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Robert Isaac Jones
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[[File:Robert Isaac Jones (1813 - 1905), Dictionary of Welsh Biography, cropped.jpg|thumb|Robert Isaac Jones.]]
'''Robert Isaac Jones''' (1813-1905), also known under his [[bardic name]] '''Alltud Eifion''', was a Welsh pharmacist, writer, and printer.
==Biography==
[[File:Y Brython (Welsh Journal).jpg|thumb|left|''Y Brython'', Jones' ill-fated newspaper.]]
Jones was born at Tyddyn Iolyn, [[Pentrefelin, Gwynedd]] in 1813. Here he was educated and, in 1831, moved to become an apprentice to a [[Pwllheli]] pharmacist. After this he moved to Caernarvon and London, before settling in [[Tremadog|Tremadoc]].<ref name=dwb></ref>
In 1838, Jones opened his Tremadoc pharmacist, the Cambrian Pill Depôt. He gained some fame as the peddler of "Tremadoc Pills", which he claimed as an effective medicine for many different illnesses.<ref name=dwb/>
Jones was a keen printer, starting a Tremadoc printing-press where he printed several [[Welsh-language]] publications. He began a weekly newspaper, entitled ''Y Brython'', in November 1858. This enterprise was unsuccessful, as it was reduced to a monthly publication by 1859, and ceased publication altogether in 1863, having obtained too little readership.<ref name=dwb/> Jones also published a biography of early black Welsh gardener, [[John Ystumllyn]] (d. 1786), collated from his family and local area's oral sources. This biography has proved invaluable to modern efforts to understand Ystumllyn. Ystumllyn's biographer, [[Andrew Green (librarian)|Andrew Green]], admitted that, while "prone to variation, embroidery and forgetfulness", it survives as the most informative" and "frank" account of Ystumllyn's life.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
Jones was also an active [[wikt:eisteddfodwr|eisteddfodwr]], an attendee of annual Welsh literary festivals, though "did not excel", despite the copious amounts of poetry he produced, according to the ''[[Dictionary of Welsh Biography]]''.<ref name=dwb/>
==Personal life and death==
Jones was initially a Methodist, but left the church for the local Anglican church. He contributed to several religious journals - ''Yr Haul'', ''Y Llan'', and ''Cymru'' - and briefly refounded a pre-existing church periodical, ''[[Baner y Groes]]]''. Jones founded a Sunday school in the Tremadoc town hall.<ref name=dwb/>
Jones died on 7 March 1905, and was buried in [[St Cynhaearn's Church, Ynyscynhaearn]].<ref name=dwb/>
==Publications==
* ''Gwaith Barddonol Sion Wyn o Eifion'' (1861)
* (ed.) ''Cyff Beuno'' by [[Eben Fardd]] (1863)
* (ed.) ''Cell Meudwy'' by [[Ellis Owen]] (1877)
* ''John Ystumllyn'' (1888)
* ''Yr Emynydd Cristionogol'' (1889)
* ''Y Gestiana, sef, Hanes Tre'r Gest'' (1892)
==References==
[[Category:1813 births]]
[[Category:1905 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Welsh poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Welsh writers]]
[[Category:British pharmacists]]
[[Category:British publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Welsh male poets]]
[[Category:People from Gwynedd]]
November 12, 2019 at 08:39AM
