Griffith, Rowland

Llanwrst, Denbighshire, Wales; harp maker, joiner and clockmaker (fl. 1780-1800)

A longcase clock with dial signed by Rowland Griffith and dated 1780 is illustrated in Bebb (2007), fig. 856. As well as being a clockmaker he was a talented furniture maker. The poet Edward Williams commented: ‘Rowland Griffiths the harpmaker, also a cabinetmaker, a joiner, carpenter, architect, in short a man of genius and industry. In his several professions he has built a great many decent houses in the town in modern style, and has been a very great improver of the town’. The will of John Jones of Beddgelert (d.1782) included ‘A Press Cupboard, lately made by Rowland Griffith’.

Source: Bebb, Welsh Furniture (2007), II, p. 122.