Welsh Journals

Evan Roberts and the 1904-5 Revival Geraint Tudur It is unlikely that anyone familiar with the story of the 1904-5 Revival in Wales would disagree with the claim that the most enigmatic character of that momentous period was Evan Roberts, the Revivalist. Though his name was to become well-known to tens of thousands of people in Wales and to many more beyond its borders, the man himself has remained a considerable mystery to those who have, for some reason or other, found themselves looking back to the days of the Revival. Even today, a century later, despite all attempts to chronicle his life and to analyse his words and actions, an uneasy feeling lingers that vitally important questions remain unanswered. His early career The plain facts of his life are already known. Evan John Roberts was born on 8 June 1878, the son of Henry and Hannah Roberts of Island House, Bwlchmynydd, Loughor, about seven miles from Swansea. He received little by way of a formal education, and even before he had celebrated his twelfth birthday had left school to work with his father in the coal pit. It was, therefore, as a miner that he was employed during the early years of his career,2 but then, in September 1902, having given the matter much thought,3 he decided to change direction and began working as an apprentice blacksmith with his uncle, Evan Edwards, at Pontarddulais.4 Fifteen months later, he decided to change direction again, and on 17 December 1903 left the smithy. The next day he preached his first sermon in Moriah chapel, Loughor, where he and his family were members and thus indicated his wish to be considered as a candidate for the ministry by his denomination, the Calvinistic Methodists. Official recognition of his candidature came in May 1904; at the age of twenty-five, Roberts was accepted as a prospective minister by the West Glamorgan Monthly Meeting.5 The next step was to attend one of the preparatory schools which the Calvinistic Methodists had in those days to provide the basic training needed by those contemplating service in the ministry. Roberts's decision to enter the ministry was not a sudden one. In a letter to W. H. Morgan, a friend who had already been raised into the ministry