Wood Kemble Donne Sands Hart Murray Trail

 


picture

Roger Vaughan and Gwladwys Gam

 


Husband Roger Vaughan 


 
         Born: 1377 – Bredwardine, Herefordshire 
   Christened: 
         Died: 1415 - Agincourt
       Buried: 
 
     Marriage: 1398


Wife Gwladwys Gam 


 
         Born: Peutun, Breconshire, Wales
   Christened: 
         Died: 1454 – Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
       Buried: 


 
       Father: David Gam (Abt 1365-1415)
       Mother: Gwenllian (      -      )



Children

1 M Roger Vaughan 


 
         Born: 1410 – Tretwr, Breconshire, Wales
   Christened: 
         Died: 1471 – Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales
       Buried: 
 
       Spouse: Denise ( 1414     - 1457     )


General Notes: Husband - Roger Vaughan

VAUGHAN family of Bredwardine, Herefordshire.

This was the main branch of the Vaughans who traced their descent, through WALTER SEYS, to MOREIDDIG WARWYN (to whom the origin of the family's coat of arms, three boys' heads with a snake entwined about their necks, was ascribed), and thence to DRYMBENOG AP MAENARCH, lord of Brycheiniog. The family had accumulated property at Llechryd in Elvael and Cwm Du before Walter Seys had won renown and wealth in the wars of Edward III. In the pedigree books, he is said to have married the heiress of Sir Walter Bredwardine, and to have taken up residence at Bredwardine, followed by his son, RHOSIER 'HEN,' who married a daughter of Sir Walter Devereux, and his grandson, ROGER VAUGHAN, who married Gwladys, daughter of Dafydd Gam, and fell with his father-in-law in the personal defence of Henry V on the field of Agincourt, 1415. According to a document given at Cwm Du, 26 November 1383, Walter Seys had a son called ROGER VYCHAN, whose mother was Matilda verch Ieuan ap Rees, then wife of Howel ap William ap Jankyn and holding land in the lordship of Talgarth (Cardiff Library, Brecknock Deeds, 3). It is certain that Roger Vaughan left three sons by Gwladys, daughter of Dafydd Gam, Watkin, heir of Bredwardine, Thomas ap Roger, see Vaughan family of Hergest, and (Sir) Roger Vaughan, see Vaughan family of Tretower \emdash and that they were brought up with their uterine brothers, William Herbert, earl of Pembroke (died 1469), and Sir Richard Herbert (died 1469), sons of Sir William ap Thomas of Raglan (died 1446). Gwladys died in 1454. Hywel Swrdwal or Hywel Dafi composed an elegy on her death. WATKIN VAUGHAN was slain by an arrow at Hereford, according to his elegy by Hywel Swrdwal. This elegy does not support the suggestion made by Evans (Wales and the Wars of the Roses, 128-9) that this incident took place at the battle of Mortimer's Cross. Watkin's wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Wogan. He is described in the pedigree books as lord of Bredwardine, Cwm, Tir Ralph, Llechryd, and the Gorred. At least fifteen children are ascribed to him. Mention must be made of the second son, WILLIAM VAUGHAN of Rhydhelig, of whom Dr. John David Rhys reports that a family tradition maintained that it was he who slew the earl of Warwick when the kingmaker was stealthily escaping from Barnet field, 1471. He was regarded as a champion in the field of battle with no one to equal him, after the death of his uncle, Thomas ap Roger of Hergest. He was at one time constable of Aberystwyth castle and his praises were sung by Dafydd Nanmor and Lewis Glyn Cothi. Lewis Glyn Cothi also sang to Lewis ap Watkin, calling him the Roland of Llanbedr Painscastle and Rhulen. According to Lewis Dwnn, the Vaughans of Pont-faen, in Cemais, were descended from John Vaughan, another son. It is also said that John Vaughan, father of Sir Hugh Johneys, knight of the Sepulchre, 1441, was an illegitimate son of Walter Vaughan. Walter Vaughan's heir was Sir THOMAS VAUGHAN, who married Eleanor, daughter of Robert Whitney. Lewis Glyn Cothi wrote a eulogy of him before he was knighted. His heir was Sir RICHARD VAUGHAN, who was knighted at Tournai, 13 or 14 October 1513, and who was sheriff of Herefordshire, 1530-1, and 1541-2. His wife was Anne, daughter of John Butler, and heiress of Dunraven and Pen-bre. The main line now removed from Bredwardine, and we find WALTER VAUGHAN, Sir Richard's heir, sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1557, and living at Dunraven in 1584. Walter's second son was CHARLES VAUGHAN, ancestor of the Vaughans of Cwmgwili and Pen-y-banc, and his heir was THOMAS VAUGHAN, sheriff of Carmarthenshire, 1566 and 1570. The latter married Catherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Johnes of Abermarlais, and bought the estate of Fallerstone, Wiltshire. His heir, Sir WALTER VAUGHAN (knighted 27 June 1603) died 4 June 1637, and was buried at Tenby. He was followed by his son, Sir CHARLES VAUGHAN, who married Frances, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Knolles of Porthaml \emdash see Vaughan family of Porthaml. Dunraven was sold by his son, THOMAS VAUGHAN, who, dying without a male heir, left the remainder of his estates to his sister, Bridget, who, in 1677, married John Ashburnham, who was created lord Ashburnham, 20 May 1698. The estates remained in this family for another two centuries. The main line gave way at Bredwardine to another branch of the family, the Vaughans of Moccas,  see Vaughan of Porthaml family. The first of them recorded at Bredwardine is Watkin Vaughan, who wrote a letter to lord Burghley from there, 17 December 1584. His wife was Joan, daughter of Miles ap Harry of Newcourt, in the Golden Valley, and niece to Blanche Parry, queen Elizabeth's maid of honour. They had two sons, Harry, heir to Moccas and Bredwardine, and Rowland, heir of Newcourt. This Rowland was the author of the remarkable book entitled Most approved and long experienced waterworkes, 1610, which contains a long epistle to William Herbert, earl of Pembroke. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Rowland Vaughan of Porthaml. HARRY VAUGHAN ' s wife was a grand-daughter of Hugh Lewis of Harpton. Their heir was ROGER VAUGHAN (matriculated at Oxford, 11 May 1604, aged 15), who rebuilt Bredwardine castle, 1639-40. His son, HARRY VAUGHAN, married Frances, daughter of Walter Pye, in 1635. After his death, she married Edward Cornewall, of the Stapleton family, and it was his son who succeeded to Moccas, having purchased Bredwardine for himself.
Author

Evan David Jones, (1903 - 1987), Aberystwyth

Sources
Peniarth Manuscripts at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth 118, 127, 140;
The Visitation of Herefordshire (1569), 1569;
Limbus Patrum Morganiae et Glamorganiae (1886);
Reade, Memorials of Old Herefordshire (1904);
Evans, Wales and the Wars of the Roses (1915);
Robinson, A History of the Castles of Herefordshire and their Lords (London 1869);
Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches (Llandovery 1846), i, 139, 172.
Taken from: https://biography.wales/article/s-VAUG-BRO-1350

General Notes: Child - Roger Vaughan

VAUGHAN family, of Tretower Court, parish of Llanfihangel Cwm-du, Brecknock.

Sir ROGER VAUGHAN, third son of ROGER VAUGHAN of Bredwardine (see Vaughan family of Bredwardine) by Gwladys, daughter of Dafydd Gam, was the first of the Vaughans to reside at Tretower. It is said that the residence was a gift to him from his half-brother William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, to whom the castle and manor of Tretower had descended by the marriage of his father, Sir William ap Thomas, to the widow of Sir James Berkeley, heiress of Tretower. Roger Vaughan enlarged and remodelled the house by the addition of a western range of buildings with a hall. Like all his kindred, Roger Vaughan is found on the Yorkist side in the divisions of his time, but he also was granted a pardon by the Coventry Parliament of 1457. The Privy Council ordered him, with Sir William Herbert and Walter Devereux, to prevent assemblies and the victualling of castles in Wales, 17 August 1460. He was with Edward's forces at Mortimer's Cross, 1461, and it is said that it was he who led Owain Tudor to his execution at Hereford after the battle. He was granted the offices of porter of the castle of Bronllys, forester of Cantrecelly, steward and receiver of the lordships of Cantrecelly, Penkelly, Alexanders-ton, and Llangoed, 15 November 1461, and lands in south-west England, 11 July 1462. He took a prominent part in quelling a rising in Carmarthenshire in 1465, and received grants of the insurgents' manors and estates in Gower and Kidwelly. By 23 March 1465 he was a knight, though the investiture is not recorded by Shaw. He was on commissions of 'oyer et terminer' in Wales and the Marches in 1467 and 1468. In the earl of Warwick's charter to Neath abbey, 24 June 1468, Vaughan as the earl's chancellor at Cardiff is the first witness, and Thomas ap Roger, possibly his son, is described as coroner of Cardiff. The common belief that he fell with his brothers at the battle of Banbury is incorrect. Lewis Glyn Cothi called upon him to avenge that battle, and on 16 February 1470 he was appointed constable of Cardigan castle. After the battle of Tewkesbury, 1471, it is said that Edward IV ordered him to pursue and capture Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, but it was Vaughan himself who fell into the earl's hands, to be summarily beheaded at Chepstow. His elegies were sung by Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal or Huw Cae Llwyd, and Llywelyn Goch y Dant, who accused Jasper Tudor of treachery and guile. Guto'r Glyn also called on his family to avenge his death. He is described in the pedigree books as lord of Cantrecelly and Penkelly, owner of Merthyr Tydfil and Llandimore, and various lands in Glamorgan, and it is said that he built the 'royal palace' at Cardiff. He was twice married. The first wife was Denise, daughter of Thomas ap Philip Vaughan of Talgarth, and she was the mother of the heir (Sir) THOMAS VAUGHAN, Roger Vaughan (see Vaughan family of Porthaml) and four daughters who married into prominent families, the wives of Robert Raglan, Henry Donne, Morgan Gamage, and Morgan ap Thomas ap Gruffudd ap Nicolas. His second wife was Margaret, lady Powis, daughter of James, lord Audley, by his second wife, Eleanor, illegitimate daughter of Edmund, earl of Kent. (Her first husband, Sir Richard Grey, lord Powis, died 17 December 1466. The order of the marriages is incorrect in G. E. Cokayne under 'Grey of Powis.' She was lady Powis before her marriage to Sir Roger Vaughan. She was dead before 2 February 1480/1.) She had one daughter by Sir Roger, the wife of Humphrey Kynaston. A large number of illegitimate children are ascribed to Sir Roger Vaughan. Vaughan families are derived from some of the others: the Vaughans of Gelli-gaer from Lewis, the Vaughans of Cathedine from Roger, the Vaughans of Merthyr Tydfil from William, and the Vaughans of Coedkernew from John. One of the illegitimate children, Thomas, was long a prisoner in France; 'Sir' Philip Emlyn wrote a cywydd on his imprisonment, and Edward IV granted £40 from the customs of the port of Bristol towards his ransom, 28 September 1477. One of the earliest records of the heir, (Sir) THOMAS VAUGHAN, is that he was a trustee for the king's debt to his uncle, William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, 6 December 1468. He was on commissions of 'oyer et terminer,' etc., in South Wales in 1471/2. He was granted appointments in the lordship of Gower during the minority of Anne, heiress of John, duke of Norfolk, 7 October 1480. He gave Richard III strong support against the rebellion of the duke of Buckingham in October 1483. Henceforward, he is styled knight in the records, and he was granted the stewardship of the lordship of Brecknock, 4 March 1484. He seems to have acted cautiously during the months preceding the battle of Bosworth, and he obtained a general pardon from Henry VII, 2 April 1486. He built the gateway in the eastern wall of Tretower Court, and he maintained his family's traditional patronage of Welsh bards. He was unstintingly eulogised by Lewis Glyn Cothi, Dafydd Epynt, Ieuan ap Huw Cae Llwyd, Huw Dafi, and others. His first wife was Cissil, daughter of Morgan ap Jenkin 'ap Philip' of Gwent; the second was Jane, lady Ferrers. Lewis Glyn Cothi addressed an awdl to his three sons, Roger, Watkin, and Henry, but the family soon ceased to play a prominent part in Welsh life. The inheritance passed to HENRY VAUGHAN, the third son. CHRISTOPHER VAUGHAN, son of Henry Vaughan, was sheriff of Brecknock in 1548-9, and his son, WILLIAM VAUGHAN, held the same office in 1591-2. He died 1613, leaving WILLIAM VAUGHAN, who died 1617. In addition to the heir, CHARLES VAUGHAN (died 1636) of Tretower, William Vaughan's children included THOMAS VAUGHAN (died 1658), who married the heiress of Newton in Llansantffraed; Henry Vaughan the Silurist and Thomas Vaughan were their sons. CHARLES VAUGHAN was sheriff of Brecknock in 1622-3 and 1636. He died 1654. His son, EDWARD VAUGHAN, dying without issue, the estate passed to the daughter, MARGARET, wife of Thomas Morgan, Maes-gwartha. Her heir, VAUGHAN MORGAN, died 1684, and his son, CHARLES, assumed the surname of VAUGHAN. He died 1704, and was succeeded at Tretower by his son CHARLES VAUGHAN. The latter married the heiress of Hugh Powell of Scethrog, and took up residence there, where he was followed by his son and grandson (both named CHARLES VAUGHAN).

Tretower Court was sold about 1783, and the long association of the Vaughan family with that place was broken.
Author

Evan David Jones, (1903 - 1987), Aberystwyth

Sources
Calendar of Patent Rolls;
Acts of the Privy Council of England;
Evans, Wales and the Wars of the Roses (1915);
W. de Gray Birch, A history of Neath Abbey derived from original documents preserved in the British Museum, H.M. Public Record Office, and at Neath, Margam, etc., with some account of the castle and town of Neath and notices of the other monasteries of Glamorganshire (Neath 1902);
Peniarth Manuscripts at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth 127, 140;
The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom (1887\endash 1898), vi, 140;
G. T. Clark, Limbus Patrum Morganiae et Glamorganiae (1886);
Radford, Tretower Court, Breconshire (London 1938);
Hutchinson, Henry Vaughan. A life and interpretation (Oxford 1947), 7-16.
Taken from https://biography.wales/article/s-VAUG-TRE-1450
picture

Llewellin Morgan David Howell David Gam

 


Husband Llewellin Morgan David Howell David Gam 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 
     Marriage:


Wife 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried:


Children

1 F Jonet 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 
       Spouse: Thomas Powell (      -      )



picture

Morgan David Gam and Margaret

 


Husband Morgan David Gam 


 
         Born: Abt 1395
   Christened: 
         Died: 1460 - Wales
       Buried: 


 
       Father: David Gam (Abt 1365-1415)
       Mother: Gwenllian (      -      )


 
     Marriage:


Wife Margaret 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 


 
       Father: Lewelyn Gwilym Rees Lloyd ap Adam (      -      )
       Mother:



Children

1 M Jevan Morgan David Gam 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 
       Spouse: Anne (      -      )


2 M Llywelyn "Fychan" ap Morgan 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 
       Spouse: Jane verch William Havard (      -      )



picture

Edward Games

 


Husband Edward Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 


 
       Father: John Games (      -      )
       Mother: Ann Vaughan (      -      )


 
     Marriage:


Wife 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried:


Children

1 M John Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 


General Notes: Child - John Games

Listed as a Knight 1613 in the Heralds Visitation of Wales and Part of the Marches between the Years of 1586 and 1613, Under the Authority of Clarencieux and Norroy, Two Kings at Arms.
picture

John Games and Ann Vaughan

 


Husband John Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 


 
       Father: Morgan ap Llywelyn (      -      )
       Mother: 


 
     Marriage:

Events

1. Occupation: 1608, Sherrif of Breconshire.


Wife Ann Vaughan 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 


 
       Father: William Vaughan (      -1553)
       Mother: Catrin Hevard (      -      )



Children

1 F Margaret Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 
       Spouse: David Williams (Abt 1536-1613)
         Marr: Bef 1579


2 M Edward Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 


3 M Thomas Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 


4 M Walter Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 


General Notes: Husband - John Games

of Aberbran, Breconshire. The Heralds Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches between the Years of 1586 and 1613, Under the Authority of Clarencieux and Norroy, Two Kings at Arms lists his pedigree as follows: "John ap Morgan ap Llewelyn ap Morgan ap Sir David Gam, Knight, ap Llewelyn ap Howell Vychan ap Howel [ap] Einion Sais".

General Notes: Child - Margaret Games

According to "Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales" by Thomas Nicholas, written in 1872, the Games, like the Gwernyfed Williams, are, also, descended from Einion Sais. By his first wife there was a great great grand son, Dafydd ap Llewlyn, afterwards called, from a cast or squint he had in one eye, Dafydd Gam, or crooked.

General Notes: Child - Thomas Games

MP for Breconshire 1572, 1584 and 1586. His biography in "The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603", ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981 is as follows:
Family and Education

2nd s. of John Games of Aberbrân by Ann, da. of Sir William Vaughan of Talgarth; bro. of Walter. m. Eleanor, da. of John Morgan of Pencraig, wid. of Harry Morgan of Penllwyn Sarth, 4s. 2 or 3da. suc. bro. c.1579.
Offices Held

J.p. Brec. from c.1582, q. by 1583, sheriff 1579-80, commr. musters 1580.
Biography

Games, who came from a junior branch of an ancient Brecon house, sat for Breconshire through the influence of his relatives the Vaughans. That Games was first elected for the county during his elder brother's lifetime may perhaps be explained by the latter's failing health. As knight for Breconshire, Games might have attended subsidy committees appointed on 24 Feb. 1585 and 22 Feb. 1587. The omission of his name from the commission of the peace, 1593, suggests that he had died.

G. T. Clark, Limbus, 198-9; T. Jones, Brec. ii. 177; D'Ewes, 409; APC, xii. 350; Flenley, Cal. Reg. Council, Marches of Wales, 137, 213, 237; Lansd. 737, f. 165v; Lansd. 43 anon. jnl. f. 171; Exchequer, ed. E. G. Jones (Univ. Wales Bd. of Celtic Studies, Hist. and Law. ser. iv), 31-5.

General Notes: Child - Walter Games

MP for Breconshire 1572. His biography in "The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603", ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981, is a follows:
Family and Education

3rd s. of John Games of Aberbrân and bro. of Thomas. m. Wenllian, da. of William Walbe[offe] of Llanhamlach, Brec., wid. of Thomas John Lloyd.
Offices Held

Biography

When Games was returned for Brecon Boroughs in 1572, his brother was knight of the shire. In June 1569 he leased lands at Brecon for 21 years, and in May 1576 he leased the rectory of Devynock. No other references to him have been found.

G. T. Clark, Limbus, 198-9; W. R. Williams, Parl. Hist. Wales, 22; Augmentations, ed. Lewis and Davies (Univ. Wales Bd. of Celtic Studies, Hist. and Law ser. xiii), 207, 210, 217, 220.
picture

David Williams and Margaret Games

 


Husband David Williams 


 


 
         Born: Abt 1536 - Gwernevet(Gwernyfed), Breconshire
   Christened: 
         Died: 22 Jan 1613
       Buried: 


 
       Father: William ap John Vychan (      -1612)
       Mother: Gwenn Ffoulk (      -      )


 
     Marriage: Bef 1579
 
 Other Spouse: Dorothy Lutton (      -      ) - 1597

Events

1. Occupation: Judge in the King's Bench.


Wife Margaret Games 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 


 
       Father: John Games (      -      )
       Mother: Ann Vaughan (      -      )



Children

1 M Thomas Williams 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 


2 M Roger Williams 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 


3 M Robert Williams 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 


4 M Henry Williams 


 
         Born: Abt 1579 - Gwernevet(Gwernyfed), Breconshire
   Christened: 
         Died: 21 Oct 1636 - Gwernevet(Gwernyfed), Breconshire
       Buried:  - Aber Llyfric Church., Breconshire
 
       Spouse: Eleanor Whitney (After 1591-      )
         Marr: Bef 1607


General Notes: Husband - David Williams

According to "Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales" by Thomas Nicholas, written in 1872, the Gwernyfed Williams family maintained detailed family trees tracing their ancestry from David Williams back to Bleddyn ap Maenarch, an 11th century Celtic ruler of Brecknock, and from there back to Caradog Freich-Fras, a purported 6th Century Knight of King Arthur's Round Table. Bleddyn ap Maenarch was real enough. His castle, Tal-y-llyn, was at Llanfihangel Talyllyn. He was married to Elinor, a daughter of Tewdrw Mawr, Prince of South Wales. Thus, he was allied with Rhys ap Tewdrw, his wife's brother, who had been in Britainy, but had returned to Wales to battlle for control of South Wales after Bleddyn ap Cynfyn was murdered in about 1073. One of Rhys ap Tewdrw's adversaries fled to William Rufus, King of England, who seized upon this as an excuse to invade Wales in about 1087. The combined armies of Rhys ap Tewdrw and Bleddyn ap Maenarch were defeated by a Norman army under the command of Bernard Newmarch near the town of Brecon in the forest of Cwmgwingad in about 1092 and both Welsh Princes were killed. Newarch built a stronghold at Brecon, married a daughter of Welsh royal blood, and, also, seized Tal-y-llyn. However, Bleddyn ap Maenarch's oldest son, Gwagan , retained part of Llanfihangel Talyllyn. Gwagan married Gwenllian, daughter of Philip Gwys, Lord of Wiston, Pemb. His grandson, Trahaern Vychan, Lord of Llangors, maried Joan , daughter of Bleddyn, Lord of Cilsant, sister's daughter to Rhys ap Gruffydd, Prince of South Wales. Trahaern was murdered by William de Breos in 1197, but not before he had children. His grandson, Rhys ap Howel (i.e. his father's name was Howel) lived at Aberllyfni. Rhys ap Howel conspired with the Norman Lords of the March against Edward II . He was instrumental in taking Edward II prisoner at the castle of Llantrisant, Glamorganshire on November 16, 1326. His third son, Einion Sais, served Edward III in the battle of Cressy in 1346 and Poitier s in 1356. Einion Sais' first wife was Joan, daughter of Howel, Lord of Miscin. Einion Sais' son, Rhys, had a son, Adam, whose wife was Elinor, daughter and co-heiress of Llewelyn ap Howel Hen. Adam's son, Rhys, married Goleubryd, daughter of David ap Owen. From there the line "zig zags through several alterations of names" not mentioned by Nicholas (although he mentions the Awbrey and Hopkins (of Llysnewydd) families) until we reach David Williams. According to the finding aid for the Gwernyfed Estate Records held by the National Library of Wales (GB 0210 GWEFED), parcel #76 contains pedigrees for the Williams of Gwernyfed and Eltham.

A photograph of a portrait of David Williams is in the London Metropolitan Archives ACC/1302/165

According to the summary of the Gwernyfed Estate Records held by the National Library of Wales (GB 0210 GWEFED) Sir David purchased the Gwernyfed Estate in 1600 from John Gunter.

Although I have not viewed all the pedigrees in the National Library of Wales mentioned above, I have established David William's pedigree going back to Einion Sais. The starting point was a series of articles on the Wood and Williams family which appeared in the Cardiff Times on March 24, 1894 (pg. 1), April 6, 1894 (pg. 3) and April 7, 1894 (pg. 1). The first article spends only one paragraph describing David Williams pedigree and omits much but it gives the name of David Williams father as William ap John Vychan and John Vychan's father as Sir William Gwynn of Garreglawr. A google search for William ap John Vychan turned up the following entry from a digitized copy of the "Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches between the Years of 1586 and 1613, Under the Authority of Clarencieux and Norroy, Two Kings at Arms": "Sir Harry Williams of Gwernyfed (knighted 1613), ap Sir David Williams, Knight, ap William ap John Vychan ap Gwillim Gwyn ap Llewelyn ap Gwillim ap Rys Lloyd ap Adam ap Rys ap Einion Sais". This dovetails with Nicholas' account and, also, dovetails with a pedigree of Einion Sais at penrose.org, which covers these descendants down through Llewelyn ap Gwilym and provides a great deal more detail going back from there to Einion Sais. The first Cardiff Times article says that David Williams and his wife, Mary, daughter of John Games of Aberbran, were distantly related. As my tree shows, this is, in fact, the case, since David Williams is descended from Einion Sais' son, Rhys, and his wife, Mary/Margarate Games is descended from Einion Sais' son Hywell . I got a second google hit on William ap John Vychan from the Clwyd Family History Society Web site: http://www.clwydfhs.org.uk/, entitled Clwyd Surnames, which provides, from Jones' Marriages (from Parish Registers) that William ap John Vychan married Gwen Ffoulk on July 5, 1607.

The first Cardiff Times provides further details about David Williams. He was called to Bar by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in 1576. He was appointed Recorder of Brecon in 1587. He was chosen Lent Reader of Middle Temple in 1590 and created a serjeant-at-law in November 1591. He was chosen member of four parliaments representing Brecon during the reign of Queen Elizabeth in 1584, 1586, 1588 and 1597. On February 4, 1604 he was appointed to the King's Bench, a judgship which he held until his death. He held lands besides Gwernyfed in the counties of Brecknock, Hereford, Bershire and Oxford. He received a grant of the Manor of Glasbury from Queen Elizabeth. He was knighted 23 July 1603.

The following is his biography in "The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603", ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981:
Williams came of an obscure branch of an ancient border family. His father was a 'substantial yeoman' and cousin to Sir John Price of The Priory. His first wife was sister to Thomas Games, who represented the shire in 1572 and the two succeeding Parliaments, and to Walter Games, who had preceded Williams in the representation of the boroughs; her family was also related to that of Vaughan of Porthaml. But it was to the law that he owed his fortune and standing. Until 1593 his practice was confined to South Wales, but his attainment in that year of the rank of serjeant-at-law ('the youngest of all the serjeants', it was said), enabled him to plead at Westminster and occasionally in Star Chamber and Chancery. He was believed to have owed his preferment to Lord Burghley, who 'much respected him for his honesty, learning and modesty'.

Even before this, about a year after he became a bencher of his inn, the Earl of Pembroke as president had put forward his name in a list of lawyers 'not unworthy appointment' to the council in the marches of Wales, and his name appears again among Cecil's memoranda a decade later on a draft list of councillors, most of whom (but not Williams) were appointed soon afterwards. In 1598 Burghley suggested that Williams should be made a baron of the Exchequer, despite the difficulty of his 'small living' occasioned by his growing family; and in the following year the younger Cecil wished him to succeed Thomas Owen as puisne judge in the court of common pleas. But Williams had only just been appointed by the dean and chapter of Westminster as their legal adviser (also in succession to Owen), and Dean Gabriel Goodman pleaded that he should be 'spared for the present' from these distracting duties, urging especially his 'charge of children'. In the next reign he was appointed a puisne judge and he never got his seat on the council in the marches of Wales.3

Meanwhile he had been steadily increasing his fortune not only by legal fees but by extensive grants and purchases of land, some of them used merely for the profits of re-sale. In his own shire he made early purchases in his ancestral parish, and in 1591 (in association with two of his sons) he leased from the Crown the rectory of Devynock. Queen Elizabeth also granted him the manor of Glasbury, and in 1612 he purchased the great tithes of Gwenddwr \emdash a former monastic property now vested in the Crown and worth about £20 a year. His acquisitions extended also into the parishes of Llandyssul in Cardiganshire, Llandinam in Montgomeryshire, Laugharne in Carmarthenshire, and Upton in Pembrokeshire, and included some of the former possessions of Sir John Perrot.4

He brought a Star Chamber action in 1581 against some of his neighbours alleging perjury at the Brecon sessions and in the council in the marches of Wales concerning lands in Glasbury; and another in the same court two years later, against a Glamorganshire man for theft and subornation of the jury. But in 1585 he himself was accused of having 'instigated' John Games (his father-in-law), Robert Knollys and others to dispute in a disorderly manner the possession of the demesne lands of Dinas, Breconshire, by Blanche Parry, the Queen's 'chief gentlewoman'; and in 1601 of having, as lessee of the lands of Mary Price, a royal ward (and probably a kinswoman of his), encroached on property in Aylton, Herefordshire.5

In 1600 he bought from John Gunter the mansion of Gwernyfed, intending it no doubt as a Breconshire seat for his progeny, who indeed remained prominent in county politics and society until the line died out about a century later. He himself was resident mainly in England, either at Serjeants' Inn or at the Berkshire seat he acquired as a result of his second marriage, which also enabled him to build up substantial estates in Berkshire and Oxfordshire.6

In politics and religion Williams naturally stood by the established order. He was careful to dissociate himself from, and ready to denounce, the suspicious activities of some of his border neighbours, notably Roger Vaughan of Clyro, at the time of the Essex revolt; and the only occasion when the firmness of his religious loyalty was called in question was in 1609, when Eure (then president of the council in the marches of Wales) complained of his laxity at Herefordshire assizes in allowing the local recusants (who had shown their strength a few months before the Gunpowder Plot) to take the new oath of abjuration in a modified form. Yet it was he and his colleague Yelverton who in 1606 had condemned Edward Morgan of Llantarnam to the forfeiture of a big slice of his estates for recusancy.

Williams was active in his first Parliament, sitting on committees concerning common recoveries in Wales (19 Dec. 1584), perfecting of assurances (22 Mar. 1585) and apprentices (23 Mar.). He was also appointed to a conference with the Lords over the fraudulent conveyances dispute on 15 Feb. 1585. No activity has been found in his name for his next two Parliaments. In 1597, however, he was again active, being named to a committee concerning bridges at Newport and Caerleon on 29 Nov., which he reported to the House on 3 Dec., D'Ewes here confusing him with Yelverton. Williams was also appointed to committees concerning armour and weapons (14 Nov.), a bridge over the river Wye (12 Dec.), defence (16 Jan. 1598), three private bills (18, 20, Jan.) and the manor of Paris Garden (19 Jan.). His son Henry, on coming of age, succeeded him in the borough representation.

Williams died 22 Jan. 1613 at Kingston Bagpuze, where his entrails are buried, his body being taken for burial to Brecon priory, where an elaborate effigy marks the spot. In his will, dated 15 Feb. 1612, proved 27 Jan. 1613, he left plate to the lord chancellor and the vicars choral of Hereford, and he assigned the tithes of Gwenddwr to Breconshire charities including roads and bridges, feast-day sermons in the churches of Glasbury, Ystradfellte and Aberllyfni, and bread for the poor in these parishes and in the vicinity of Gwernyfed. A passage from his will reads:

Whereas it hath been heretofore agreed between my good and kind brother [Peter] Warburton and myself that the survivor of us twain should have the other's best scarlet robes, now I do will that my said good brother Warburton shall have the choice of either of my scarlet robes and he to take that shall best like him, praying him that as he hath been a good and kind brother unto me, so he will be a good and kind friend to my children.

Williams's Welsh estates were inherited by his son Henry.7

Notes

1.
DNB; DWB.
2.
M.T. Bench Bk. 86; APC, xii. 350 (the Brecon and Beaumaris names have been transposed); Flenley, Cal. Reg. Council, Marches of Wales, 213, 237.
3.
DNB; T. Jones, Brec. iii. 81-3; DWB, 786-7; HMC Hatfield, ix. 45; xi. 567; xiii. 457.
4.
Exchequer, ed. E. G. Jones (Univ. Wales Bd. of Celtic Studies, Hist. and Law ser. iv), 97-8; Exchequer Jas. I, ed. T. I. J. Jones (same ser. xv), 89, 91, 97, 123, 138, 276-7, 293, 306; CSP Dom. 1591-4, p. 18; Arch. Camb. (ser. 4), i. 306; Rep. on Charities, 1815-39, xlii. 364.
5.
Star Chamber, ed. Edwards (Univ. Wales Bd. of Celtic Studies, Hist. and Law ser. i), 27, 28; Exchequer, ed. E. G. Jones, 31; HMC Hatfield, xi. 575.
6.
DWB; DNB.
7.
HMC Hatfield, xi. 133; xii. 642; R. Mathias, Whitsun Riot; CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 378; Exchequer Jas. I, ed. T. I. J. Jones, 257; D'Ewes, 343, 349, 371, 372, 556, 565, 571, 581, 582, 583, 584, 591; N. and Q. (ser. 4), ii. 9, 24; DNB; T. Jones. Brec. loc. cit.

General Notes: Wife - Margaret Games

According to "Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales" by Thomas Nicholas written in 1872, the Games, like the Gwernyfed Williams, are, also, descended from Einion Sais. By his first wife there was a great great grand son, Dafydd ap Llewlyn, afterwards called, from a cast or squint he had in one eye, Dafydd Gam, or crooked.

General Notes: Child - Thomas Williams

of Comden, Co. Gloue.

General Notes: Child - Roger Williams

of Gaer, Co. Brecon.

General Notes: Child - Robert Williams

Of Cabalfa, Radnorshire.

General Notes: Child - Henry Williams

He was a Knighted in 1603. Sir Henry built LLangoed Manor in about 1632. He was elected a member of Parliament for Brecon in 1601,1604, 1621 and 1624. He was High Sherrif of Breconshire in 1613 and 1621.

His biography in "The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603", ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981, is as follows:

Family and Education

b. c.1579, 1st s. of David Williams of Gwernyfed by his 1st w. educ. ?Shrewsbury 1589; St. John's, Oxf. 16 Apr. 1594, aged 15; M. Temple 1594. m. Elinor, da. of Eustace Whitney of Whitney, Herefs., 7s. inc. Henry 4da. Kntd. 23 July 1603; suc. fa. 1613.
Offices Held

Biography

Williams inherited the Breconshire estates of his father the judge, while a younger brother came into the English possessions. He had not long come of age when he was returned to his first Parliament, no doubt because his father was recorder of Brecon. He died in 1636. He is sometimes confused with his son and namesake who succeeded to the county representation in 1628 and became a baronet in 1644.

T. Jones, Brec. iii. 81-3, 92; Arch. Camb. (ser. 4), i. 307-8.
picture

Habakkuk Gardner and Ruth Gedney

 


Husband Habakkuk Gardner 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 
 
     Marriage:


Wife Ruth Gedney 


 
         Born: 24 May 1672
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 


 
       Father: Eleazar Gedney (1642-1683)
       Mother: Elizabeth Turner (1648-1677)



Children


picture

Paul Edward Murray and Ottie Vernie Garren

 


Husband Paul Edward Murray 


 
         Born: 9 Mar 1922 - Cleghorn Valley, Smyth Co.
   Christened: 
         Died: 15 Mar 1999 - Zenia, Ohio
       Buried: 


 
       Father: John Henry Clarence Murray (1888-1971)
       Mother: Maude Eller (1891-1953)


 
     Marriage:


Wife Ottie Vernie Garren 


 
         Born: 26 May 1925 - North Carolina
   Christened: 
         Died: 12 Jul 2009 - Beaver Creek, Ohio
       Buried: 
 
 Other Spouse: George Harold Biggs(1923-1990) - 11 Oct 1945 - Buncombe Co. NC


Children


picture

David Hart and Sarah Garrison

 


Husband David Hart 


 
         Born: 1780
   Christened: 
         Died: 1835
       Buried: 


 
       Father: Jonathan Hart (1744-1785)
       Mother: Elizabeth Bloomer (1751-1824)


 
     Marriage:


Wife Sarah Garrison 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried:


Children


picture

Thomas Wood and Jane Garwin

 


Husband Thomas Wood 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried: 1649 - St. Peter's Leeds


 
       Father: John Wood (1563-1633)
       Mother: Susanna Prettiman (      -      )


 
     Marriage: 
 
 Other Spouse: Susan Pigot (      -1634)


Wife Jane Garwin 


 
         Born: 
   Christened: 
         Died: 
       Buried:


Children

General Notes: Husband - Thomas Wood

M.A., Oxford (1621)

picture

Table of Contents | Surnames | Name List

This website was created 24 Nov 2021 with Legacy 9.0, a division of MyHeritage.com; content copyrighted and maintained by rwood@rwoodesq.com