John Owen Williams (Pedrog)

Rev John Owen Williams (1853—1932) poet and Archdruid

Pedrog was born in May 1853 in Madryn, near Pwllheli, the youngest son of Owen and Martha Williams, both of whom were in service locally. He had a tragic childhood. At the age of two he was sent to stay with his father’s sister Jane Owen, in Llanbedrog, when his elder brother contracted smallpox. A few years later his mother died in childbirth. His father then decided to go to sea as a ship’s steward but his first voyage seemingly ended in a Melbourne hospital where he died. Pedrog’s memories of both his parents were few and hazy.