The History of Wales

 Edwin Cynrig Roberts (1838 - 17th September 1893) was a prominent figure of the Welsh settlement Wladdfa in Patagonia, Argentina.

Roberts was born in Cilcain, Flintshire and in 1847, he emigrated with his family to Wisconsin. Roberts became involved in a movement that emerged in the United States around 1856 that was concerned that Welsh emigrants were losing the cultural identity. This movement proposed to establish a Welsh colony in Patagonia and when initial efforts were unsuccessful, he made plans to emigrate on his own. He was, however, persuaded to go to Wales to promote the venture and here he came into contact with Michael D. Jones, who subsequently became another founder of the colony. In May 1865, around 160 Welsh people sailed to Porth Madryn, (Puerto Madryn) where they were met by Roberts and the colony of Wladfa was born.

In 1866, Roberts married Anne Jones, who was one of the emigrants and later, he was part of a team that discovered gold in the Andes. Roberts returned to Wales to organise finances to mine the gold but died just before his journey back to Patagonia.