Goronwy Owen and Virginia

We recently took a trip out to Lawrenceville, Virginia to see where Martha's nine times great grandfather lived in the mid-seventeen hundreds. Goronwy Owen was an interesting person. He was born in 1723 in Wales, and died in 1769 in Lawrenceville Virginia. He is a famous Welsh poet of his time, apparently known for reviving a form of Welsh poetry that is quit difficult to pen. He made his way to Virginia when he was appointed rector of the St. Andrews Episcopal Church in 1760. He also served as Master of the Grammar School at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.


Martha and I flew off to Richmond, VA. on Saturday, March 1st. Once there, we rented a car and drove down to Lawerenceville. Once there, we checked into the Three Angels Inn B&B. That was a very nice B&B, and the owners knew a lot about its history.

Martha had contacted the current rector, and he arranged for Wayne Gilley to take us out to Goronwy Owen's house. He picked us up at the B&B and after switching vehicles at his house and picked up his wife Shirley. Shortly from there we arrived the house. From what Wayne and Shirley had heard, the house had not been lived in for almost 100 years. After looking around the house we headed into the woods and found his grave near his barn.


On Sunday we got up and took a walk around in the field behind the B&B. Along the way we made friends with horse. We also found this rusting out International truck. It has been sitting there long enough for a tree to grow between the front fender and the bumper, and another tree to grow right behind it, such that you would have to cut one or both down to get it out. Googling it, it appears to be from 1948ish.


After breakfast, went to the Sunday service at St. Andrews.




After church,we hit the road and were off to Williamsburg.

On Monday, We drove out to Yorktown and took in the battle sites.
After that, we drove back to Williamsburg and toured its historic area and had lunch there.

We then walked to the college campus to find a plaque that had been erected to Goronwy Owen. It was spring break so we had the campus to ourselves practically. We wandered around a lot of buildings. I even talked to someone at undergrad enrollment, and she directed us to the oldest building.




This is the building he would have been teaching at, but alas, no plaque there. We did bump into another person and she was very apologetic about not knowing where the plaque was, but directed us to the library.

Once there, I asked the librarian and she immediately knew where it was, and sent us up to see it.

Next to it is a set of shelves dedicated to him and houses all kinds of poetry from many authors.

On Tuesday, we headed up to the Airport. Our flight got delayed do to the massive snow happening in St. Louis, MO. It kept getting delayed until about 5pm, when they just cancelled it. Boo! (First time that has happened to me) So several of the passengers and us called the Days Inn. They didn't really have shuttle service, but one of the employees came over with his van and picked us up. This was a rather sad Motel. Its an old one with all the doors facing the road. I called my boss to let him know I was not coming in the next day, and then we went off to dinner. It rained like crazy that night.

In the morning, we got up, since they don't really have shuttle service, we had to get a taxi. Luckily, the weather had all passed and we managed to make it home.