Plas Harri, Llanefydd in Denbighshire was the ancestral home of the Roberts family. A well-known member of that family is John Roberts (1775-1829), a cleric, author and orthography specialist. He graduated from Oxford University in 1792 and worked as press-corrector on the Welsh Bible and Prayer Book (Oxford, 1799). In 1798, he obtained a curacy in Oxford, but was anxious to return to Wales, which he did in 1807, as vicar of Tremeirchion, Flintshire, a post he held until his death. John Roberts is remembered for his involvement in debates on Welsh language and religious affairs, and in particular, his vigorous opposition to the views of William Owen Pughe on Welsh orthography and his successful campaign against the printing, by the British and Foreign Bible Society, of a Welsh Bible using Pughe's orthography.
Other members of the family, relevant to the collection, include, John Roberts (fl. 1699), a yeoman; William Roberts (fl. 1713), a yeoman; Evan Roberts (died ca. 1844); Judith Roberts (died ca. 1884), widow, and John ap Evan Roberts (fl. 1902).
From the guide to the Plas Harri Papers, 1699 - 1902, (Bangor University)
