Glyn Simon

William Glyn Hughes Simon, DD (1903-1972) was Archbishop of Wales from 1968 to 1971.

Educated at Christ College, Brecon from 1913, he went on to Jesus College, Oxford, in 1922. He was Warden of St Michael's College, Llandaff, at the same time that the poet R. S. Thomas was training there for the priesthood.

As Dean of Llandaff he was largely responsible for the reconstruction of the war-damaged nave of the cathedral, commissioning Epstein's Majestas or statue of Christ in majesty.

As Bishop of Swansea and Brecon he developed a sympathy for the Welsh language and for the architecture of the Welsh countryside. He was a brilliant Bishop of Llandaff representing a moderate form of Anglo-Catholicism (notably proceeding to the appointment of women deacons) and an original voice of Anglicanism outside the established Church of England. His brief period as Archbishop of Wales is often regarded as less successful.

His public interventions include his vigorous stance at the time of the Aberfan disaster (1966- his interview with the BBC reporter Vincent Kane was memorable) and his visit to the imprisoned language campaigner, Dafydd Iwan (1970). Other issues which engaged his attention include Apartheid (there was the famous altercation with the Glamorgan captain Wilf Wooller over a visiting South African cricket team) and Nuclear Disarmament. Simon played a prominent role at the Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales (1969).

Simon's remarks concerning the way bishops were elected in the Church in Wales earned him criticism from Carl Witton-Davies and a satire in the 'Western Mail' in 1961 by the writer and broadcaster Aneurin Talfan Davies. Relations became tense with the then archbishop, Edwin Morris. At an earlier date Simon had criticised the ceremonial attached to the Gorsedd of Bards.

Simon was married to a native Welsh speaker and had 4 children, one of whom died young. One of his sons is the art critic, Robin Simon. He remarried late in life.

Glyn Simon retired to Goathurst, Somerset, and died in hospital at Taunton in 1972.

Bibliography

Owain W.Jones, Glyn Simon, His Life and Opinions,1981.

Paul Ferris, The Church of England, Penguin, 196..

The Origins of the Church in Wales, and her History up to the Reformation (Welsh Church Congress),1953.

"Torch Commentary" I Corinthians, 1959.

Then and Now (primary visitation),1961.

The Landmark,1962.

Feeding the Flock, 1964.

A Time of Change (second visitation),1966.

transl. of J. Danielou, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church, 1961.

ed. Bishops, 1961