John James Williams (poet)

John James Williams (8 October 1869 – 6 May 1954), commonly known by his bardic name of "J.J.", was a Welsh poet and served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1936 to 1939.

[1] Shortly afterwards they moved to Ynysybwl and joined Tabernacle, where the young Williams began preaching while working as a miner.

[1] While working underground he was accepted as a student to prepare for the nonconformist ministry, and attended Pontypridd Academy which was run by E. Dunmore Edwards.

After six years in Rhymney he moved to Seilo, Pentre, Rhondda, where he succeeded Lewis Probert.

[2] In the early years of the twentieth century, he began to compete at the National Eisteddfod and won the most prestigious prize, the bardic chair, on two occasions.

He wrote a number of plays as well as a collection of short stories, Straeon y Gilfach Ddu, published in 1931.