Thank you Kathy Stone, Bill Moore, Stephanie Kolonko-Weet, David Shaw, Arik Hesseldahl, Loretta Rockwell, Diane Burley, Jennifer Halsey, Corlett, The Family Histories Podcast, Kyla Bayang, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, and many others for tuning into my live video with your generous comments for Dai Davies, the poetic voice in Welsh behind @GenealCymru at GenealCymru.com and on Substack, YouTube, and Bluesky Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.

Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!

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Literacy at the Heart of a Democracy

With this series, I’ve tried to help us all appreciate the broader context of the American Revolution through the stories of our ancestors who lived through it. Today’s program was remarkable in that it tells the story of events that happened far from the shores of this British colony that would become the United States, yet the ties are strong.

During our conversation, Dai Davies, an expert in Welsh history and genealogy, shared how transformative education had been for their family in 18th-century Wales and how it carried themes of liberty. Much of that was due to the contributions of Thomas Bray (1656 or 1658 – 15 February 1730) and his traveling parish library and the obsessive work of George Eyre Evans (1857 – 1939), Unitarian minister and antiquary.

Among George Eyre Evans’ friends was John Davis, “the bookbinder,” whose diary has been transcribed. In it is a stanza from “Ode,” by Philip Morin Freneau (1752 – 1832)

God save the rights of man, and give us hearts to scan, blessings so dear.May they be spread around,wheresoever man is found,and with the wholesome sound,ravish the ear.See from the universe, darkness and clouds disperse, mankind awake.Reason and mirth appear, freedom advances near, despots with terror hear, see now the quake.

As a way to better understand the story, Dai shared this map so you can see where Cellan is in Wales:

This was Dai’s post as part of the Stories250 series:

We discussed the role of language preservation in protecting a culture from complete assimilation. Welsh poetry has been key to that. Dai has an ongoing series that tells the story, starting with the post, “Our Ancestors Were Poets.”

About Stories250

Learn more about the series at Projectkin.org/stories250, view all recordings and posts, then explore the posts in an interactive timeline. You’ll find Dai’s post here, just after 1765:

In March, I announced an expansion of the series with a live event inviting all of our authors of over 50 articles now to gather to share their stories. That program will be on July 9th during either our Atlantic or Pacific time windows (possibly both to accommodate schedules, more to come). In addition, I’m producing a commemorative magazine including all articles published in print, and shared at cost with all writers.

If you have stories to share, please join us. Learn more at Projectkin.org/stories250. The window to submit posts will remain open until June 30th.

Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling community on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms.

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