John Francon Williams (1854 – 4 September 1911) was a British writer, geographer, historian, journalist, cartographer, and inventor, born in Llanllechid, Caernarvonshire. His seminal work was The Geography of the Oceans.
Family John Francon Williams was the second son of Richard Williams (b. 1818 Llanllechid) and his wife Mary (b. 1822 Denbighshire). Richard and Mary had two further sons, William (b. 1843) and Henry (b. 1858), and two daughters, Mary Jr. (b. 1857)1861 UK Census Richard Williams (aged 43), Mary Williams (aged 39) and their children, William (aged 18), John (aged 7), Mary (aged 4), Henry (aged 3), residing at Cenfaes Terrace, Llanllechid, (retrieved 12 February 2018, findmypast.co.uk) and Grace (b. 1862).1871 UK Census Richard Williams (aged 54), Mary Williams (aged 49) and their children, John (aged 17), Mary (aged 14), Henry (aged 13), and Grace (aged 9) residing at Pencennant (Pen-y-ceunant), Llanllechid, (retrieved 12 February 2018, findmypast.co.uk) All the children were born in Llanllechid, North Wales. The Williams family first lived at Cenfaes Terrace and then, as the family grew larger, moved to a stone cottage at 5 Pencennant (Pen-y-ceunant), one of a row of traditional terraced stone cottages in Llanllechid, where all their immediate neighbours were also named Williams. The cottages positioned on a gentle slope had views directly overlooking the Ogwen Valley and the Snowdonian Mountains in the distance. Richard worked nearby as a slate quarryman (most probably) in Penrhyn Quarry located north of Bethesda overlooking the River Ogwen. The Quarry was owned and run by the wealthy Dawkins-Pennant family, who also owned Penrhyn Castle and most of the land in the area. Over time, Richard Williams was promoted to the role of 'Overlooker' (a term used in the 19th century for a superintendent or overseer) at the slate quarry.
During the next decade, an increase of population in the area occurred due to the extension of slate and stone quarrying. In the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (published in 1870-2), Llanllechid is described as thus: "Llanllechid, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in Bangor district, Carnarvon. The village stands near the river Ogwen, 3½ miles SW by S of Aber r. station, and 3½ SE of Bangor; and has a post office under Bangor, and a fair on 29 October."Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales edited by Rev. John Marius Wilson (1870–72) published Edinburgh, A. Fullarton & Co.: .
John and his two brothers and two sisters attended the local school, where John showed a particularly strong aptitude and interest in geography and history. By the mid-1870s, as a young adult, John moved away to Northampton, where he took up a post as a school teacher. It was in Northampton that John met his future wife, Barbara.
On 8 July 1876, John married Barbara Balmain Dougall at St Giles' Church, Northampton.1876 Marriage Certificate: Marriage solemnised at the Parish Church in the Parish of St Giles, Northampton – 8 July 1876 – No. 29, between John Williams, School Master of Palmerston Road; father's name: Richard Williams (Overlooker at Slate Quarries), and Barbara Balmain Dougall; father's name John Dougall (manufacturer) The newlyweds first home was at Palmerston Road, Northampton. Over the succeeding years John and Barbara had five children: four sons; John Balmain, (b. 1877, Northampton),John B. Williams baptism certificate on familysearch.org: John B. Williams was baptized on 5 August 1877, Northampton. Aeneas Francon Williams (b. 1886, Liscard, Cheshire),http://www.ancestry.com/ – Liverpool, Lancashire, England, Baptisms 1813–1906 – Aeneas Francon Williams (son of John and Barbara Williams) baptized at St Peter's Church, Liverpool F.C., 20 July 1886. David Dougal Williams (b. 1888, Liscard),Familysearch.org – Births, Marriages and Deaths, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538–2000: David Dougall Williams was baptized on 22 July 1888 at St Mary, Liscard, in Cheshire. and George Stanley (b. 14 April 1890, at Hope Place in the Georgian Quarter of Liverpool) – and one daughter; Margaret Mary Ann (b. 1891, Liscard.)Familysearch.org – Births, Marriages and Deaths, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538–2000: Margaret Mary Ann Williams was christened on 8 November 1891 at St Mary, Liscard, in Cheshire. George was baptised on 25 May 1890.Baptism Register, George Stanley Williams, 25 May 1890, Ref: 5b – 103 During this period the family moved house frequently, residing at Hope Place, Liverpool, and in Liscard at 2 Massey Park, Wallasey, Chester,1891 UK Census, John Francon Williams and family, 2 Massey Park, Wallasey, Chester:. to remain close to Liverpool, where John had begun a career as a journalist and subsequent editor on a local Liverpool newspaper. During the early 1880s, John's sister Mary and his brother Henry left the Williams' family home in Llanllechid.1881 UK Census Richard Williams (aged 63), Mary Williams (aged 59) and Grace (aged 19) residing at 17 Pencennant, Llanllechid, (retrieved 10 February, findmypast.co.uk) Only John's sister Grace, who now had a career as a dressmaker, remained living with her parents at the family home. In 1885, Grace married Robert William Williams (1861–1931) in Bethesda, hence Grace and her future offspring retained the Williams surname.
In 1891, John's father, mother and a brother died (most probably due to the influenza epidemic that spread across Wales and Northern England),FluTrackers: Flu Pandemic 1891 (retrieved 17 February 2018: 'The earliest signs of an epidemic revival on a large scale occurred in March 1891, in the United States and the north of England. In England it began in the Yorkshire towns, particularly in Hull, and also independently in South Wales. In London influenza became epidemic for the second time about the end of April, and soon afterwards was widely distributed in England and Wales. The large towns in the north, together with London and Wales, suffered much more heavily in mortality than in the previous attack. In 1891 it was very sudden and extremely severe, the death-rate rising to 73.4 during the month of April, and subsiding with equal rapidity. During the third quarter of the year, while Europe was free, the antipodes had their second attack, which was more severe than the first.' https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/welcome-to-the-scientific-library/pandemics-in-literature/21032-flu-pandemic-1889-1890By May 1891, influenza was particularly prevalent in Liverpool, Birkenhead and Nottingham:The Evening Express, 7 May 1891, page 3 – The Influenza Epidemic (article) (retrieved 17 February 2018): A recrudescence in the UK in December 1891 lasted through mid-winter into 1892: http://newspapers.library.wales/view/3178721/3178724/46/LIVERPOOL and in December that same year John and Barbara's young daughter Margaret Mary Ann Williams died and was buried on 30 December at Massey Park. In late 1891, Grace and Robert and their two young children, Robert Henry (b. 1886) and William John (b. 1888), emigrated to the USA, arriving in New York in January 1892. The family settled in Granville, Washington, New York.
Barbara Balmain Dougall was born in 1851 in Dunning, Perthshire.1851 Census – page 5 – Dougall Family: http://www.dunning.uk.net/census/c51pdf.pdf She was one of seven children (Aeneas, David, Margaret, Isabella, Ann, Mary, and Barbara) to John and Ann Dougall. John Dougall was a handloom weaver, and his wife Ann was a cotton winder. Though most of the Dougall children entered the weaving trade, Aeneas became a teacher.
Career Early career John Francon Williams worked as a journalist and editor on various newspapers and journals in Liverpool. In 1876 Williams was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. 50, publ. 1880: List of the Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society; The number of Fellows elected during the past year (ending 30 April 1880) included, John Francon Williams Esq. c/o George Philip & Son, Caxton Buildings, Liverpool F.C.; https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.70717/2015.70717.Journal-Of-The-Royal-Geographical-Society-Vol50_djvu.txtElected 13 March 1876 according to Archivist, Foyle Reading Room RGS-IBG
Association with George Philip & Son
Williams started his publishing career in Liverpool under the guidance of the renowned cartographer and map publisher George Philip. George Philip & Son published maps and educational books, and in 1881 they published Williams's first book, A Class-Book of Modern Geography, with examination questions, notes & index. The book was written in collaboration with cartographer Professor William Hughes FRGS, and became the first publication in a successful run of works over the coming two decades by Williams for the publishing house George Philip & Son. Between 1881 and 1893, George Philip & Son published twelve English editions of A Class-Book of Modern Geography.
George Philip (1800–1882) and his son George Philip II (1823–1902) ran George Philip & Son, and when George Philip Sr retired on 1 July 1879, his son George Philip II took control of the business. The publishing house produced geographical and educational publications and operated from Caxton Buildings in Liverpool, and 30–32 Fleet Street in London.
"Further expansion was prompted by the demand from board schools established after 1870 for general textbooks, school stationery and equipment, and specialist atlases and wall maps. The firm also supplied atlases and textbooks for many overseas countries in several languages." George Philip II spotted a gap in the market for quality school textbooks, and over the following two decades, Williams wrote and edited over forty books that were sold worldwide.
The Geography of the Oceans
In 1881, Williams's seminal book The Geography of the Oceans was published.An extract from Geography of the Oceans by J. Francon Williams, 1881: The Atlantic Ocean Navigation and Commerce: (retrieved 18 September 2017):http://gluedideas.com/Geography-of-the-Oceans-1881/The-Atlantic-Ocean-Navigation.html
The Geography of the Oceans focuses on topics such as: General Geography of the Oceans, Physical Geography of the Oceans, the Geography of Particular Oceans. The various sections focus on: the distribution of land and water, oceanic river-systems, the salts of the sea, the density, colour and phosphorescence of the sea, distribution of marine life, temperature of the ocean, movements of the ocean, sidereal movements of tides, of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Antarctic and the Arctic Ocean. It was the first book to cover with such intensity the geography of the oceans. 'A valuable little book entitled The Geography of the Oceans, which may be regarded almost as a new departure in geographical science,' claimed the book reviewer in The Cornish Telegraph, who continued,The Cornish Telegraph, Thursday 4 May 1882, p. 4 – Jottings From London (Column) The Geography of the Oceans, (book review). "I have found the book as fascinating as one of Jules Verne's novels." The Daily Gazette called it "A new geographical work of great importance."The Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, Friday 4 March 1881, p. 2 – Literary Notes – The Geography of the Oceans (review).
In 1881, Williams and his family moved to West Derby in Lancashire, where they lived at 52 Bonsall Road.1881 UK Census, West Derby, Lancashire, England. John and Barbara Williams. The Census states Barbara was born in Perthshire, Scotland.