 'Welsh Syntax' (published posthumously in 1931), he broke new ground in his attempts to reform the orthography of the Welsh language in his volumes 'Welsh Orthography' (1893) and 'Orgraff yr Iaith Gymraeg' (1928).