William Price (physician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Price
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A drawing of William Price from the 1800s
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| Born | 4 March 1800 Rudry, Caerphilly, Wales
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| Died | 23 January 1893 (aged 92) Llantrisant, Glamorgan, Wales
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| Nationality | Welsh |
| Occupation | Medical doctor |
| Known for | His support for Chartism and Neo-Druidry, and for being a pioneer of cremation in Great Britain |
William Price (born March 4, 1800 – died January 23, 1893) was a Welsh doctor and activist. He was known for supporting Welsh nationalism (the idea that Wales should be its own country) and Chartism. Chartism was a movement that wanted equal voting rights for all men. Price was also involved with the Neo-Druidic religious movement, which tried to bring back ancient Celtic beliefs. Many people see him as one of the most important and unusual figures in 19th-century Wales and Victorian Britain.
Price grew up in a working-class family in Wales. He trained to be a doctor in London. After returning to Wales, he became interested in the Chartists' ideas about equal rights. When the Chartists' uprising failed in 1839, he had to escape to France. There, he became convinced that an old prophecy meant he would free Wales from English rule.
Back in Wales, Price tried to bring back what he thought was the religion of the ancient druids. Druids were Celtic spiritual leaders from long ago. He became a key figure in the Neo-Druidic movement. In 1884, he cremated his dead son, which means he burned the body instead of burying it. At the time, this was very unusual and thought to be illegal in the UK. However, Price successfully argued in court that no law actually banned cremation. This case helped lead to the Cremation Act 1902, which made cremation legal. When Price died, he was also cremated in front of 20,000 people.
Price believed in many ideas that were very different for his time. These included equal voting rights, being against vaccinations and animal testing, being a vegetarian, supporting cremation, and being against marriage. Because of these strong and often unusual beliefs, he was known as an "eccentric" (someone with strange habits) and a "radical" (someone who wants big changes). Today, there is a special display and a statue of him in Llantrisant, where he lived for many years.
Contents
William Price's Life Story
Early Years: Becoming a Doctor (1800–1821)
William Price was born on March 4, 1800, in a small cottage near Rudry, Caerphilly, in Glamorganshire, Wales. His father, also named William Price, was a priest. His mother, Mary Edmunds, had worked as a maid. Their marriage was a bit unusual because they came from different social backgrounds. William was the youngest of four children.
At home, William mostly spoke Welsh. He learned English at school, which was two miles from his home in Machen. He only went to school for three years, from age 10 to 13. But he was a good student and passed most of his exams.
After school, William decided he wanted to be a doctor, even though his father wanted him to be a lawyer. In 1814, he moved to Caerphilly and became an apprentice to a surgeon named Evan Edwards. His family helped pay for his training.
In 1820, Price finished his apprenticeship. Even without much money, he moved to London to continue his studies. He studied at The London Hospital and St Bartholomew's Hospital. He also worked to earn money. Eventually, he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. After finishing his studies, he decided to return to Wales and work as a general doctor.
Standing Up for Wales: Chartism (1821–1839)
When Price returned to Wales, he worked as a medical helper at the Pentyrch Ironworks. He lived nearby in a place he called 'Ynys y Llewod Duon' (Island of the black lions).
He then started his own medical practice in Glyntaff and worked there for seven years. Later, he rented a farm in Upper Boat. He filled the farm with goats and cattle. These animals caused a lot of damage to the trees. His landlord tried to make him leave, but William refused. He was eventually carried out of the house while still sitting in his chair!
Price then moved to the busy Taff Valley near Pontypridd. In 1823, workers at the Brown Lenox Chainworks in Pontypridd chose him as their chief surgeon. He stayed in this job until 1871. He also became a medical advisor to the rich Crawshay family, who owned ironworks. Living in Treforest, which was a "revolutionary town," he became more interested in left-wing political ideas.
Price was a proud Welsh nationalist. He gave a speech about Welsh history and literature at the Royal Eisteddfod (a Welsh festival) in 1834. It was so good that he was asked to judge a poetry competition. The winner was Taliesin Williams, whose father was a famous druid and Welsh nationalist named Iolo Morganwg.
Price became very interested in Welsh culture, including the Neo-Druidic movement. He joined a Neo-Druidic group called the Society of the Rocking Stone in Pontypridd. By 1837, he was one of its main members. To help Welsh culture, he gave Welsh language lessons every Sunday. He worried that the Welsh language was disappearing. In 1838, he also suggested building a Druidical Museum in Pontypridd. The money from the museum would help run a free school for poor children. This idea did not get enough support.
At the same time, Price became important in the local Chartist movement. Chartists wanted all men to have the right to vote, no matter how rich or poor they were. Many Chartists in South Wales got weapons to prepare for a revolution. Price helped them get these weapons. By 1839, he had seven pieces of artillery (large guns).
In 1839, the Newport Rising happened. Many Chartists rose up against the government, but soldiers stopped them and killed some of the rebels. Price knew this would happen, so he and his supporters did not join the rebellion that day. However, he knew the government would go after Chartists. So, he escaped to France, dressed as a woman. While there, he learned to speak French fluently.
Life as an Archdruid: New Beliefs (1840–1882)
While living in Paris as a political refugee, Price visited the Louvre museum. There, he saw a stone with Greek writing. He mistakenly thought it showed an ancient Celtic poet talking to the moon. He believed the writing was a prophecy from an old Welsh prince named Alun. This prophecy said that a man would come in the future to reveal the true secrets of the Welsh language and free the Welsh people. Price believed this prophecy was about him. He felt he had to return to Wales to free his people from English rule.
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Soon after, Price returned to Wales and declared himself a Druid. He started a Druidic group that gained followers. His followers carried staffs with carvings. Price believed marriage was wrong because it "enslaved women." He began a relationship with Ann Morgan, and they had a daughter in 1842. He baptized their daughter himself at the Rocking Stone in Pontypridd, naming her Gwenhiolan Iarlles Morganwg (meaning 'Gwenhiolan, Countess of Glamorgan').
Price started dressing in unusual ways for the time. He wore a fox fur hat (which he said showed his healing powers as a doctor) and emerald green clothes. He also grew a long beard and did not cut his hair. He tried to hold Druidic events, like an eisteddfod in Pontypridd in 1844. No one showed up, so he alone made his daughter a bard at the event. In 1855, he led a parade of the Ivorites, a Welsh nationalist group, through the streets of Merthyr Tydfil. He was joined by a man calling himself Myrddin (the Welsh name for Merlin) and a goat.
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Price still wanted to build a museum and school in Pontypridd. A local landowner, Sir Benjamin Hall, let him use his land. But Price and the Halls later disagreed, and the project was stopped. Price was left with debts, so he escaped to France again in 1861. Around this time, he started writing to newspapers, making exaggerated claims about himself and Welsh history. For example, he claimed he was "Lord of the Southern Welsh" and that the Greek poet Homer was born near Caerphilly.
In 1866, Price came back to Wales. His daughter had grown up and was living her own life after her mother, Ann Morgan, died. He settled in Llantrisant and opened a new medical practice, which was successful. He later took a young farmer's daughter, Gwenllian Llewelyn (born 1859), as his partner. She was 21, and he was much older. Even though he had spoken against marriage before, he had a Druidic wedding ceremony with Gwenllian on March 4, 1881, which was his 81st birthday. The ceremony took place at the Rocking Stone in Pontypridd. Price spoke to the sun at noon, and women dressed as the Three Graces were there. Many people watched, and reports say they found it amusing.
In 1871, Price published a book written in his own made-up version of Welsh. He believed this was the true ancient Welsh language. The book, called The Will of My Father, described the universe being created from a snake's egg by a supreme Father God. However, this book was mostly ignored and forgotten.
Later Life and Legacy
Price called himself a 'High priest of the sun grown old'. He felt he needed a son to follow him. So, he chose a girl named Gwenllian (or 'Gwen'), who was 18, as his new partner. Gwen and Price's first child was born on August 8, 1883. It was a son whom Price named Iesu Grist (Welsh for Jesus Christ). Price believed his son was a new version of an ancient Welsh god and expected great things from him. The baby lived for only five months and died on January 10, 1884, from an unknown cause.
Price decided to cremate his son's body. The police thought this was illegal. Price argued that while the law did not say cremation was legal, it also did not say it was illegal. This court case was very important. It helped lead to the Cremation Act 1902, which made cremation legal in the UK. In 1885, the first official cremation happened at Woking Crematorium.
The media attention from the court case made Price famous. He started selling 300 medals, each showing a cosmic egg and a snake, to celebrate his victory. He was invited to give talks and attend public events. However, his audiences often did not understand his ideas or his unusual clothes, which were made of red cloth with green letters.
In late 1884, Price's wife gave birth to their second child, another son whom Price also named Iesu Grist. On May 27, 1886, they had a daughter named Penelopen. Price believed his second son had an important future and would rule the earth. Gwen separated from William a few years before he died but continued to care for their children. In 1892, Price put up a pole over 60 feet high with a crescent moon on top of Caerlan hill, where his first son had been cremated. He said he wanted his own funeral there too.
Price died at his home in Llantrisant on January 23, 1893. His last words were, "Bring me a glass of champagne." He drank it and died soon after. On January 31, 1893, Price was cremated on a large fire made of wood and two tons of coal. This was done according to his wishes, on the same hillside overlooking Llantrisant. About 20,000 people watched. His family, dressed in a mix of traditional Welsh and his own Druidic clothes, oversaw the ceremony. Price had wanted his ashes to be "spread all over the earth to help the grass and flower to grow."
After Price's death, his wife remarried a road inspector. She gave up her Druidic beliefs and became a Christian. She had her two children baptized, and Iesu Grist was renamed Nicholas. He never fulfilled the big predictions his father had made about him.
William Price's Beliefs
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William Price had many strong beliefs that were very different from what most people thought in Victorian times. He often showed these beliefs in a very public way. Some people wondered if his unusual behavior was due to a mental illness.
Price refused to wear socks because he thought they were dirty. He also washed coins, fearing they carried germs. He was against vaccinations, partly because his brother had died after one as a child. He also refused to treat patients who smoked tobacco. Price was a vegetarian because he believed eating meat "brought out the beast in man." He also spoke out against vivisection (animal testing). Price was against marriage, seeing it as a way to control women.
Price was also known for building the famous "Round houses" in Pontypridd. He convinced a local builder that he owned the land and that these round houses would be the entrance to his mansion. But he owned neither the land nor a mansion.
Price believed that religion was often used to control people, and he disliked "sanctimonious preachers" (preachers who act more religious than they are). His religious ideas have influenced the modern Druidic movement.
Remembering William Price
Soon after Price died, songs about him were written and sung in the local area for many years. In 1896, an exhibition about his life was held in Cardiff. A small book about him was also published. A more important book about Price, called A Welsh Heretic, was published in 1940.
In 1947, the Cremation Society put up a plaque remembering him in Llantrisant. In 1982, a statue of him was unveiled in the town. It shows him in his famous fox-skin hat with his arms stretched out. In 1992, a memorial garden was named after him, and a display about him opened in the town's visitor center.
Historians have described Price as a very interesting and important person. One historian called him "one of the most colourful characters in Welsh history." Another called him "the most notable individual in 19th century Wales."
In 2017, a green plaque was put up near Price's birthplace in Rudry Parish Hall. In 2020, the American actor Robert Downey Jr. said that Dr. William Price was his inspiration for playing Dr Dolittle in the movie Dolittle.
Images for kids
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19th-century lithograph of William Price
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Price in 1822, whilst at medical school
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An illustration of a Chartist riot
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A photograph of Price taken while he was on stage in 1884. This displays some of his Druidic attire.
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Portrait of William Price in 1861
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Price with his friend Robert Anderson
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Oil painting of Price by A. C. Hemming, 1918 (on display at the Wellcome Collection in London)
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Statue of William Price in the Bull Ring, Llantrisant
