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                   ANCESTRY OF IEUAF AP ADDA AP AWR OF TREVOR
                                        By Darrell Wolcott
 
         According to Deputy Herald Hugh Thomas (died 1720), the two manors called Trevor and Llys Trevor were held by Tudor ap Rhys Sais and given to his third son, Cuhelyn.[1]  According to this source, those manors descended to Ieuaf ap Cuhelyn, then to Awr ap Ieauf who gave them to his son, Adda ap Awr.  But the reliability of the Hugh Thomas pedigree suffers greatly when he cites an Iorwerth ap Awr as a brother of Adda.  A chart showing the timeline will illustrate the problem:
 
                          1025  Rhys Sais
                                      l
                          1055  Tudor
                                      l
                         1095  Cuhelyn
                                      l
                          1130  Ieuaf          Einion Efell  1135 ob 1196
                                      l                  l
                           1170  Awr            Rhun  1165
                                      l                  l  
                          1205  Adda         Cuhelyn  1195               
                              _____l______       l
                             l                   l       l 
               1240  Ieuaf      1240 Efa==Ieuaf  1230  
                                                
         This construction, while not impossible, requires a series of 35 and 40 year generation gaps among the ancestors of Efa; all of the families cited in extant pedigrees point to their patriarch Ieuaf ap Adda ap Awr as being born c. 1240.  But Iorwerth ap Awr cannot be a brother of Adda ap Awr; not only is he given as "Iorwerth ap Awr ap Ieuaf ap Llywarch ap Ieuaf ap Nynnio" in other sources[2], the wife matched with him occurs c. 1280 thus:
 
                       1095  Rhiwallon      Rhys Sais II  1124
                                     l                     l
                       1125  Cynwrig           Elidyr   1152
                                     l                     l
                       1160  Nynnio          Meilyr   1180
                                     l                     l
                        1195   Ieuaf            Iorwerth  1215
                                     l                     l
                         1235   Awr             Ednyfed  1250                      
                                     l                     l
                        1270  Iorwerth====Marged  1285
 
         We have estimated birthdates based on several other cited marriages for men in this chart (and others descended from them), but this Iorwerth ap Awr occurs about two generations later than Adda ap Awr in our first chart and could not be his brother.
 
          If this were the only problem with the Hugh Thomas pedigree, we would likely excuse it as no more than a common error confusing men of similar names and made by a genealogist from the era when strict adherence to a pedigree timeline was not in vogue.  But the Vaughan family of Golden Grove, descended from Einion Efell through Efa ap Adda ap Awr, casts a pedigree claiming her father was "Adda ap Awr ap Ieuaf ap Cuhelyn ap Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon"[3] thusly:
 
                                  1065  Cynwrig
                                               l  
                                   1095  Cuhelyn
                                               l
                                   1130  Ieuaf
                                               l
                                    1170  Awr  
                                               l
                                    1205  Adda
 
         Although this timeline works as well as that ancestry cited by Hugh Thomas (first chart above), no other sources mention a son named Cuhelyn for the Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon of c. 1065.  But that Cynwrig did have a son, Nynnio, who had a son named Ieuaf. We turn to the lands themselves for further guidance.  Trevor and Llys Trevor were located in Nanheudwy by the River Dee, part of the patrimony of Llyddocca ap Tudor Trevor.  The claim by Hugh Thomas that they were held c. 1100 by Tudor ap Rhys Sais is credible; he descended from Llyddocca while Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon descended from Dyngad ap Tudor Trevor.  The latter received Maelor Cymraeg, not Nanheudwy. 
 
         Normally, this would be taken as evidence that the 13th century Lord of Trevor, Ieuaf ap Adda ap Awr, must have descended from Rhys Sais.  But there are reasons to believe the Vaughan family was closer to the truth.  The male names Ieuaf and Awr and Adda are common in families descended from Nynnio ap Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon and almost wholly absent in those descended from Rhys Sais. (Adda occurs in that family rarely, Awr and Ieuaf never)  Returning to the Hugh Thomas pedigree, he actually says the Trevor manors were given to Cuhelyn ap Tudor and his brother Meurig.  No other extant pedigrees mention sons of Tudor with those names; his eldest son was Bleddyn and his second son was Gronwy.  If the deputy herald is right, a third son named Cuhelyn and a fourth called Meurig held the Trevor land about 1120 after the death of Tudor.[4]  Even the Vaughan pedigree includes a Cuhelyn as ancestor to Adda ap Awr.  
 
        We would suggest both pedigrees have elements of fact and both omit a vital link: how we get from Cuhelyn ap Tudor to Awr ap Ieuaf.  Our solution is to posit a daughter for Cuhelyn, an only child, and assume Meurig ap Tudor died without issue.  If that daughter married Ieuaf ap Nynnio ap Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon as his second wife, their putative child Awr ap Ieuaf could have inherited his mother's land.  The older sons of Ieuaf (Iorwerth, Llywarch and Griffri) are known to have received the bulk of his patrimonial lands in and around Wrexham.  In this event, the Hugh Thomas pedigree lists as a son of Cuhelyn a man who was actually his son-in-law.  And the Vaughan pedigree substitutes the father-in-law of Ieuaf for his father (Nynnio) but gives his grandfather correctly as Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon.  We believe the following construction reconciles the differences in the two conflicting pedigrees:
 
               1065  Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon      Tudor  1055
                            l                                   l
               1095  Nynnio                         Cuhelyn 1095
                            l                                   l
                 1130  Ieuaf==========daughter 1130*
                                              l
                                  1170   Awr
                                              l
                                  1205  Adda
                                              l
                                  1240  Ieuaf  (and Efa)
 
         *We suggest this was a late marriage for both spouses which produced a son Awr, her only son, but was probably not her first marriage
 
         In the Appendixes below, we (1) discuss other errors contained in both the Hugh Thomas and Vaughan family pedigrees; and (2) introduce a later "Ieuaf ap Adda ap Awr ap Ieuaf" who clearly descended from Nynnio ap Cynwrig.
 

NOTES:
[1] Harleian Ms 4181
[2] J.Y.W. Lloyd "History of Powys Fadog", vol ii, pp 140
[3] Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1881, pp 229 being a discussion by Henry F.J. Vaughan entitled "Private papers of Richard Vaughan"
[4] No obit is recorded for Tudor but it is unlikely he survived far past his 65th birthday with his sons dividing his lands when they were about 30
 

APPENDIX 1:  Vaughan Family pedigree errors
 
        This pedigree cites the mother of Efa ferch Adda ap Awr as "Tanglwyst ferch Yarth ap Ednived".  Other sources expand the lady's ancestry to Tangwystl ferch Iorwerth ap Ednyfed ap Meilyr ap Elidyr ap Rhys Sais (without identifying whether this was the first Rhys Sais or the second one).  Such a lady (based upon what is known of her immediate descendants) would occur c. 1280 and the Adda ap Awr she married is a much later man than Efa's father:
 
                                                          Cynwrig  1065
                                                               l
                       1124  Rhys Sais II        Rhiwallon  1095
                                    l                           l
                      1152   Elidyr                  Cynwrig   1125
                                    l                           l
                     1180   Meilyr                   Nynnio  1160
                                    l                           l
                      1220  Ednyfed                 Ieuaf   1195
                                    l                           l
                      1250  Iorwerth                  Awr   1235         
                                    l                           l
                     1280  Tangwystl=======Adda   1265
                                                   l
                                       1295  Ieuaf
                                                   l
                                     1325  Adda Goch
                                                   l
                                           3 daughters*
 
        *Each of these daughters married men born c. 1340/45.  The brother of Adda Goch was Ieuaf Lloyd who died without issue.  Both brothers occur as witnesses to a charter in 1356 and this branch of the family became extinct in the male line after their deaths.
 
         Henry Vaughan, in discussing his pedigree in 1880, notes "the descent of this Efa is an another place differently given, she being called the daughter of Adda ap Awr by Myfanwy, daughter of Madog ap Cynwrig Fychan ap Cynwrig ap Hoedliw ap Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon". If he was referring to the Hugh Thomas pedigree, this Myfanwy was cited as the wife of Ieuaf (brother of Efa) and not as her mother.  And Myfanwy, born c. 1250, does fit chronologically as wife to Ieuaf ap Adda.
 
       The occurrance of the name-string "Ieuaf ap Adda and Awr ap Ieuaf" shown in the chart immediately above duplicates the names in the family which was the focus of this paper, but occurs some two generations later.  We view this as data supportive of our conclusion that both groups were descended from Nynnio ap Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon and that the acquisition of the Trevor manors by this family must have occurred by marriage with an heiress of those lands.
 
APPENDIX 2: Hugh Thomas pedigree errors
 
        In addition to his mistake in citing Iorwerth ap Awr as a brother of Adda ap Awr, this pedigree lists 7 children of Ieuaf ap Adda ap Awr:
 
       1. Hywel ap Ieuaf (born c. 1275) is correct
       2. Llewelyn ap Ieuaf (born c. 1275) is correct
       3. Efa ferch Ieuaf (born c. 1285) is correct
       4. Dafydd ap Ieuaf (born c. 1270) is correct
       5. Ieuaf Fychan ap Ieuaf (born c. 1230) was the son of Ieuaf ap Llywarch ap Ieuaf ap Nynnio
       6. Ieuaf Lloyd ap Ieuaf (born c. 1325) was the son of a later Ieuaf ap Adda ap Awr; see Appendix 1
       7. Adda Goch ap Ieuaf (born c. 1270) is correct
 
       This pedigree was reprinted by J.Y.W. Lloyd in "History of Powys Fadog", vol iv, pp 108-109.  He gives his source as Harleian Ms 4181 which is a book of pedigrees compiled by Hugh Thomas c. 1695-1710