WILLIAM TODD JONES
TENOR c. 1885-1895
Born in Troedyrhiw, Merthyr Tydfil in March 1872, he came to River Row, Penyrenglyn as a baby and while still a boy began working as a miner in one of the Bute Collieries.
From a young age he started his singing career in the village’s Royal Exchange where he sang in Penny Reading Concerts.
Unable to read a single note of music, he refused any formal training from Madame Clara Novello Davies but rose to become one of the finest singers in Wales.
The “Todyn” as he was affectionately known, gained prize after prize in the eisteddfod arena, claiming a first prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
A soloist with the Treorky Male Choir he performed before Queen Victoria and the Royal Family in the Choir’s Royal Command Performance
at Windsor Castle on November 29th 1895.
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As tenor soloist with the Royal Welsh Male Choir he had opened music festivals throughout the United Kingdom. He enjoyed audiences with King Edward VII, King George V and David Lloyd George who called him the “God Sent Tenor.” During a performance in New York he was even approached by international tenor Enrico Caruso and they exchanged tips on performance. His voice was heard around the world as he undertook tours with the Royal Welsh Male Choir to America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
According to reports, during the visit to New Zealand the gold magnate Llewellyn Williams rewarded him handsomely for a private concert.He spent his final years in Pencader, where he continued to perform locally until the week of his death in 1932. He left a wife, Maud, and nine children. His funeral in Treorchy was one of the largest ever seen n the history of the Rhondda.
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