John Jenkins (Gwili)

Gwili was born at Hendy in Carmarthenshire, the fifth child of John Jenkins, a metal refiner, and his wife Elizabeth.

In the late 19th and early 20th century in England and Wales, a promising 13-year-old could stay on at school as a probationer to help with teaching younger pupils.

There he studied for the external intermediate examination of the University of London, which he failed in 1896, probably because he had spent too much of his time on poetic and literary pursuits.

In 1905, aged 33, Gwili entered Jesus College, Oxford as a student of Greats, i. e. Latin, Greek, Ancient Philosophy and History, and passed the first-year examinations.

In 1918 Gwili wrote a thesis on "The Study of the Gospels in Mediaeval Welsh", for which he obtained an Oxford University B.Litt..

Though an ordained minister, Gwili never took up pastoral duties, spending most of his working life in teaching roles.

In 1923 he was appointed Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Baptist College and University of North Wales Bangor, where he remained until his retirement.

The children of Hendy were given a half-day holiday to line the streets before his funeral at Hen Gapel, Llanedi, where he was buried on 19 May.