FIRST POWYS DYNASTY
CHART III
820
Brochwel ap Aeddan I [1]
_______________________l___
l
l
855 Gwaeddan
850 Selyf I
l
l
890 Rhodri
880 Aeddan II
l
l
920 Owain
910 Brochwel II
l
_______________l____________________
l
l
l
l
955 Iorwerth 945 Selyf II 945
Seisyllt [2] 940 Cadell
l
l ________l_______
l
l
l l
l l 965
l
l 990 Dau 979 Llewelyn
Nest
l
l =
l 950 =
l l Coel
ap Gwierydd 1011 Gruffudd Gwerystan
l
l CHART I
l [3] ap
990 Gruffudd 975 Aeddan III 1050
Nest Gwaethfoed
l
l =
CHART II
1025 Meilyr Gryg Brochwel III 1005
1035 Trahaearn ap
l [4] l
Caradog
1060 Llewelyn l_____
CHART IV
l l
1090 Lleuci
l
= l
1075 Rhys Goch ap
l
Llewelyn Fychan
l
CHART
I l
_______________l____________
l l
1035 Sian 1045
Selyf III
=
l
Cadwgan ap Elystan 1020 1075
Aeddan IV
Glodrudd
l
CHART V
1110 Brochwel IV
l
1145 Selyf IV
l
1180 Beli
l
1215 Gruffudd
l
1260
1250 Gwenwys==Alice, dau of
l Roger Corbet
1285 Madog CHART VIII
l
1315 Ieuan
l
1350
Gruffudd
l
1385 Sir Gruffudd Fychan[5] ob 1447
l
_______________________l______
l l
l
1420 Reynold 1415 Gwenhwyfar 1415 Dafydd
Lloyd [6]
l
= l
l 1400 John Forden
l
l CHART XVII
l
l
_________________l_____
l l
l
1450 Gruffudd [7]
Ales 1440 1450 Dafydd Lloyd Fychan
= 1465 =
l
(1) Elisabeth Plowden John Walcot 1425 1485
Oliver
(2) Isabel Plowden 1465
CHART I
l
CHART XIII 1515
Richard
l
1550 Richard Lloyd
=
1560 Magaret, dau of
John Newton
CHART XII
The Charts cross-referenced above can be seen by clicking on the appropriate
links which follow the notes below
NOTES:
[1] This family descended from Cadell Ddyrnllwg of c. 380 and Brochwel
Ysgithrog of c. 510 and it included Cyngyn ap Cadell who erected the Pillar of Eliseg in the early 800's In 1063, its
rule in Powys was ended by the usurping sons of Cynfyn, Rhiwallon and Bleddyn
[2] While the ancestry of Llewelyn ap Seisyllt is nowhere cited, events
make it fairly certain he was descended from the ruling Powys family; Seisyllt was probably the next eldest brother when Cadell
ap Brochwel died without sons c. 1010. Cadell's only daughter married Gwerystan and was the mother of Cynfyn
[3] Gruffudd ap Llewelyn became king of Powys in 1039, took Gwynedd by
killing its king the same year and by 1056 he ruled every territory in Wales. When he was slain in 1063, his sons Maredudd
and Ithel were about 22/23 years old and too young to claim his kingdom. Edward the Confessor of England installed Rhiwallon
ap Cynfyn as king of Powys and his brother Bleddyn as king of Gwynedd. In 1069, the two sons of Gruffudd attempted to
unseat the sons of Cynfyn and both died as a result of that battle. The rule of the First Powys dynasty ended with
those men, replaced by Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (Rhiwallon was also killed in the same battle). Nest, the daughter of Gruffudd,
was his youngest child by his first wife, After her death, Gruffudd married a daughter of Earl Aelfgar of Mercia and
had a final child c. 1956, a daughter also named Nest.
[4] Meilyr Gryg was the first of that name (5 generations later c.
1190 there was another Meilyr usually called Gryg although probably in error) and resided at Gregynog in the parish of Tregynon
in Cydewain. His 15th century descendant, Evan Blayney, still held that manor and was about the same age as Sir Gruffudd
Fychan; they occur together on a 1406 list of burgesses of Welshpool cited in Dwnn i, 312
[5] Sir Gruffudd Fychan was descended from the senior line of his family
and may well have told Henry Grey (who was descended from Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and who held the title Lord of Powys) that the
title should have been his by birthright since Henry's ancestor was a mere usurper. Grey summarily executed Sir Gruffudd
Fychan in 1447 and claimed it was because the latter supported the house of York
[6] Most authorities believe Dafydd Lloyd was the eldest son of Sir Gruffudd
Fychan. Ales was a base daughter, born before he married. Although Lloyd was only his nickname, his son Dafydd took
it as a surname.
[7] Gruffudd ap Reynold ap Sir Gruffudd Fychan probably only married one
of these Plowden ladies. The Cedwyn Ms of 1633 says he married Elisabeth, daughter of Humphrey Plowden by whom he had
a daughter Marged. The 1623 Visitation of Shropshire, pp 87 says he married Isabel, daughter of Edward Plowden by whom
he had a daughter Alice. But both sources say the daughter he had by a Plowden lady married Dafydd Lloyd ap Dafydd ap
Matthew ap Cadwaladr (who descended from a brother of Gwenwys ap Gruffudd in the above chart). We date the marriage
to a Plowden lady to c. 1478 and assign to it two daughters and two sons. However, about 1484 Gruffudd ap Reynold married
the widowed Jois ferch Owain ap Evan Blayney and had by her a daughter Sissely c. 1485. That lady married Robert Porter
son of Richard whose pedigree dates him to c. 1470. The first husband of Jois ferch Owain was Dafydd ap Matthew ap Cadwaladr
mentioned just above.
SOURCES:
[1] Dwnn i, 299; Dwnn ii, 23: for the ancestry of Meilyr Gryg
[2] Dwnn i, 313; Dwnn 11, 152: for the marriage of Sian ferch Brochwel ap Aeddan
[3] Cedwyn Ms of 1633 for the ancestry of Sir Gruffudd Fychan
[4] Montgomeryshire Collections, vol vi. pp 81 for the marriage of Gwenwys to
Alice Corbet
[5] ibid and Visitation of Shropshire 1623, pp 87 for the marriage of Gruffudd
ap Reynold to a Plowden lady or ladies
[6] Montgomeryshire Collections, vol vi, pp 128 for the marriage of Richard Lloyd
to Margaret Newton
[7] Dwnn ii, 107 for the marriage of Nest ferch Gruffudd ap Llewelyn to Trahaearn
ap Caradog
[8] Dwnn i, 310 for the marriage of Nest ferch Cadell ap Brochwel ap Aeddon to
Gwerystan ap Gwaethfoed
[9] Visitation of Worcester, pp 79 for the marriage of Gwenhwyfar ferch Sir Gruffudd
Fychan to John Forden
