It was tradition for the island to elect the King of
Bardsey and, from 1826 onwards, he would be crowned by Baron Newborough or his
representative. The crown is now kept at Merseyside Maritime Museum in
Liverpool, although calls have been made for it to return to Gwynedd. The first
known title holder was John Williams; his son, John Williams II, the third of
the recorded kings, was deposed in 1900, and asked to leave the island as he
had become an alcoholic. At the outbreak of the First World War, the last king,
Love Pritchard, offered himself and the men of Bardsey Island for military
service, but he was refused as he was considered too old at the age of 71.
Pritchard took umbrage, and declared the island a neutral power. In 1925,
Pritchard left the island for the mainland, to seek a less laborious way of
life, but died the following year.
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