page_title: Porthmadog
section_title: Notable people
hierarchical_section_title: Porthmadog / Notable people
context_page_description: Porthmadog, known before 1974 by its anglicised name of Portmadoc and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd. Before the re-organisation of 1974 it was in the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies 5 miles east of Criccieth, 11 miles south-west of Blaenau Ffestiniog, 25 miles north of Dolgellau and 20 miles south of Caernarfon, with a community population of 4,185 and an estimated 4,107 in 2018. It developed in the 19th century as a port for slate sent to England and elsewhere, but since the decline of the industry it has become a shopping centre and tourist destination. It is close to Snowdonia National Park and the terminus of the Ffestiniog Railway. The 1987 National Eisteddfod was held in Porthmadog. It includes the nearby villages of Borth-y-Gest, Morfa Bychan and Tremadog.
context_section_description: The local artist Rob Piercy, was named Welsh Artist of the Year in 2002. Porthmadog-born painter Elfyn Lewis won the National Eisteddfod of Wales Gold Medal for fine art in 2009 and the Welsh Artist of the Year prize in 2010.
  Three members of hip-hop band Genod Droog were from Porthmadog. Welsh singer Duffy shot her first video Rockferry in the town. Supergrass have filmed a video at Morfa Bychan and Portmeirion for the song "Alright", which featured in the 1995 album I Should Coco. Part of the movie Macbeth (1971) was filmed at Black Rock Sands, as well as the cover art photography for the Manic Street Preachers 1998 album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours.
  Morfa Bychan, is renowned as the home of David Owen, an 18th-century blind harpist and composer. He died at the age of 29 in 1741, and tradition has
  it that as he lay on his death bed he called for his harp and composed the air Dafydd y Garreg Wen. Words were added nearly 100 years later by the poet John Ceiriog Hughes. The Welsh-language poet William Ambrose (bardic name Emrys, 1813–1873) was minister of the Independent chapel in the town until his death.
  The ashes of the poet R. S. Thomas (1913–2000) are buried in the churchyard of St John's Church on Ffordd Penamser. An earlier poet who was brought up in the town was Mary Davies (1846–1882), who wrote in Welsh.
  Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, was born at what is now Lawrence House in Tremadog in 1888. He became an object of fascination, renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt of 1916 and for his vivid writings about his experiences.
  In order to finance the construction and repairs to the Cob, William Madocks let out his own house in Tremadog. His first tenant was the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who antagonised locals by criticising their production of sheep for consumption, and by running up debts with local merchants. Shelley made a hasty departure after an alleged attempt on his life by a nocturnal intruder, without paying his rent or contributing to the fund established to support Madocks. During his tenancy, Shelley had written Queen Mab.
  The Spooner family contributed a major amount towards the development of railways in the area over a period of more than 70 years in the 19th century.
  WWE Wrestler Mason Ryan real name Barri Griffiths is from the area.
caption: Lawrence of Arabia, renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt of 1916, was born in Tremadog in 1888.
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