Ellis Humphrey Evans (1887 - 1917)

Born 13 Jan 1887 in Trawsfynydd, Meirionnydd, Cymru, Teyrnas Unedig

Ancestors

Died 31 Jul 1917 at age 30 in Boezinge, West-Vlaanderen, België

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    "Gwae fi fy myw mewn oes mor ddreng,

      A Duw ar drai ar orwel pell;

    O'i ôl mae dyn, yn deyrn a gwreng,

      Yn codi ei awdurdod hell."

            -- allan o Rhyfel gan Hedd Wyn

Ganwyd Ellis Humphrey Evans ar 13 Ionawr 1887 yn 'Penlan', yn nghanol Trawsfynydd, yn blentyn hynaf i Evan a Mary Evans. Pan oedd yn 4 mis oed, symudodd y teulu i fferm 'Yr Ysgwrn', yng Nghwm Prysor, ychydig o filltiroedd i ffwrdd. Cofrestrwyd ei enedigaeth yn chwarter cyntaf 1887 yn ardal Ffestiniog.^[1]

Pan gymerwyd cyfrifiad 1891, roedd Ellis a'i deulu efo taid Ellis yn Nheras Tyllwyd, Trawsfynydd.

Dechreudd Ellis barddoni erbyn 11 oed, a daeth yn adnabyddus yn y pen draw o dan ei enw barddol, Hedd Wyn.

Ym 1914, dechreudd y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Roedd Ellis yn heddychwr, felly ni ddewisodd listio. Roedd gwaith fferm yn hanfodol, felly nid oedd raid i'r un o'r teulu ymuno â'r fyddin hyd nes penderfynydd yr awdurdodau fod fferm mor fach yn gallu sbario un o'i meibion yn 1916. Er ei heddychiaeth, dewisodd Ellis fynd fel na fyddai'n rhaid i'w frawd iau Robert wneud.

Cafodd Ellis ei hyfforddi ar gyfer y fyddin yng nghamp Litherland yn Lerpwl. Ym mis Mawrth 1917, cafodd fynd adre am saith wythnos i helpu ar y fferm. Roedd yn flwyddyn wleb, ac fe aeth y gwaith fferm yn araf; gweithiodd llawer ar ei awdl Yr Arwr. Methodd â dychwelyd i'r fyddin yn brydlon, a chafodd ei restio gan yr heddlu milwrol wythnos ar ôl y dylsai fod yn ôl, gan adael ei awdl ar ei ôl. Ond llwyddodd i'r ail-greu o'i gof, ei gorffen a'i danfon i mewn drwy'r post ar gyfer yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol o bentref Fléchin yn Ffrainc.

Bu farw Ellis ar 31 Jul 1917 ym mrwydr Passchendaele, a'i gladdu ym mynwent Artillery Wood, ger Boezinge.

Cynhaliwyd seremoni Cadeirio yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol ar 6 Medi 1917. Yn ôl yr arfer, galwodd yr Archdderwydd deirgwaith am i'r bardd fuddugol sefyll ar ôl caniad y corn gwlad. Pan safodd neb, cyhoeddwyd fod y buddugwr wedi'i ladd yn y Rhyfel, a gosodwyd cynfas du dros y gadair. Wedyn, anfonwyd y gadair ar y trên i Drawsfynydd, lle cynhaliwd Cyfarfod Coffa am Ellis ar 13 Medi 1917. Er nad dyma'r gadair ddu gyntaf, seriwyd y cadeirio hwnnw ar gof y genedl gan drasiedi'r Rhyfel, a dyna'r Eisteddfod a gelwir hyd heddiw'n Eisteddfod y Gadair Ddu.

Biography

Ellis Evans is Notable.

Ellis Evans was born in Merionethshire, Wales.

Neidio i'r Gymraeg

    Why must I live in this grim age,

      When, to a far horizon, God

    Has ebbed away, and man, with rage,

      Now wields the sceptre and the rod?

            -- from Rhyfel (War) by Hedd Wyn^[2]

Ellis Humphrey Evans was born on 13 Jan 1887 in 'Penlan' in the centre of Trawsfynydd, the eldest child of Evan and Mary Evans. When he was 4 months old, the family moved to 'Yr Ysgwrn' farm in Cwm Prysor, a few miles away. Ellis's birth was registered in the Jan-Feb-Mar quarter of 1887 in the Festiniog district.^[1]

When the 1891 census was taken, Ellis and his family were in the household of Ellis' widowed grandfather Lewis Evans in Tyllwyd Terrace, Trawsfynydd.

Ellis started writing poetry by the age of 11, and eventually became known by the bardic name 'Hedd Wyn' (blessed peace).

In 1914, the First World War broke out. Ellis was a pacifist, so chose not to enlist. Farm work was essential, so none of the family had to join the army until the authorities decided such a small farm could spare one son, in 1916. In spite of his pacifism, Ellis decided to go so his younger brother Robert wouldn't have to.

Ellis received his military training in Litherland Camp, Liverpool. In March 1917, he was allowed to go home for seven weeks to help on the farm. It was a wet year, and farm work went slowly; he worked a lot on his awdl (poem) Yr Arwr (The Hero). He failed to return to the army punctually, and was arrested by the military police a week after he should have been back, and left his poem behind. However he managed to recreate it from memory, finish it and submit it for the National Eisteddfod, posting it from the village of Fléchin in France.

Ellis died on 31 July 1917 in the Battle of Passchendaele, and was buried in Artillery Wood Cemetery by Boezinge.

The Chairing Ceremony of the National Eisteddfod was held on 6 Sep 1917. As usual, the Archdruid called three times for the willing poet to stand after the horn was blown. When no-one stood up, it was announced that the winner had been killed in the War, and a black sheet was draped over the chair. Afterwards, the chair was sent by train to Trawsfynydd, where a Memorial Meeting was held for Ellis on 13 Sep 1917. Although this wasn't the first Black Chair in a national Eisteddfod, this incident seared itself into the memory of the nation because of the tragedy of the War, and this Eisteddfod is still remembered as the Eisteddfod of the Black Chair.

Nodiadau Ymchwil / Research Notes

Rhif milwrol (military number): 61117

Ffynonellau/Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Birth Registration: "England & Wales General Register Office"
   GRO Online Indexes - Birth (accessed 30 March 2022)
   Evans, Ellis Humphrey (Mother's maiden name: Morris).
   GRO Reference: 1887 Jan-Feb-Mar in Festiniog Volume 11B Page 354.
2. ↑ Llwyd, Alan (2008). Out of the Fire of Hell: Welsh Experience of the Great War 1914–1918 in Prose and Verse. Gomer Press, p. 233

Gweler hefyd/see also:

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6351/ellis-humphrey-evans : accessed 30 March 2022), memorial page for Ellis Humphrey “Hedd Wyn” Evans (13 Jan 1887–31 Jul 1917), Find A Grave: Memorial #6351, citing Artillery Wood Cemetery, Boezinge, Arrondissement Ieper, West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen), Belgium ; Maintained by Find a Grave .

• https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/100906/ellis-humphrey-evans/

• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4TYW-LZM : 8 May 2019), Ellis H Evans in household of Lewis Evans, Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, Wales, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Merionethshire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X913-KVQ : 21 May 2019), Ellis H Evans in household of Evan Evans, Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, Wales, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Festiniog subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7JD-RC4 : 23 July 2019), Ellis H Evans in household of Evan Evans, Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, Wales, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedd_Wyn

• https://biography.wales/article/s-EVAN-HUM-1887?&query=Hedd%20Wyn&lang[]=en&sort=score&order=desc&rows=12&page=1

• https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-EVAN-HUM-1887

• https://web.archive.org/web/20080408030405/http://www.rwfmuseum.org.uk/nb_heddwyn.html

• Cadeiriau: https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadair_yr_Eisteddfod_Genedlaethol#/media/Delwedd:Cadeiriau_barddol_Hedd_Wyn_-_Hedd_Wyns_bardic_chairs_(geograph_3666120).jpg

• Hedd Wyn a'i Gariad: https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/3461159/3461163/55/

• Cyfarfod Coffa Hedd Wyn: https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/4108718/4108726/25/

• Hedd Wyn 26 Medi 1917: https://papuraunewydd.llyfrgell.cymru/view/3801571/3801577/19/

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G9XW-XHP