William Price (physician)

For the British medical author, see Frederick William Price.
For other people named William Price, see William Price (disambiguation).

William Price
19th-century lithograph of Price
Born(1800-03-04)4 March 1800
Rudry, Caerphilly, Wales
Died23 January 1893(1893-01-23) (aged 92)
Llantrisant, Glamorgan, Wales
NationalityWelsh
Occupation(s)Physician, political activist
Known forHis involvement in Chartism and Neo-Druidry, and for pioneering of cremation in Great Britain

William Price (4 March 1800 – 23 January 1893) was a Welsh physician and political activist best known for his support of Welsh nationalism, Chartism and involvement with the Neo-Druidic religious movement. Historians have characterised Price as one of the most significant figures in Wales in the Victorian era.[1][2][3]

Born into a working class family in Rudry, Caerphilly, Price underwent medical training in London before returning to Wales, becoming interested in the Chartists' ideas regarding democracy and civil and political rights for all men. Following the failed Chartist Newport Rising in 1839, he escaped government prosecution by fleeing to France, where he became convinced that an ancient prophecy predicted that he would achieve Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.

Returning to Wales, Price tried reviving what he believed to be the religion of the ancient druids, Celtic ritualists active during the Iron Age. In doing so, he became one of the most prominent proponents of the Neo-Druidic movement, something that had been developing since Iolo Morganwg's activities in the late 18th century. After cremating his dead son in 1884, Price was arrested and put on trial by those who believed cremation was illegal under English law; however, he successfully argued that there was no legislation that specifically outlawed it, which paved the way for the Cremation Act 1902. Upon his death, he was cremated in a ceremony watched by 20,000 onlookers.

Known for adhering to beliefs such as supporting equal rights for all men, vegetarianism, vaccine hesitancy and cremation while opposing vivisection and marriage, some of which were highly controversial at the time, he has been widely known as an "eccentric" and a "radical".[4] Since his death he has been remembered by some people as "one of the great Welshmen of all time". A permanent exhibition and statue dedicated to him has been inaugurated in the town of Llantrisant, where he had lived for much of his later life.[5]

  1. ^ Powell 2005. p. 3.
  2. ^ Hutton 2009. p. 253.
  3. ^ "Price, William, Dr, (Llantrisant), papers". Archives Network Wales. May 2003. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  4. ^ BBC Welsh hall of fame Archived 27 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Hutton 2009. p. 286.