William Wroth

William Wroth (1576–1641), a minister of the Church of England, is generally credited with the establishment of the first Independent Church in Wales in 1639. From 1617 until 1639 Wroth was Rector of the parish church at Llanvaches in Monmouthshire where his Congregationalist chapel was founded.

Wroth was raised in Abergavenny, and educated at Oxford University, where he graduated MA in 1605 from Jesus College, Oxford. In 1613 he was appointed by Sir Edward Lewis of Caerphilly as Rector of Llanfihangel Roggiet, which he held until 1626. He was appointed Rector of Llanvaches in 1617. He became, after John Parry, the earliest Puritan church leader in Wales and was a direct influence on fellow churchman, Walter Cradock. Cradock, the son of a neighbouring farmer, was also educated at Oxford and was to become curate of St.Mary's Church in Cardiff, where the vicar at the time was William Erbury.

Until the 1620s Wroth was apparently "much addicted to mirth, levity, and music". However, he became a changed man in 1625-1626 after one of his parishioners, who had won a legal case in London and had instructed his family to arrange a feast on his return with music provided by Wroth, died on the road home. "Amidst the general consternation, Mr. Wroth cast away his violin, and falling on his knees in the midst of the company, most fervently prayed for the blessing of God upon this alarming providence."

In 1633, King Charles I, advised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, reissued the "Declaration of Sports". This listed the sports that were permitted on Sundays and other holy days, and was published to counteract the growing Puritan calls for strict abstinence on the Sabbath day. Wroth, Cradock and Erbury all defied the instruction to read the Declaration to their congregations, and in 1634 the Bishop of Llandaff reported Wroth to the Court of High Commission, seeking to remove him from his position. The following year the Bishop admonished Erbury and suspended Cradock who may have been regarded as the ring-leader. Wroth's response was to have inscribed on the churchyard stile the words:

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