(Q59827)

Henry Richard (1812-1888), politician, also known as the 'Apostle of Peace', was born in Tregaron and was apprenticed as a draper before being ordained as a minister in 1835 and thereafter serving all his working life at the Independent chapel in the Old Kent Road, London. Richard was concerned throughout his life with the peace question and in 1848 was appointed secretary of the Peace Society. In 1868 he was elected as Liberal member of parliament for Merthyr Tydfil and strove to uphold Welsh and Nonconformist causes while, through his writing, he sought to present a portrait of Wales and her history to English readers. Henry's father, Ebenezer Richard (1781-1837), Calvinistic Methodist minister, was born in Tre-fin, Pembrokeshire. One of the principal organisers of his denomination, it was he who helped draw up the Calvinistic Methodist confession of faith in 1823. He was also the chief supporter of the Sunday school movement in South Wales and, in all, served the Methodist cause for sixty years.