csawlogo.jpg

Home
Guest-written Papers
Reference Abbreviations
Guidance Articles for Researchers
Single Family Analysis
Families of Mixed Origin
Family Pedigrees
Mis-identified Same-Named People in Wales
Battles and Historical Events
Ancient Welsh Territories
Welshmen in Llydaw, Brittany
The Men of the North
Legendary History Prior to 1st Century BC
Beli Mawr and Llyr Llediath in Welsh Pedigrees
Papers Related to Maxen Wledig
Bartrum's "Pedigrees of the Welsh Tribal Patriarchs"
Britain's Royal Roman Family
The Royal Family of Powys
2nd Powys Royal Dynasty
The Royal Family of Gwynedd
Men Descended from Tudwal Gloff
Royal Family of Gwent/ Glamorgan
Royal Family of Brycheiniog
15 Noble Tribes of Gwynedd
The 5 Plebian Tribes of Wales
Glast and the Glastening
Papers about Rhiryd Flaidd and Penllyn
The Men of Collwyn ap Tangno of Lleyn
Edwin of Tegeingl and his Family
Ednowain Bendew in Welsh pedigrees
Ithel of Bryn in Powys
Idnerth Benfras of Maesbrook
Tudor Trefor and his Family
Trahaearn ap Caradog of Arwystli
The Family of Trahaearn ap Caradog
Cadafael Ynfyd of Cydewain
Maredudd ap Owain, King of Deheubarth
Sandde Hardd of Mortyn
The Floruit of Einion ap Seisyllt
The 5 Dafydd Llwyds of Llanwrin Parish
Cowryd ap Cadfan of Dyffryn Clwyd
Osbwrn Wyddel of Cors Gedol
Bradwen of Llys Bradwen in Meirionydd
Who Was Sir Robert Pounderling?
Sir Aaron ap Rhys
Eidio Wyllt - What Was His Birthname?
Ifor Bach, Lord of Senghenydd
Ancestors and Children of the Lord Rhys
                                      THE UNKNOWN CADWGAN
                                            By Darrell Wolcott
    
         One of the best-known Welsh families who descended from Tudor Trefor, and who resided largely in Maelor, was that called Eyton.  The patriarch of that family was the c. 1180 man, Meilyr Eyton, a son of Elidyr ap Rhys Sais II.  That Meilyr ap Elidyr had a son, Cadwgan, who named a son Griffri, who named a son Llewelyn.
 
       Within the body of extant pedigree manuscripts, we find another family which, some 45/50 years earlier, had used that same string of male names.  The Eyton family actually repeated that earlier family's naming sequence for 5 generations, giving us two sets of men named Iolyn ap Iorwerth ap Llewelyn ap Griffri ap Cadwgan, as follows:
 
                                                          1124  Rhys Sais II (a)
                                                                           l
   1160  Cadwgan                                   1152  Elidyr (b)
               l                                                               l         
   1192  Griffri                                      1180  Meilyr Eyton
                 l                                                         l                
 1225  Llewelyn (c)                                            1210  Cadwgan (d)
              l                                                           l
 1265  Iorwerth (e)                                  1240  Griffri (f)
             l                                                           l
  1300  Iolyn (g)                                                1270  Llewelyn (h)
                 l                                                           l
 1335  Gronwy                                       1305  Iorwerth (j)
             l                                                           l
1375  Gwenllian (k)                                       1340  Iolyn
                                                                         l
                                                              1375  Einion (m)
DATING EVIDENCE:
 
CAUTION: A number of the following source citations are slightly corrupt, so our confidence in our birthdate estimates has some limitations.
 
(a)  Dwnn ii, 307 cites the marriage of Rhys Sais II to Efa (1130) ferch Gruffudd (1085) ap Rhys (1051), but inserts an extra generation and calls its Rhys "Lord Rhys" instead of Rhys ap Tewdwr.
 
(b)  Pen 128, 307b cites the marriage of Elidyr ap Rhys Sais II to Nest (1155) ferch Lles (1120) ap Idnerth Benfras (1085) ap Uchdryd (1055) ap Edwin.  There was a "Lles ap Idnerth Benfras" born c. 995, but the later Idnerth Benfras ap Uchdryd actually called his son "Llewelyn".
 
(c)  Pen 131, 46 & 55 cite the marriage of Llewelyn ap Griffri ap Cadwgan to Angharad (1230) ferch Maredudd (1195) ap Madog (1160) ap Gruffudd Maelor (1130).
 
(d)  Pen 128, 565a cites the marriage of Cadwgan ap Meilyr Eyton to Myfanwy (1220) ferch Einudd (1180) ap Llowarch (1120) ap Bran.  The citation omits Llowarch Fychan (1150) between Einudd and Llowarch.
 
(e)  He had a daughter, Alis, born c. 1295 who is cited in Pen 128, 492a as married to Iorwerth (1285) ap Dafydd Hen (1250) ap Gronwy (1215) descended from Sandde Hardd.
 
(f)  He had a sister, Clementia. born c. 1245, who is cited in Pen 128, 139a as married to Ithel (1230) ap Hywel (1195) ap Moreiddig (1125) ap Sandde Hardd (1095).  The citation omits one generation between Hywel and Sandde Hardd, who we would label as "Moreiddig II" (1165).
 
(g)  Pen 128, 141a cites the marriage of this man to a daughter (1310) of Badi (1280) ap Llewelyn (1250) ap Bleddyn (1220) ap Ednyfed (1190) ap Peredur (1160) ap Bradwen, this Peredur being a brother of Ednowain ap Bradwen.
 
(h)  Pen 128, 614b cites the marriage of this Llewelyn to a daughter (1285) ferch Llewelyn (1255) ap Einion Goch (1225) ap Ieuaf (1195) ap Llywarch (1160) ap Ieuaf (1130) ap Ninniaw (1095) descended from Dyngad ap Tudor Trefor.
 
(j)  Pen 128, 141a cites the marriage of this Iorwerth to Marged (1320) ferch Ieuan (1280) ap Iorwerth (1245) ap Dafydd (1215) ap Iorwerth (1185) ap Hywel (1155) ap Moreiddig (1125) ap Sandde Hardd.
 
(k)  Pen 128, 155a cites the marriage of this Gwenllian to Madog (1375) ap Ieuan (1345) ap Einion (1315) ap Madog (1280) descended from Gwyn ap Ednowain Bendew.
 
(m) This Einion was the only son of the Iolyn born c. 1340.  Pen 129, 132 cites Einion's marriage to Angharad (1390) ferch Ieuan Llwyd (1355) ap Llewelyn (1320) ap Gruffudd Llwyd (1290) ap Maredudd (1255) ap Llewelyn (1225) ap Ynyr of Ial, descended from Sandde Hardd.
 

OUR ANALYSIS:
 
          In most Welsh families where we find long same-named strings of men, the repeated names are usually just one generation apart AND both families descended from a recent common male ancestor.  When the repeated names are two generations apart (as in the case we present here), this indicates the possibility that the families did NOT share a recent common male ancestor.  Instead, it was a daughter of the earliest man in the repeated string who gave her father's name to her son, and that son began the duplicated string by naming his son the same as his mother's brother. [1]  Accordingly, we suggest the two families in our chart are connected by a non-cited marriage: a daughter of the c. 1160 Cadwgan probably married Meilyr Eyton and named their son Cadwgan, who in turn, named his son Griffri.
 
         The first Cadwgan in our charts named a son "Griffri" (not the standard version "Gruffudd"), we think, to honor someone of that name who was close to the family and who performed some unknown laudable act.  The two families remained close friends for another 150 years, with the naming string finally ending when the c. 1340 Iolyn chose not to name a son "Gronwy".
 
         Since virtually all the medieval genealogists conflated the two families in pedigrees they drew up, we do not know the ancestry of the family on the left in our chart.  In our search for his likely identity, we took note of some same-name strings found in the families who descended from Uchdryd ap Edwin of Tegeingl:  
 
         

                                         1055  Uchdryd ap Edwin
                                      ____________l_____________
                                      l                                             l
                1085  Uchdryd Cyfeiliog                    1090  Owain
                                      l                                             l
                        1115  Owain                           1125  Gronwy
                                      l                           __________l_________
                                      l                           l                                 l
                       1145  Gronwy          1162 Griffri (a)                         ?
                 ___________l_________
                 l                                    l
 1175  Cadwgan (b)            1180  Griffri (c)

(a)  The name-string "Griffri ap Gronwy ap Owain" is cited by Pen 131, 131; Pen 129, 80; Pen 127, 179; and Pen 128, 169b, which Peter Bartrum acknowledged.  He includes the family in his index [2] as well as the name "Gronwy ap Owain ap Uchdryd" (where he gives entirely different sources).  However, he does not chart such a family among the descendants of Edwin, nor anywhere else.
 
(b)  Pen 128, 282b cites "Cadwgan ap Gronwy ap Owain ap Uchdryd" but Bartrum alters this to "Cadwgan ap Gronwy ap Owain ap Edwin", probably because he did not believe that Uchdryd even had a son named Owain.  His resulting chart dates that Cadwgan as born c. 1170 (very near our estimate) and makes him the son of his c. 1070 Gronwy.  Either Bartrum is wrong, or we have a miracle baby delivered some 45 years after his father was killed. [3]  While our citation did err in making its Uchdryd "ap Edwin", virtually no genealogists prior to the 21st century acknowledged that there was a "Uchdryd ap Uchdryd ap Edwin".
 
(c)  A Heilyn ap Ieuaf ap Griffri ap Gronwy ap Owain ap Uchdryd" is cited in Pen 128, 169b and Pen 127, 179 as the ancestor of a Gwenllian ferch Madog Goch.  The same Heilyn is, alternately, cited in Pen 176, 251 as Heilyn ap Ieuaf ap Gruffudd ap Llewelyn ap Owain ap Uchdryd. Heilyn was born c. 1250, so either ancestry for him "works" chronologically, so long as you identify the "Uchdryd" in the citations as Uchdryd ap Uchdryd ap Edwin.  In fact, Bartrum decided both sets of citations were incorrect.  He attached Heilyn ap Ieuaf to a Gruffudd ap Llewelyn ap Owain ap Aldud ap Owain ap Edwin, although there are no sources which say that this Llewelyn ap Owain ever had a son named Gruffudd.  See our Appendix for this analysis.
 
          After reviewing our chart, we wondered if our unnamed potential brother of the c. 1162 Grfiffri ap Gronwy might have been named Cadwgan. This is almost certainly the exact same family whose child-naming choices were duplicated by their cousin branch a generation later.  Since the later Gronwy named sons Griffri and Cadwgan, this might have been exactly copied from the earlier family branch.
 
          Our unidentified Cadwgan of c. 1160 fits chronologically with the "unknown" in our chart and we know he named his son "Griffri".  This family was seated in Tegeingl, not very far from the lands held by the clan of Tudor Trefor, and there were numerous marriages between residents of Tegeingl and folks descended from Tudor Trefor.
 
          A chart which includes the marriage we earlier posited between a daughter of Cadwgan and Meilyr Eyton, appears below:

     1125  Gronwy ap Owain ap Uchdryd ap Edwin
               __________l____
               l                         l
 1162  Griffri       1160  Cadwgan  
                         ________l_________
                         l                               l                          1180
           1192  Griffri           1192  Clementia==== Meilyr Eyton
                                                                   l
                                                   1210  Cadwgan
                              ____________________l___
                              l                                          l
                 1240  Griffri                       1245  Clementia
                              l
               1270  Llewelyn
         

         The family in the first column (which ends with the c. 1192 Griffri) is cited in Pen 131, 131 and Pen 129, 80.  The family on the right (excluding the marriage of Meilyr Eyton) is found in the following citations:  Llewelyn ap Griffri ap Cadwgan ap Meilyr Eyton is cited in Pen 131, 73 and Pen 127, 25.  Clementia [4] ferch Cadwgan ap Meilyr Eyton is cited in Pen 128, 139a.  The marriage shown in red is merely our suggestion.
 
         We further posit a scenario in which the results seen in our chart would be quite logical.  Return with us briefly to the year 1191 in Tegeingl.  The brothers, Cadwgan and Griffri ap Gronwy ap Owain ap Uchdryd ap Edwin, were both near age 30 and devout Christians.  The Saracens had, in 1188, invaded Jerusalem and taken possession of the Holy Cross.  Archbishop Baldwin and Gerald of Wales had criss-crossed the country seeking volunteers to "take up the cross" and join a great crusade to liberate Jerusalem.  England's King Henry II died in 1189 and his successor, Richard the Lion-Hearted, prepared to lead a contingent of English and Welsh soldiers in the crusade.
 
          Cadwgan ap Gronwy had recently taken a wife, who was now pregnant, so he chose to pass up the crusade.  His younger brother, however, was yet single and he elected to join the crusade.  Young Griffri was among the men who set sail for the Holy Land in April, 1191.  Two notable things occurred during the following months, which left a large impression on Cadwgan.  First, Pope Clement died shortly before the crusaders laid siege to the city of Acre.  A bit later, word arrived that his brother, Griffri, had been killed in battle.
 
         Early in 1192, Cadwgan's wife delivered twins, a boy and a girl.  They named their new son "Griffri" in honor of the child's uncle who died as a Christian warrior.  Their daughter was named Clementia to honor Pope Clement, the man who had organized world support for the crusade.  About 1208, she married Meilyr Eyton and named her first son "Cadwgan" after her father, who became the child's Godfather.  Thus ends our diversion into conjecture which sought to logically explain results which are found in the written sources.
 
         When Cadwgan ap Meilyr Eyton grew to manhood and took a wife, he had two children.  He named his daughter Clementia after his mother, and named his son Griffri, exactly as his namesake had named his two children.  The two families remained close, and the duplicate-naming tradition was continued for another 100 years.  Both Griffri's named a son Llewelyn, both Llewelyn's named a son Iorwerth, etc.

NOTES:
[1] For another example where this naming pattern occurred, see our paper on "Elystan of Powys" at the link below:
[2] Peter Bartrum "Welsh Genealogies AD300-1400", Index-Volumn 5"
[3] ByT records the killing of Gronwy ap Owain ap Edwin in 1125, and Bartrum notes that fact (incorrectly as 1124) on his chart "Edwin 1"
[4] Pen 128, 139a actually calls her "Clement".  Most of the men who copied down pedigrees in the Peniarth (and other) manuscripts, used abbreviations to reduce their labor.  The male name "Dafydd" was universally written as "dd", "Llewelyn" as "lln", "Madog" as "Md" etc.  We think the instant source was abbreviating when he wrote "Clement" and identified her as female by following it with "vz", the standard abbreviation of "ferch".  The common Latin female name "Clementia" occurs nowhere else in Welsh pedigrees.

APPENDIX:
 
           We present here a closer look at the cited pedigrees of Gwenllian ferch Madog Goch ap Heilyn Fychan ap Heilyn ap Ieuaf.  The pedigrees identify her husband as Dafydd (1335) ap Llewelyn (1290) ap Dafydd (1250) ap Gronwy (1215) ap Iorwerth (1185) ap Hywel (1155) ap Moreiddig (1125) ap Sandde Hardd (1095) ap Sandde (1060) ap Caradog Hardd (1025) descended from "Gwion" ap Cunedda.  We would date Gwenllian to c. 1350:

  1020  Edwin                      1020  Edwin                     1020  Edwin
              l                                       l                                      l
1055  Uchdryd                   1055  Uchdryd                  1050  Owain
              l                                       l                                      l
1085  Uchdryd                   1085  Uchdryd                  1085  Aldud
              l                                       l                                      l
 1115  Owain                     1115  Owain                     1115  Owain
              l                                       l                                      l
1150  Llewelyn                 1145  Gronwy                   1150  Llewelyn
              l                                       l                                      l
1185  Gruffudd                   1180  Griffri                   1180  Gruffudd
              l_____________________l_____________________l
                                                     l
                                        1215  Ieuaf
                                                     l
                                       1250  Heilyn
                                                     l
                                  1280  Heilyn Fychan
                                                     l
                                   1315  Madog Goch
                                                    l
                                    1350  Gwenllian
          

         Names in red in this chart were omitted in the actual citation.  Column 1 shows the pedigree found in Pen 176, 251.  Column 2 shows the pedigree as cited by Pen 127, 179 and Pen 128, 169b.  Column 3 shows the manner in which Bartrum charted the family, but only the men from Llewelyn back to Edwin are found in any known citation.  Such a family is cited in Pen 128, 604a but includes no son named Gruffudd.
 
         Everyone omitted the Uchdryd ap Uchdryd from pedigreres they cast, so we do not find the omission unusual in the above cases.  However, there are no known sources which say the Llewelyn in column 3 even had a son named Gruffudd.
 
        You will note that all 3 versions of the ancestry of Gwenllian "work" chronologically, but Bartrum's version only works by inserting a "Gruffudd" into the pedigree (probably by copying the lower part of column 1).  There are also no known versions of her pedigree which, as they stand, trace Gwenllian back to Owain ap Edwin.
 
         We believe the agreement found between Pen 127, 179 and Pen 128, 169b (column 2 above) is more credible than the single citation by Pen 176, 251 (column 1); we therefore reject both columns 1 and 3 as credible versions of Gwenllian's pedigree.  But that does not imply that the list of names in column 1 is NOT a valid family line, only that it was not the family which included the people in the lower column of our chart.