File A1/17. - Cyfenw Roberts

Roedd Samuel Roberts (S.R.) yn weinidog Annibynol, awdur, golygydd a diwygiwr Radicalaidd. Ganwyd ar 6 Mawrth 1800 yn Llanbrynmair, sir Drefaldwyn, yr ail blentyn a'r mab hynaf i'r Parch. John Roberts (1767-1834) a'i wraig Mary (m. 1848). Ym 1806 symudodd y teulu i fferm Y Diosg i fyw. Cafodd S.R. ei addysgu gan ei dad, ac o 1819 yn yr academi yn Llanfyllin (a symudwyd wedi hynnu i'r Drenewydd). Cafodd ei ordeinio ym 1827 fel cyd-weinidog i'w dad yn Llanbrynmair a daeth yn adnabyddus fel pregethwr. Ym 1835 roedd yn ysgrifennydd Apel y Capeli Annibynol Cymreig a geisiai ddileu dyledion y capeli yng Ngogledd Cymru. Ymgyrchodd dros ddiwygio cymdeithasol ac addysgiadol, gan fynegi ei farn yn y wasg a mewn traethodau eisteddfodol. Ceisiodd wella iechydiaeth, technegau amaethyddol, twf economaidd a trafnidiaeth yng nghefn gwlad Cymru. Yn 1843 cychwynnodd Y Cronicl, papur newydd Radicalaidd misol a ddaeth yn neillduol o boblogaidd. Roedd S.R. yn lwyrymorthodwr ac yn heddychwr ymroddgar. Gwrthwynebai caethwasaeth a chefnogai rhoi'r bleidlais i ferched. Roedd hefyd o blaid diwygio hawliau tenantiaid, yn rhannol oherwydd yr anghytundebau parhaol rhwng ei deulu a stiward stad Wynnstay, perchennog Y Diosg. Hyn yn y pen draw barodd i S.R. ymfudo i Tennessee i sefydlu trefedigaeth Gymreig yn Scott County. Aeth ei frawd Gruffydd (G.R.) a'i deulu yno ym 1856 ac ymunodd S.R. a nhw ym 1857. Ond cafodd yno fwy o broblemau gyda goruchwylwyr tir, a rhoddwyd ei fywyd mewn perygl oherwydd ei ddaliadau heddychol yn ystod y Rhyfel Cartref, 1861-1865. Methodd yr ymgais a dychwelodd S.R. i Gymru ym 1867 i fyw gyda'i frawd arall John (J.R.) yng Nghonwy. Sefydlodd papurau newydd wythnosol Y Dydd ym 1868 a'r Celt ym 1878. Ymysg ei gyhoeddiadau roedd Dau Draethawd (Caernarfon, 1834), Cofiant y Parch. John Roberts, o Lanbrynmair (Llanelli, 1837), Farmer Careful of Cilhaul Uchaf (1850), Diosg Farm: A Sketch of its History (Drenewydd, 1854), Gweithiau (Dolgellau, 1856), Pregethau a Darlithiau (Utica, N.Y., 1865), Funeral Addresses (Conwy, 1880) a Pleadings for Reforms (Conwy, 1880). Bu farw yng Nghonwy ar 24 Medi 1885.

Goronwy Owen Roberts (1913-1981) was the Labour MP for Caernarfonshire from 1945 until 1974 and was much involved in Welsh cultural life. Subsequently he was elevated to the peerage and served in the Foreign Office under George Brown.
A native of Bethesda and the son of E. E. and Amelia Roberts, Goronwy Roberts (1913-1981) enjoyed a brilliant academic career at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, where he was one of the founder members of the patriotic Gwerin movement in 1935. In 1938 he was elected a Fellow of the University of Wales. In 1942 he married Marian Ann Evans of Robertstown, Aberdare and there were a son Dafydd and daughter Ann. He served in the Army Reserve during World War Two. At the same time he was the Youth Education Officer to the Caernarfonshire Education Authority from 1941 until 1944.
Standing on a notably nationalistic platform, he captured Caernarfonshire in 1945, defeating long serving Liberal MP Major Goronwy Owen, MP for the county ever since 1923. A fervent patriotic Welshman throughout his life, he consistently advocated devolutionary solutions during the post-war Attlee administrations. He was also a notably conscientious constituency MP and generally popular with members of all parties at Westminster.
Goronwy Roberts was one of the most prominent leaders of the Parliament for Wales campaign of the early 1950s and was indeed personally responsible for presenting the petition bearing more than 250,000 signatures to parliament in May 1956. He was the chairman of the House of Commons panel of chairmen in 1963-1964. When the embryonic Welsh Office was established in 1964, he was appointed one of the first ministers of state, and worked in close harmony with James Griffiths and Harold Finch until 1966. Although he displayed an unfailing loyalty to his native land, he showed no sympathy for Welsh nationalism. It was his thankless fate to serve at a period of rift within the Labour Party and in the fortunes of Wales.
Subsequently Goronwy Roberts also served at the Department of Education and Science, 1966-1967, the Foreign and Colonial Office, 1967-1969, and the Board of Trade, 1969-1970. He was an innate negotiator, enormously efficient, placing great emphasis on reason and compromise. In 1968 Goronwy Roberts was made a Privy Councillor and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and in 1972 he was chosen a Freeman of the Royal Borough of Caernarfon.
Following his defeat at Caernarfonshire in February 1974, Goronwy Roberts was immediately awarded a peerage by Sir Harold Wilson (he became Baron Goronwy-Roberts of Caernarvon and of Ogwen in the county of Caernarvon) and served with some distinction at the Foreign Office under George Brown during the Wilson and Callaghan governments and travelled very extensively abroad. He was also Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 1975 until 1979. In the latter year he was acutely unnerved by the outcome of the March referendum on Welsh devolution.
A highly sensitive, scholarly man, throughout his life Goronwy Roberts published and broadcast extensively on current affairs and on political and literary matters, and he was an avid walker and lover of music. He was a member of the Court of Governors of the University of Wales, the National Museum of Wales and the Fabian Society. Having battled against increasing ill-health for a number of years, he died prematurely aged 67 in July 1981.

Ganwyd Kate Roberts (1891-1985), un o'r ffigurau pwysicaf yn hanes llenyddiaeth Cymru, yn Rhosgadfan, Llanwnda, pentref yn ardal y chwareli yn sir Gaernarfon. Yr oedd yn nofelydd, yn awdur storiâu byrion ac yn newyddiadurwraig lenyddol. Graddiodd mewn Cymraeg yng Ngholeg Prifysgol Gogledd Cymru, Bangor, lle bu'n astudio o dan Syr John Morris-Jones a Syr Ifor Williams. Wedi hynny bu'n athrawes Gymraeg yn Ystalyfera ac Aberdâr, ac yn 1928 priododd Morris T. Williams a phrynodd y ddau Wasg Gee, cyhoeddwr Baner ac Amserau Cymru. Yn dilyn marwolaeth ei gŵr yn 1946, parhaodd i redeg y busnes ar ei phen ei hun am ddeng mlynedd arall. Cyhoeddodd nifer fawr o nofelau a storiâu byrion o 1925 hyd 1937 ac o 1949 hyd 1981. Yr oedd hefyd yn aelod gweithgar o Blaid Genedlaethol Cymru a chyfrannodd yn rheolaidd i bapur newydd misol y blaid, Y Ddraig Goch. Mae nifer o'i gweithiau yn adlewyrchu cymdeithas y chwarel y magwyd Kate Roberts ynddi. Mae rhai o'i gweithiau yn ymwneud â gwragedd neu hen bobl yn byw ar eu pennau eu hunain. Yr oedd hefyd yn awdures llyfrau ar gyfer ac am blant. Yr oedd themâu ei gwaith cyhoeddedig yn cynnwys pynciau llenyddol, gwleidyddol a theuluol.