One of Rhondda Cynon Taf’s most celebrated historical figures has been honoured with a Blue Plaque to commemorate his pioneering approach to cremation.

Dr William Price, the eccentric archdruid, gifted surgeon, exiled political activist and social reformer has been remembered in Pontypridd by the placing of a Blue Plaque on one of the unique buildings he had erected in the town.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Libraries & Museums Service has been working closely with various voluntary organisations and individuals to determine 30 sites in the county borough as yet unrecognized for their historical background with the placing of a Blue Plaque.

Due to £49,200 of Heritage Lottery funding, the project has set out to identify icons, events and buildings, culminating in the placing of blue plaques to commemorate their history and achievements.

The latest Blue Plaque has been erected on one of the Round Houses at Glyntaff which were built by Dr William Price in 1838 as the gateway to his planned museum of Welsh life, druidism and school for the poor. The project never materialised because of lack of funds.

Born in Rudry, Caerphilly in 1800, Dr William Price was one of the most flamboyant, romantic and eccentric characters in Welsh history. A famed healer, druid and crusader of reform as one of the leaders of the Chartist movement, he was a man who blazed progress and controversy by outraging the conventional Victorian Society.

Poverty-stricken in his youth, his father was an insane priest, although Dr Price remarkably passed through the Royal College of Surgeons in London at the age of just 21. He created an embryonic national health service in the Brown Lenox Chainworks in Pontypridd, masterminded the first Museum of Welsh Life and launched Britain’s first Co-Operative Society.

In 1884 he famously cremated the remains of his dead baby son, Iesu Grist. The process outraged the Victorian society and he stood trial for his actions. On being acquitted the trial stood as a landmark case which was instrumental in the passing of the Cremation Act in 1902.

He fathered illegitimate children with a housekeeper 60 years his junior and died at his home in Llantrisant sipping a glass of champagne at the age of 93.

The town of Llantrisant celebrates their famous son with a statue in the main town square, or Bull Ring. But until now he has not been remembered in Pontypridd, where he worked from his own surgery in Glyntaff while catering for the needs of the Brown Lenox workers for over forty years.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Mayor Cllr Robert Smith said: “This is a great honour to unveil the Blue Plaque in memory of one of the county borough’s most famous individuals. Dr William Price is a character who has caused much debate for over a century.

“He was a man before his time, a free-thinker who was famed for his work as a surgeon, druid, Chartist and of course as being instrumental in pioneering the legalization of cremation in Great Britain. This is perhaps his greatest legacy of all and we celebrate his contribution to his cause today.”

Owner of the property, Philip Page, was joined by his family for the unveiling of the Blue Plaque. Also present were descendants of the Price family in Mary and Keith Miller who traveled from Dorset for the event.

For further details on the Blue Plaque scheme visit www.rhondda-cynon-taf.gov.uk/heritagetrail