Thomas Richards of Coychurch
Welsh curate and lexicographer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Richards (c. 1710 – 20 March 1790) was a Welsh curate from Coychurch in the eighteenth century, best known for his 1753 Thesaurus, a Welsh-English dictionary.[1] The Welsh-English dictionary was used by Dr. Samuel Johnson in compiling A Dictionary of the English Language (1755).[2]
Life
Born about 1710 in Glamorganshire, served for forty years the curacy of Coychurch (Llan Grallo) and Coity in that county. Richards died on 20 March 1790.[3]
Works
In 1746 Richards published a Welsh translation of a tract on the Cruelties and Persecutions of the Church of Rome, by Philip Morant. His major work was Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ Thesaurus, Bristol, 1753, a Welsh-English Dictionary, with a Welsh grammar prefixed, dedicated to Frederick, Prince of Wales. Based mainly on the work of John Davies and Edward Llwyd, his dictionary was fuller than any which had yet appeared.[3] Other sources were William Wotton and Richard Morris.[4] It has been suggested that Richards borrowed manuscripts from John Bradford.[5] A second edition appeared at Trefriw in 1815, a third in the same year at Dolgellau, and a fourth at Merthyr Tydfil in 1838.[3]
Richards was posthumously credited with contributions to the edition of William Evans's English-Welsh dictionary published in 1812.[4]
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