Edwyn Cynrig Roberts
Who was Edwyn Cynrig Roberts?
Welsh pioneer of Patagonia
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Edwyn Cynrig Roberts (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Edwyn Cynrig Roberts, sometimes known as Edwin Cynrig Roberts, was born in either 1837 or 1838 in Y Bryn, Cilcain, Flintshire, Wales. He was the son of John and Mary Kendrick. In 1847, while Roberts was still a child, his family moved to Wisconsin in the United States, joining many other Welsh immigrants looking for better opportunities in North America. In the U.S., Roberts developed a deep commitment to keeping the Welsh language and culture alive, which became his life's mission.
Around 1856, a Welsh Colonial Movement began among Welsh settlers in the United States. They were worried that their communities were losing their unique language and culture as they became part of American society. Roberts became a leading voice in this movement, and when plans for a group migration to Patagonia were delayed, he decided to move forward on his own. Traveling to Wales, he connected with Michael D. Jones, a Nonconformist minister and Welsh nationalist, who also wanted to start a Welsh colony in South America. Roberts gave talks across Wales promoting Patagonia and played a key role in the Liverpool Emigration Society, set up in 1861 to organize the project.
In May 1865, about 160 Welsh emigrants left Liverpool on the ship Mimosa, heading to Porth Madryn (now Puerto Madryn) on Argentina's Patagonian coast. Roberts and Lewis Jones went ahead to greet the settlers, and the Mimosa arrived on 28 July 1865. Roberts was a crucial organizer in founding Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia's Chubut Valley. Unlike most Welsh emigrants who were Nonconformists, Roberts was an Anglican, making him somewhat unique among the pioneers. In 1866, he married Anne Jones, a Mimosa passenger.
After the colony's founding, Roberts joined expeditions into the Andes searching for gold. He and his team found some gold and Roberts returned to Wales to raise funds and start a mining company. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack in Bethesda, Wales, just days before he was supposed to go back to Patagonia. His death ended what could have been an important part of the Welsh Patagonian colony's history. Roberts is remembered as the hero of the novel Yr Hirdaith, written by Elvey MacDonald, a descendant of Roberts, and published by Gomer Press in 1999.
Before Fame
Edwyn Cynrig Roberts was born into a Welsh-speaking family in Cilcain, Flintshire, in the late 1830s. As a child, his family moved from Wales to Wisconsin in 1847, giving him the experience of living as a Welsh immigrant in a new country. Growing up among Welsh immigrants in the American Midwest, Roberts learned firsthand how minority languages and cultures could fade away in these communities.
This experience fueled his later activism. By the mid-1850s, Roberts was involved with the Welsh Colonial Movement in the United States, which aimed to create a Welsh-speaking colony where immigrants could preserve their culture and language. His dedication caught the attention of important figures in Wales, and his trips back to recruit settlers made him a key organizer in what would become the Patagonia colonization project.
Key Achievements
- Played a leading organizational role in the founding of Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, Argentina, in 1865
- Helped establish the Liverpool Emigration Society in 1861 to coordinate the Patagonian colonization project
- Traveled through Wales recruiting settlers and raising awareness of the Patagonian colony scheme alongside Michael D. Jones
- Led or participated in expeditions into the Andes and discovered gold deposits, subsequently seeking investment in Wales to develop a mining operation
- Was among the advance party that received the Mimosa settlers at Porth Madryn on 28 July 1865, helping to formally establish the Welsh Patagonian colony
Did You Know?
- 01.Unlike most of the Welsh settlers who sailed to Patagonia, Roberts was an Anglican rather than a Nonconformist, setting him apart religiously from the majority of the colony's founders.
- 02.Roberts and Lewis Jones traveled to Patagonia ahead of the main group of settlers and were present at Porth Madryn to meet the Mimosa when it arrived on 28 July 1865.
- 03.Roberts and several companions conducted an expedition into the Andes mountains and actually found gold deposits, after which he returned to Wales to seek investment for a mining company.
- 04.Roberts died in Bethesda, Wales, just a few days before he was scheduled to sail back to Patagonia, meaning he never completed his final planned return to the colony he helped found.
- 05.He is the central character in Elvey MacDonald's 1999 Welsh-language novel Yr Hirdaith, published by Gomer Press, written by one of his own descendants.