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Richards, William (1), Ll.d.

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Richards, William (2)

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Richards, William (1), LL.D.,

a Baptist minister of distinction, was born in 1749, in South Wales, His early advantages for obtaining an education were very limited. At the age of twenty-four he entered the academy at Bristol, England, where he remained two years. He became pastor of the Church in Lynn, England, July 7, 1776, and continued his residence in that place the remainder of his life, about half the time as pastor of the Church. He died in 1818. In English and Welsh history and in the Welsh language and literature Dr. Richards was well versed. He wrote, History of Lynn: — A Review of Noble's "Memoirs of the Protectoral House of Cromwell:" — and a Dictionary of Welsh and English. At his death he bequeathed his library — consisting of not far from 1300 volumes — to Brown University. "The library thus bequeathed is in many respects valuable; it contains a considerable number of Welsh books, a large collection of works illustrating the history and antiquities of England and Wales, besides two or three hundred bound volumes of pamphlets, some of them very ancient, rare, and curious. The collection is particularly valuable for its treatises on civil and religious liberty" (Guild, Manning and Brown University, p. 145- 147). See Allibone, Dict. of Brit. and Amer. Authors, s.v. (J.C.S.)