Thomas Richards of Coychurch

Thomas Richards (c. 1710 – 20 March 1790) was a Welsh curate from Coychurch in the eighteenth century, best known for his 1753 Thesaurus, a Welsh-English dictionary.[1] The Welsh-English dictionary was used by Dr. Samuel Johnson in compiling A Dictionary of the English Language (1755).[2]

right Tomb of Thomas Richards in Coychurch, now a Grade ii listed monument

Life

Born about 1710 in Glamorganshire, served for forty years the curacy of Coychurch (Llan Grallo) and Coity in that county. Richards died on 20 March 1790.[3]

Works

In 1746 Richards published a Welsh translation of a tract on the Cruelties and Persecutions of the Church of Rome, by Philip Morant. His major work was Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ Thesaurus, Bristol, 1753, a Welsh-English Dictionary, with a Welsh grammar prefixed, dedicated to Frederick, Prince of Wales. Based mainly on the work of John Davies and Edward Llwyd, his dictionary was fuller than any which had yet appeared.[3] Other sources were William Wotton and Richard Morris.[4] It has been suggested that Richards borrowed manuscripts from John Bradford.[5] A second edition appeared at Trefriw in 1815, a third in the same year at Dolgellau, and a fourth at Merthyr Tydfil in 1838.[3]

Richards was credited with work on the 1812 edition of William Evans's English-Welsh dictionary.[4]

References
  1. Prys Morgan, p. 43 in The Invention of Tradition (1992), Eric J. Hobsbawm, Terence O. Ranger (editors); Google Books.
  2. Hill, George Birkbeck, ed. (1887). Boswell's Life of Johnson. Vol. 1 (of 6). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 186.
  3. "Richards, Thomas (1710?-1790)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  4. Crowe, Richard. "Richards, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23540. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. iolomorganwg.wales.ac.uk page, John Bradford (1706-85).
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Richards, Thomas (1710?-1790)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.


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