| Ubi materia, ibi geometria. | Lle mae 'na fater, mae 'na geometreg. |
| Wo Materie ist, dort ist Geometrie. | Where there is matter, there is geometry. |
Some family historyIn the direct paternal line my paternal great grandfather was Edward Evans, born in Cleirwy (Clyro) in Powys (then Radnorshire) in about 1860 to 1863 (Census records are uncertain as to year of birth). Cleirwy is on the English border a mile or so from Y Gelli Gandryll (Hay on Wye (Gwy), now known as “the town of books”). There are remains there of a castle built by the Princes of Elfael, perhaps dating to 1070. Edward’s wife Mary (nee as yet unknown) was born in Cleirwy in about 1866. The 1871 Census records an Edward Evans, farm servant, aged 11, working at Kilau (Ciliau?) Farm in the Civil Parish of Clyro (Cleirwy), working for Rachael Williams, aged 51, recorded as the family head and therefore probably a widow. There is no record of an Edward Evans born in Clyro in the 1881 Census. The 1891 Census however shows Edward and Mary Evans living at Pen y Waun, Llanspyddid, outside Brecon, where Edward Evans was an agricultural labourer, recorded in that Census as being born in 1863 in Clyro. The language of the family was English. The 1901 Census records them living at Close House, Llanywern, near Brecon, where Edward Evans was a farmer (worker), recorded as being born in Radnorshire. My paternal grandfather, William Evans, was born in 1893 and in the 1901 Census is recorded as living at the age of 8 with his family in Close House, Llanywern, Brecon with his brother Edward (aged 11), his brother Ivor (10 months), his sister Edith Mary (aged 10) and his sister Sarah (aged 4). In the 1891 Census the family is recorded as living in Llanspyddid, with Edward, aged 1, and Edith Mary (aged 7 months). After marrying Gwenllian Lodge (nee Potter) in the Sept. Quarter of 1919 he lived in the tiny end house (nearest the river) of a row of four made from a converted barn, called “Y Grithig” or “Y Greithig”, just across the Tawe river from Craig y Nos Castle. He probably spoke a mixture of English and Welsh and worked as a railway labourer on the Swansea to Brecon line near Penwyllt Station, moved to Caehopkin, and died in Glyn Bedd Farm in 1971 or 1972. He is buried in Callwen in an unmarked grave with his wife, Gwenllian, my paternal grandmother in Eglwys Ioan Bedyddwyr (St John the Baptist Church) Callwen. Gwenllian Potter was the daughter of William John and Hannah Potter and was drowned at the age of 51 or 52 in 1942, eight years before I was born. Her first husband died in about 1918, possibly in the great influenza pandemic of that year, and was called Lodge. My half Uncle was Fred Lodge of Clydach, and my half Aunt, Blodwen Griffiths, nee Lodge, lived at Glyn Bedd Farm near Crynant, where I worked as a boy. Blodwen died last year at the age of 96 or 97. Part of the following information was kindly made known to me in September 2009 by Mr. Stuart Davies and Mr. Dewi Lewis. My great grandfather William John Potter, (1857 - 1929) was born in the March quarter of 1857 at no 1 Penwyllt Cottages, Glyntawe in the upper Swansea Valley and my great grandmother, Hannah Thomas, was born in 1857 in Ystradgynlais District. They married in the June quarter of 1877. William Potter’s father was David Potter, a quarryman at Penwyllt limestone quarry, born in Worth in Sussex in 1829. He married Rachel Morgan, of the distinguished Morgan Family (see below), in January to March 1856 according to Census records (information kindly supplied by Mr Dewi Lewis in Sept 2009). In the 1871 Census, my great great grandfather David Thomas (born 1818) was living at Henrhyd Isaf (a farm near Henrhyd Falls) in the Hamlet of Ellen Bleak (sic.) and Banwen. He was a stonecutter and lived with his wife Hannah (born 1819), his son Glyn (aged 24), his daughter Hannah (aged 14), David (aged 8), and Mary (aged 5). William Potter probably met Hannah’s father at the quarry, owned by the Morgan family.
The following information on the Morgan Family was kindly made known to me by Mr Stuart Davies in 2009. Rachel Potter (1838 - 1907) was born Rachel Morgan, the daughter of William Morgan, (1809 - 1902), who was born probably at Y Garth, Abercra^f, and died in 1902 at Rhongyr Isaf in Glyntawe. My great great great grandmother Rachel Potter Morgan is recorded in the 1901 Census as the a widow living with her daughter Caroline at 2 Pen y Bont Cottages. Her husband William Morgan (my great great great grandfather) was the second son of Dafydd ap Morgan (1778 - 1869), who married Gwenllian Powell (1785 - 1873). William was a farmer all his life, and married Anne Watkins (1816 - 1855) of Glantwyni, Glyntawe, whose father was William Watkins of Ty Mawr, Abercra^f, a prominent mine owner and who helped found Ty’n y coed and Bethlehem chapels. Ty Mawr is still a well known house off the A4067. William was the younger brother of Morgan Morgan, (1808 - 1889), who was a prominent figure in the Swansea Valley and who was High Constable in the 1860's. He was known as Squire Morgan, and purchased Craig y Nos out of chancery from Captain Rhys Davies Powell (Indian Army retired). He sold it two years later in 1878 to Adelina Patti, the great operatic soprano. After that it became the well known Craig y Nos Castle. Anne Watkins was the younger sister of Mary Watkins, who married Morgan Morgan. My great great great grandfather William Morgan was descended from Sir Reginald Aubrey, a knight of Bernard de Neufmarche, second cousin of William 1st. The line of descent is through the Aubrey Gentry of Ystradgynlais and then the Pourtray-Gough Gentry of Ystradgynlais (Neuadd Ynyscedwyn) to William Morgan. The youngest daughter of William and Anne Morgan was Jennet Morgan, (1853 - 1935), who became Mrs Griffiths and who lived in Number 1, “Y Grithig”. Jennet’s daughter was Anne, (1877 - 1976), and she was the mother of Tudor Watkins, M.P., for Breconshire, and subsequently Lord Glyntawe. Anne Morgan lived to be 99 and three of her daughters are still living, two in their nineties, and one over a hundred years old. William Morgan is buried in Ty’n y coed, close to his father in law William Watkins. The children of my great great great great grandfther, Dafydd ap Morgan (David Morgan), were Morgan, William, John, David, Elizabeth (1819 - 1887), Thomas (1819 - 1904), Rachel, Howell (1823 - 1864), and Daniel (1827 - 1885), who lies in his parents’ grave.
The parish church at Ystradgynlais dates back to the fifth century, meaning that it was a Celtic establishment. Ynys Cedwyn Hall was the seat of Prince (Tywysog) Gruffydd Gw^yr, (and probably of the eleventh century Prince (Tywysog) Bleddyn ap Maenarch) but passed into the hands of the Franklyns of Swansea. The daughter and heiress of Jenkyn Franklyn married William Aubrey, which is how the hall came into the possession of the Aubreys, and later the Goughs. “Gough” is an anglicized version of the Welsh “Coch”, meaning “red-haired”. The Gough family are able to trace ancestry to early mediaeval times. Elizabeth Pourtray-Gough married Morgan ap Thomas y Garth, Abercra^f on Feb. 19th 1763. Their son Dafydd ap Morgan (David Morgan) was the father of Squire Morgan Morgan of Craig y Nos, and the grandfather of William Morgan and Morgan Morgan of Tir Mawr (later Ty Mawr). Therefore Morgan ap Tomos y Garth (1735 - 1805) was my great great great great great grandfather, and his wife Elizabeth Pourtray - Gough (1737 - 1825) was my great great great great great grandmother. The Gough Family were landed Gentry and therefore have an extensive and well known genealogy back to early mediaeval times. They married into the Cambrian Norman Aubrey Family that initiated with Sir Reginald Aubrey, an eleventh century knight of Bernard Newmarch (see below) and son of Alexander de Sancto Alberico (early eleventh century, see below). He is also known as Saunder de St. Aubrey and accompanied William of Normandy in 1066 but does not appear in Domesday Book. Sir Reginald Aubrey married Isabel de Clare, daughter of the powerful Norman Baron Richard de Clare, Earl of Brion, Clare and Tunbridge, son of Gilbert Count of Brion (pre conquest). Richard de Clare, and his son Gilbert FitzRichard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, appear in Domesday Book.
The father of Morgan ap Tomos y Garth was Tomos ap Morgan (1690 - 1761), who married Elizabeth John (d. 1747). The father of Tomos ap Morgan was Morgan ap Tomos (died 1749), and his father was Tomos ap Morgan ap Ifan who also descended from the Aubrey Family. The father of Elizabeth Pourtray Gough was William Gough of Willersby in Gloucestershire, who married Catherine Pourtray (died 1674) of Ynys Cedwyn Hall. Catherine Pourtray’s parents were the Rev. Richard Pourtray of Llandimor in Gower and Catherine Aubrey of Ynys Cedwyn Hall. The Rev. Richard Pourtray’s parents (married 1631) were Christopher Pourtray and Mary daughter of Richard Seys of Boverton in South Glamorgan. Catherine Aubrey’s parents were Morgan Aubrey (1617 - 1648) and Maycod (sic) ferch Walter Tomos Abertawe (Swansea), whose wife was named Margaret. Morgan Aubrey’s parents were Morgan Aubrey (d. 1632) and Margaret ferch Tomos Games Aberbran. This Morgan Aubrey was High Sheriff of Breconshire in 1616 and the Games family descends from Sir Dafydd Gam ap Llywelyn ap Hywel, knighted on the field at Agincourt (see below).
The Ynys Cedwyn Estate papers (1489 - 1945) are GB 0216 DDYc in the National Library of Wales. The Hall was one of the houses of the Prince Gruffydd Gw^yr, Lord of Gower, who was descended from Prince Bleddyn ap Maenarch (died 1092), the brother in law of Prince Rhys ap Tewdwr Fawr, the Queen’s ancestor in the Tudor line. The Hall was inherited in the distaff line by the Franklyn family. The daughter of Jenkin Franklyn, Anne Franklyn of Ynys Cedwyn Hall, married William Aubrey of Palleg in Ystradgynlais. This William Aubrey was the son of Morgan Aubrey of Palleg, who was disinherited by his father William Aubrey of Abercynrig and Slwch who was the great grandson of Morgan Aubrey Lord of Brecon (circa 1400, see below). The latter was in direct descent from the eleventh century Sir Reginald Aubrey, who was given land in Abercynfrig and Slwch by Bernard Newmarch, Lord of Brecon. There is an unproven claim in the Ynys Cedwyn Estate papers that Morgan Aubrey of Cathelyd (grandson of William Aubrey of Palleg who married Anne Franklyn and thus acquired Ynys Cedywn Hall) sold the Hall to Morgan Aubrey (died 1632) who was the son of Ifan Morgan Prichard (active circa 1586), the grandson of Richard J. M. Aubrey. This claim seems to be true because Elizabeth Pourtray Gough (1737 - 1825) of Ynys Cedwyn Hall descended from Morgan Aubrey (died 1632, High Sheriff in 1616). The most distinguished member of the Aubrey family in Tudor times was Dr William Aubrey (1529 - 1595), second son of Thomas Aubrey of Cantref, who married Agnes, daughter of Thomas Vaughan. He was educated at Oxford, appointed High Sheriff of Breconshire in 1545, and was a Fellow of All Souls, Principal of New Inn Hall in 1550, Member of Parliament, granted arms, and professor of Civil Law in 1553. He was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral and was granted extensive lands by Elizabeth Tudor. He was the ancestor of the antiquary, John Aubrey. Ynys Cedwyn Hall was of great importance in South Wales in general. Richard Douglas Gough of Ynys Cedwyn Hall was High Sheriff in 1840, and his son Fleming Dansey Aubrey Gough of Ynys Cedwyn Hall was High Sheriff in 1895 and Lieutenant Colonel of the Breconshire Battalion of the South Wales Borderers. Their motto was “Nec ferrae terrent”, “nor do wild beasts terrify”.
Thanks to the accurate genealogy of the historian Mr Stuart Davies I am able prove descent in two lines from Morgan Aubrey Lord of Brecon (circa 1400), who was himself descended from the eleventh century Sir Reginald Aubrey given lands in Abercynfrig and Slwch by Bernard de Neufmarche en Lions, second cousin of William 1st of England and Normandy (see below). Sir Reginald Aubrey was married into the Norman de Clare family. Morgan Aubrey Lord of Brecon had two sons of relevance, Jenkin Aubrey of Abercynfrig and Thomas Aubrey of Ystradgynlais. Jenkin Aubrey had two sons of relevance, Hopkin Aubrey of Abercynfrig (circa 1460) and Richard J. M. Aubrey. I descend over many centuries in two lines from the latter, whose son was Morgan ap Richard Aubrey. The latter had two sons of relevance, Ifan Prichard who married Joan Lewis of Cil y bebyll, and John Morgan Richard. The line from Ifan Prichard is via his son Morgan Aubrey (died 1632, high Sheriff 1616), who married Margaret Games. This line descends to Elizabeth Portrey Gough as described already. The line from John Morgan Richard descends via his son Morgan John Morgan, then his son Thomas Morgan John, his son Morgan Thomas (died 1749), his son Thomas Morgan (1690-1761), then his son Thomas Morgan y Garth (1735 - 1805) who married Elizabeth Pourtray Gough (1737 - 1825) on Feb. 19th 1763. The two lines converge with this marriage of distant cousins.
Hopkin Aubrey Abercynfrig (circa 1460) had three sons of relevance: Jenkin Aubrey (circa 1500), William Aubrey Abercynfrig (circa 1500) and Thomas Aubrey Cantref. Jenkin Aubrey had a son Charles Aubrey (ca. 1530, High Sheriff, who died without issue). William Aubrey Abercynfrig disinherited his son Morgan Aubrey of Palleg in Ystradgynlais, whose son William Aubrey of Palleg married Anne Franklyn of Ynys Cedwyn Hall. She was descended from Gruffydd Gw^yr and thus from Prince Bleddyn ap Maenarch (died 1092) who married Elinor ferch Tudur Fawr (Elinor daughter of Prince Tudor the Great, the Queen’s Tudor ancestor) and grandfather of Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd whose arms are the main element of my own arms. Their grandson was Morgan Aubrey Cathelyd, Llangyfelach, whose son was Jenkin ap Morgan, whose son was Jenkin Morgan, whose son was David Morgan (circa 1730), whose son was Jenkin Morgan (circa 1750). Cathelyd was probably a large house with an Estate, there are two farms called Cathelyd Fawr and Fach here in Craigcefnparc, probably farms of the Estate. My Newlands ancestors owned Cathelyd Fach at one time. The line from Thomas Aubrey Cantref is a famous one. His son was the eminent Dr William Aubrey (1529 - 1595) described already. His son was Sir Edward Aubrey (High Sheriff 1583, 1589, 1599) who married Joan Havard as described below. Joan Havard was born in 1559 in Tredomen near Brecon, and was the daughter of William Havard of Tredomen and a Vaughan mother, the daughter of Christopher Vaughan of Tretower Court, the oldest house in Wales, kept by CADW. (See more Vaughan history below.) Sir Edward Aubrey and Joan Havard had a son Sir William Aubrey, whose son was Edward Aubrey, killed at the Battle of Edgehill. His brother (or possibly son) was probably the great antiquary John Aubrey.
William Aubrey of Abercynfrig (circa 1500) divorced his wife and disowned his children. It was his grandson William Aubrey of Palleg who acquired Ynys Cedywn Hall through a marriage settlement with Anne Franklyn. Their son was killed in a family affray at Brecon Fair in about 1600, and their great grandson was Jenkin ap Morgan. William’s son Richard was by his second wife. Sir William Aubrey sold Abercynfrig and the ancient Norman Abercynfrig Estate was sold out of the Aubrey family, first to the Jeffries and then to the Lloyd families.
The mediaeval line of the Aubreys in Britain can be proven by extant source documents back to Alexander de Alberico (Saunder de St. Aubrey or de Sancto Alberico, estimated to be born about 1030 in Normandy) who accompanied William 1st from Normandy but does not appear in the online Domesday book. William 1st was born in about 1028. This line should be clarified when the definitive Bartram Welsh genealogy (in about 23 volumes) comes on line in 2009, this year. Some of the following are my estimates, websites being very inaccurate and contradictory in this early mediaeval time so I have made estimates of my own. Saunders or Saunder was probably the brother of Eric of Boulogne, Earl Marshall of France, and also the brother of Alberic Earl of Bullen and Dammartin. The names Alberic and Alberico are Frankish in origin, and there are unproven claims that this family descends from Charlemagne, crowned Emperor in 800 AD. Sir Reginald or Rinalt Aubrey, given Abercynfrig and Slwch by Bernard de Neufmarche (Bernard Newmarch), was the son of Saunder de St. Aubrey, and Reginald was born in about 1055 to 1060 in Normandy or France. He took part as an active knight in the battle of Brecon in 1092, so it is estimated he was 30 - 35 years old in 1092. Sir Reginald’s wife was Isabel de Clare, born in Normandy about 1072. She was probably the daughter of Richard de Clare, (before 1035 to 1090) Earl of Brion and of Clare and Tunbridge, son of Gilbert Count of Brion. The Ariciu site attributes a quote to the Domesday Book about Richard de Clare : “Tonbridge Richard of ...... also called Richard de Clare and Richard FitzGibert son of Count Gilbert of Brion, Lord of Clare, Suffolk, Lord of Tunbridge Castle. Holdings in eight counties from Suffolk to Devon.” Richard de Clare’s son Gilbert de Clare is mentioned in the now online Domesday Book (under C of landowners) with the additional title of Earl of Pembroke. The son of Sir Reginald Aubrey and grandson of Saunder de St. Aubrey appears to be Reginald d’Aubrey of Abercynfrig (estimated to have been born about 1080 to 1100) who married Anne. Their grandson (probably) was Reginald Aubrey of Abercynfrig, born about 1165. His son was William Aubrey of Abercynfrig (born about 1199) who married Joan Gunter (boorn about 1210), descended from another Knight of Bernard de Neufmarche. Their son was Thomas Aubrey of Abercynfrig (1209 - 1300) who married Anne or Joan ferch Carew. Their son was Thomas Aubrey of Abercynfrig (born 1234) who married Joan ferch Trahaearn ap Einion, and the Norman line inter marries with prominent Welsh speaking families. So the Aubreys spoke Norman French and Welsh from earliest times. Their son was Thomas Aubrey Coch (the Red Haired) of Abercynfrig, born in 1269 and known in Welsh as Y Cwnstabl Coch (The Red Haired Constable). He married Nest ferch Owain Gethyn ap Maenarch of Glyn Tawe (Swansea Valley). She was born in about 1250, and had her own Arms. She might have lived in Ynys Cedwyn Hall itself. It is possible that Owain Gethyn ap Maenarch was descended from Prince Bleddyn ap Maenarch of Glyn Tawe (died 1092) and who married Elinor ferch Tewdwr Fawr, the present Queen’s Tudor ancestor. It is also possible that Owain Gethyn was related to Prince Gruffydd Gw^yr of Ynys Cedwyn Hall, who was active against Edward 1st in 1287. Gruffydd Gw^yr (Gruffydd of Gower) was also probably descended from Bleddyn ap Maenarch. Thomas Aubrey Coch and Nest ferch Owain Gethyn had a son Richard Aubrey of Abercynfrig, (born about 1299), who married Crisly ap Ffilip ap Elidyr, Knight of the Holy Sepulchre (see also information below by Mr Stuart Davies which is another source for this marriage). According to the Ariciu website (which is however self contradictory) this mediaeval Aubrey information is given at the top of the table “Aubrey 1" on page 44 of volume 1 of Bartram’s Welsh Genealogies AD 1400 - 1500 in the National Library of Wales. Information is also available from LDS FHC microfilm 104381 item 6 and film 6612 in the National Library of Wales. Ariciu also cites “Welsh Records”, Lancaster PA, New Era Print Company, (1912). These sources are probably known to scholars and are collected in a website by Janet Ariciu which is however difficult to read and decipher. The de Clare Family was Viking in origin, as were many of the Normans, including the Havards. Richard Aubrey of Abercynfrig and Crisly ferch Ffilip had a son John Aubrey of Abercynfrig (born about 1329) who married an unnamed daughter of Thomas or Tomos Cwrt Rhadir. Their son was Gwallter Aubrey of Abercynfrig, (born about 1359), who married Joan Morgan. Their son was the already mentioned Morgan Aubrey of Abercynfrig, Lord of Brecon, Abercynfrig and Slwch (born about 1389) whose first wife was Elizabeth Alice Gwenllian Lloyd (born about 1392). His second wife was an unnamed daughter of Roger Vaughan, ancestor of Joan Havard of Tretower Court who married Sir Edward Aubrey son of the great Dr William Aubrey of Tudor times. His great grandson was the great antiquary John Aubrey. The line from Morgan Aubrey Lord of Brecon to myself has already been described. So I can prove indirect descent over more than nine hundred years from Saunders (or Alexander) de St. Aubrey and from Owain Gethyn ap Maenarch Glyn Tawe, himself probably descended from Prince Bleddyn ap Maenarch. Many others in this area of Wales can do so of course, and I am not in any direct line. My own arms and rank of Gentleman were won by merit on July 7th 2008 for distinguished contributions to Britain in science, and for numerous other achievements. Nevertheless, many of my ancestors were distinguished in many ways, and genealogy gives a profound sense of history. Slwch itself was described in a 1698 history of Breconshire by Hugh Thomas (also cited on a comprehensive website by Janet Ariciu). It was described as being half a mile from the then ruined and roofless chapel of St. Elyned, sister of St. Callwen, daughters of the late fifth century Brychan Brycheiniog. St John the Baptist Callwen, Glyn Tawe, with which several of my ancestors are associated, is built on the Celtic site of St. Callwen. The chapel of St. Elyned was situated on an eminence a mile to the east of Brecon and about half a mile from a farmhouse that was the original Aubrey Manor of Slwch. By 1698 therefore it has been sold out of the Aubrey family.
Prince Bleddyn ap Maenarch and Prince Rhys ap Tewdwr were both killed in the Battle of Brecon in 1092, while engaging a superior, invading Norman army under Bernard Newmarch and twelve knights with their contingents. Two of these knights were Sir Reginald Aubrey and Sir Walter Havard. Bleddyn ap Maenarch married Elinor ferch Tewdwr Fawr (Elen daughter of Tudor the Great, Prince of Deheubarth). Their son was Gwgon ap Bleddyn (born 1090), whose son was Cydifor ap Gwgon (born 1133), whose son was Gruffydd Gw^yr ap Cydifor (born 1175) of Ynys Cedwyn Hall and other houses. Therefore the name “Gruffydd Gw^yr” (Gruffydd of Gower) first appears in the twelth century. His son was Gruffydd Fychan ap Gruffydd Gw^yr. A later Gruffydd Gw^yr was involved in a 1287 rising against Edward 1st, whose activities in Wales are well known to be despotic. This Gruffydd Gw^yr was probably the grandson of Gruffydd Fychan (probably born about 1200 give or take a few years).
The Aubrey Family married into many of the Welsh Gentry over hundreds of years. For example, Richard Aubrey, born 1329, married Crisly (sic), daughter of Ffilip ap Elidyr ap Ffilip Ddu, the latter being a Crusader Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, born about 1280. He came from Crug, about a quarter mile from the seat of the Royal House of Dinefwr, now called Dynevor Castle. The original castle was a castle of the twelfth century Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr, whose arms were a golden lion rampant. He as the direct ancestor of Henry VII Tudor, and I was granted this main element in my coat of arms (see www.aias.us). The later Rhys Family of Dynevor claim descent from the thirteenth century Ffilip Ddu. In my arms the golden lion rampant of the Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd (third son of Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr Fawr), holds a sheaf of hay in silver representing my father, Edward Ivor, who was a coal miner and hill farmer. This sheaf of hay is modelled on the sheaf of wheat of Ceredigion County Council. These elements are superimposed on a pattern of black hills, representing Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), taken from the arms of Rhydamman (Ammanford) Town Council. The motto is “Poer y Llwch o’r Pair Llachar”, a line of my cynghanedd written in honour of the South Wales coal industry. It means “Dust pours from the fiery cauldron”. The crest is the Celtic Cross of Nanhyfern rendered by the Windsor Herald, who designed it for the Arms of Penfro County Council. This denotes peace and goodwill to all Nations, and the Newlands branch of my family. It is supported by two red dragons rampant from the arms of my Alma Mater, the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, now the University of Aberystwyth. My heraldic badge is a Norman helm of the eleventh century, of the type that appears in the Bayeux Tapestry, denoting descent form the Aubrey and Havard Families. Superimposed on the helm are two heraldic goutes (drops of liquid), denoting my foundation of the European Molecular Liquids Group at the National Physical Laboratory in 1980, and concentric rings denoting my inference of the B(3) field at Cornell University in the States in late 1991. It has recently been nominated again for a Nobel Prize. Originally I wanted a ring of quartz crystals instead of the rather militaristic Norman helm, but the latter accurately denotes Norman descent in two branches. It is now known that I also descend from the Welsh Princes through the Pourtray-Gough Gentry. My rank on merit now is also Gentleman and I first appear in the Burke Peerage and Gentry in 2009.
Tommy and Jeff Morgan, the brothers who discovered the enormous cave system of Dan yr Ogof, (now the Welsh National Cave Centre) were two of the six sons of William Morgan, who was the eldest son of Morgan Morgan. William Morgan developed Abercra^f Colliery, various Quarries and the Swansea Canal. Morgan Morgan purchased Craig y Nos, and lived there with his wife Mary and son William and family. After the sale to Adelina Patti, it was the son William who really developed the upper Swansea Valley. The two Morgan brothers were therefore second cousins to my great grandfather, William Potter. When William died in 1905 he left an estate of some 35,000 pounds, (about a million pounds today). Tymawr, or Tir Mawr as it was originally, came into the family through Morgan Morgan’s marriage to Mary Watkins, daughter of William Watkins. William Watkins developed Ty Mawr, and after him, William Morgan. After him the house was lived in by his widow and two of his sons, Eliphaz and Jeff Morgan. When Jeff Morgan died the house was sold out of the family and is now a nursing home. The Welsh National Cave System is owned by descendants of a sister of the Morgan brothers. Morgan Morgan also lived in an ancient house called Hen Neuadd (Old Hall) in the middle of Abercra^f when he owned the colliery in the 1860's. These references can be found in “The History of Abercra^f Colliery” hand written by Eliphaz Watkins Morgan and deposited in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. This includes a section on the discovery of the caves by paddling across an underground lake in a corwg (coracle). Eliphaz was named after his grandfather, Eliphaz Watkins Pwll Coedog in Glyntawe, whose daughter Mary Anne married William Morgan. Tudor Watkins, the Baron Glyntawe, was descended from this family. The dates are: Morgan Morgan (1808 to 1889), Mary Watkins Morgan (1810 to about 1888), William Morgan (1835 to 1905), Eliphaz Watkins Morgan (1870 to 1944), Tommy Morgan (1875 to 1964), and Jeff Morgan (1884 to 1955). My father, Edward Ivor Evans, lived from 1922 to 2000, so knew the two Morgan brothers as a boy as he recounted to our family.
William John Potter, my great grandfather, born March quarter of 1857 at Penwyllt, was a lime burner at Penwyllt quarry, and William John and Hannah initially lived in 1 Penwyllt Cottages above Craig y Nos. (Family History Film 1342288, Public Records Office RG11, Piece / Folio 5346 / 115, page number 10). His youngest sister was Harriet (1880 - 1972), who married William Davies and died in Tre Castell. Gwenllian was born in 1890, her sister Rachel in 1877, her brother David John in 1878, and her sister Mary Jane in 1879. The following information was kindly made known to me by Mr Stuart Davies in Sept. 2009. The children of William John Potter and Hannah Thomas were Rachel (born 1877), Mary Jane (born 1879), David John (1881 - 1930), Daniel (1883 - 1939), Olivia (b 1886), Margaret H. (born 1889), Gwenllian (born 1890 or 1891, my grandmother), Caroline (born June quarter 1893), and Blodwen (baptized 14 / 1 / 1901). All the children with the exception of Blodwen were baptized in Callwen Church on 2 / 7 / 1893. In the 1891 Census they were all living at 7 Penwyllt Cottages. There are two birth dates for David John, 1878 and 1881, and two dates of death, 1924 on the gravestone in Callwen, and 1930 in the Parish records. David John married Mary (1896 - 1958), and their son was David John Leslie Potter (1921 - 1992, buried in Callwen). Daniel Potter married Sophie Anne. A member of the Potter family has researched the origins of David Potter in Worth District in Sussex.
Penwyllt is a cluster of houses in limestone and wild moorland around the Penwyllt Railway Station, which was built to accommodate distinguished guests of Adelina Patti, the famous operatic soprano who took up residence at Craig y Nos Castle. A private road was built from Penwyllt Railway Station to the Castle below in the Swansea Valley. Today most of the houses in Penwyllt are still lived in and the nearby limestone quarry where my great great and great grandfathers Potter worked is still in business.
Y Grithig is quite a large and well known cottage now (it has been converted into a large modern house) because of the nearby Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, (sometimes called “Grithig Cave”), the deepest cave in Britain at 308 metres with 50 kilometres of passageways now known. “Ogof Ffynnon Ddu” has over 500 entries on google, with many spectacular photographs. The mouth of the cave is only about forty metres from Grithig, where there is an outflow into the river Tawe. The cave contains paleolithic fauna and was first excavated around 1950. It was well known to my father Edward Ivor Evans, (born 1922), who grew up at Grithig with his older half brother Fred, his older half sister Blodwen, his younger brother Raymond and younger sister Nan. Another older half brother worked at the famous Craig y Nos Castle just across the river Tawe from Grithig. My father would have been amused at claims that the cave was “discovered” in 1945. Craig y Nos Castle was the home of Adelina Patti, probably the most gifted operatic singer of any era. There is a CD available of Patti made in 1905 when she was over sixty and her voice well past its best, but occasionally still of great beauty. At the height of her fame she was unrivalled by any operatic singer, and universally admired. Her style of singing goes back almost to Mozart. Given the mindless class distinctions of her time, she was by all accounts, kindly and generous to the ordinary people of her adopted home in the haunting and most beautiful upper Swansea Valley. Across the valley is the extensive Dan yr Ogof and Ogof yr Esgyrn cave systems discovered by the two Morgan Brothers. These are known to have been inhabited by humans four thousand years ago. These would have been even more amused to find that the caves were discovered in the twentieth century
My father and his younger brother Raymond started work as unpaid farm servants on Banwen farm near here at the age of about 12 and 10 respectively, quite common in those depression days of the thirties. They therefore moved about fifteen miles down the Swansea Valley when still boys. After the shock of my grandmother’s drowning in the river crossing below Glyn Bedd farm near Crynant in 1942, grandfather was apparently moved to Banwen Farm to be taken care of by his step daughter Blodwen. I was allowed to meet him there only once in my life, for about fifteen minutes only, and seemed a kind enough man. Other accounts also say that he was a cheerful man. He gave me a bright shilling. Later my father moved to this house in the village of Craigcefnparc after marrying my mother, Mary Jones, in 1948. In about 1954 they moved to Pant y Bedw, a smallholding of about one and a half acres. My birth certificate records my father as a colliery shotman underground at Nixon Colliery, responsible for bring down a face of coal using powder. Later he became an overman at Lliw Colliery before being forced to retire at the age of about forty by 30% pneumoconiosis.
Much of the following information on my Havard and other lines was kindly provided by Mr Dewi Lewis of Clydach in 2008 and 2009. In the maternal line my great great grandfather was Thomas Jones of Llanbedr Pont Steffan (Lampeter). He appears in the 1881 Census as a coal miner living in Craigcefnparc, aged probably 55, although the Census record is now difficult to read. Assuming this he was born in 1826. His wife is recorded in the Census as Mary, aged 45, born in 1836. There are four children, Ruth aged 15, Thomas T. Jones, aged 13 (my great grandfather), David aged 9 and Mary aged 6. In the 1901 Census my great grandfather, Thomas T. Jones, is recorded as living in Craigcefnparc, working as a coal miner born in 1868. He married Mary Havard of Cwm Cerdinen in 1889 (GRO 1889, Q4, vol. 11a, p. 1291). The children are Mary Hannah, born 1890, Annie, born 1893, Thomas (later Thomas Elim) my grandfather, born 1896, Ruth born 1897, John T. born 1899, and later Lillian and Rachel. My mother Mary Evans (nee Jones) was born in 1926 to Thomas Elim Jones, then a coal hewer, and his wife Martha Jane Jones (nee Newlands). My mother had one older brother, my uncle William Mendleson Jones. (With so many Joneses middle names had to be imaginative and preferably musical.) Thomas Elim Jones later became Head Deacon of the Welsh speaking Elim Baptist Chapel, Craigcefnparc. He was a composer of four part harmony, a conductor, “Capel Meister”, and brass band conductor. So I grew up in this house surrounded by musical instruments, a small harmonium worked by foot pedals, and conducting batons with cork handles. By the time I was born in 1950 Thomas Elim Jones was already suffering badly from the dreaded coal miner’s disease of black lung (pneumoconiosis), and could not walk very far without a walking stick and a respirator (called a “pump”). He died of this and complications, all too early, in the early sixties, followed in a few short years by his faithful wife, my grandmother, Martha Jane Jones. She was the daughter of William Newlands, originally of Sir Benfro (Pembrokeshire) and possibly of Norse descent, a smith in the Colliery. The 1901 Census records his brother, 29 year old James Newlands, who owned Cathelyd Fach Farm across the deep glacial valley from here (1342288 RG11 5349/52). He was born in Ordandon in Penfro (Pembroke). His wife, also called Martha, was then 34 and was born in Mathry in Penfro. At the time (1901) they had a son William, aged 8, a son Thomas Henry aged 5, and a daughter Elizabeth, aged 1. Living with them was a brother in law, Thomas Jones, and one or two farm servants (gweision fferm). So they seem to have been a fairly well to do farming family. My great grandfather William Newlands had one other daughter, Maud, the younger sister of my grandmother Martha Jane, and the grandmother of my cousin Ellis Williams. By the time my maternal grandparents were married, both great grandfathers had lost their wives. This reflected the conditions of the time among the working classes, rampant TB and chronic bronchitis, to which many unfortunate people succumbed at an early age. Craig y Nos Castle, for example, became a TB Hospital after Patti died. Great relief was offered to sufferers of ths dreadful disease by the discovery of penicillin in about 1936 by Alexander Fleming.
The 1881 Census records the fact that my great great grandfather, David Hopkin, was born in 1844, probably in Craigcefnparc, and lived at 7 Banc y Fagwr, Craigcefnparc. The Hopkin family can be traced back to 1628 in Rhyndwyclydach when Evan Hopkin is mentioned in a tax record (www.a-glamorgan-family.com/Rhyndwyclydach) along with William Griffith, Hopkin David, Owen ap Evan, David Morgan and Thomas William. In 1767, several members of the Hopkin family are mentioned as members of the Unitarian Chapel of Gellionen (now listed and founded 1691), notably David Hopkin and Evan Hopkin. In 1841, the members of the Baran independent chapel (founded 1805) included Isaac Hopkin Tan y Graig, Llewelyn Hopkin Banc y Ffynon, William Hopkin Godre’r Garth, Hannah Hopkin Heol Ddu, Ifan Hopkin Cefn Parc (the farm that gives the name to Craig Cefn Parc) and David Hopkin Tan y Graig. My great great grandfather’s daughter was my great grandmother Elizabeth Hopkin, born in 1877 and who married William Newlands. Sadly, she died at the age of only about 37. Their daughters were Martha Jane and Maude Newlands. Martha Jane was my grandmother and married Thomas Elim Havard Jones, the son of Mary Havard. The same Census records my great great grandfather Thomas Havard to be living then at 5 Banc y Fagwr, Craigcefnparc. His daughter Mary Havard was born in 1872 and was my great grandmother, the mother of Thomas Elim Jones. Earlier, Thomas Havard had lived in Ty Trawst, Cwm Cerdinen, and was born in 1840 in Ystradfellte. Both great great grandfathers were coal miners. The Hopkin family in this area goes back to Tudor times in the records of RhyndwyClydach, the earliest record of RhyndwyClydach being in the reign of Elizabeth Tudor.
Apart from the Aubreys, my most ancient and best known lineage by far is that of the Havard or Harvard or Howard family. This is simply because records for the rural poor are quickly lost or are simply non existent. Those of the aristocracy or landed gentry such as the main branches of the Havards are much better preserved. Thomas Elim Jones’ mother, my great grandmother, was Mary Havard of Ty Trawst, Cwm Cerdinen, a Welsh speaking nonconformist protestant descended from catholic recusants of the seventeenth century. She was the daughter of Thomas Havard, who was born in 1840 in Penderyn district, probably in Ysradfellte. In the 1851 Census Thomas Havard is recorded as living with his grandmother Anne Knoyle in Ystradfellte because both his parents died in 1845. Anne Knoyle was married to Thomas Knoyle, (1773 - 1850), a miller and cooper, possibly of East or West Knoyle in Wiltshire because in the 1841 Census there is only one Knoyle recorded for the whole of England, in Wiltshire, and six of that name in Glamorgan in 1841. Anne Knoyle in 1851 is described as a pauper, widow of a miller. They had lived in Pont Felin Fach in Ystradfellte, now a ruin. Thomas and Anne Knoyle are buried in Ystradfellte Church. Thomas died on 19th Dec. 1850 at Tai yr heol, Ystradfellte, cause of death unknown and reported by the mark of Elizabeth Jenkins, who was therefore illiterate. Ann Knoyle (nee Williams) lived from 1779 to 1865 and died on 17th July 1865 at Tai’n yr heol, Ystradfellte, cause of death unknown and unregistered, and again reported by the mark of Elizabeth Jenkins. Thomas Havard’s mother, Mary Knoyle, daughter of Thomas and Anne Knoyle, lived from 1812 to 1845 and died at the age of 33 in Merthyr, where Morgan Havard (1808 - 1845) was an ironworker. On 29th January 1833, Morgan Havard and Mary Knoyle had been married in Ystradfellte, and the 1841 Census records that Morgan Havard was born in 1808 in Penderyn District, probably in Ystradfellte. Morgan Havard is therefore my great great great grandfather and almost certainly descended from Sir Walter Havard, an eleventh century Norman Knight and Lord of Pontgwilym in modern Brecon. Morgan’s father is possibly John Havard (spelled Havart) of Defynnog, a few miles only from Pontgwilym in Brecon, the land given to Sir Walter Havard in the eleventh century. However, further research is needed here. Morgan Havard (a labourer aged 37) died of typhus on 5th Sept. 1845 in Penderyn District and his wife Mary (aged 33) died on 29th July 1845 in Penderyn District of dropsy, or heart disease. Their son Thomas Havard of Ty Trawst, Cwm Cerdinen, coal miner, was therefore orphaned at the age of five in 1845. He married Anne Jones in 1864 (Neath Registry) whose father was Morgan Jones. They went to live in Ty Trawst, a longhouse (Ty Hir) and small farm on the road out of the wild and hauntingly beautiful Cwm Cerdinen to Garnswllt, near Gerazim Welsh Baptist Chapel, which is situated out on the moorland. Thomas Havard died in 1912 at the age of 72 (Pontardawe Registry). At Ty Trawst and later in Craig Cefn Parc, Thomas and Anne had eight children: Morgan born 1866 (who had eleven children), Dafydd (1868) (who had five children), Thomas born 1870 (who had eight children), Mary (born 1872, my great grandmother), Ann (born 1975, who had seven children), William (born 1877, who had eight children), Elizabeth (born 1879, who had three children), and Hannah (who had three children). My great grandmother Mary Havard married Thomas T. Jones, my great grandfather, and they had several children, one of whom was Thomas Elim Havard Jones, my grandfather and Head Deacon of Elim Baptist Chapel in Craigcefnparc. Thomas Elim married Martha Jane Newlands of a Mathry family, and had two children, one of whom was my mother Mary (1926 to 2002), who married my father Edward Ivor Evans of Y Grithig, Craig y Nos (1926 to 2000) near Pen y Cae, Glyn Tawe.
In the Havard Family Forum (genforum.genealogy.com/Havard) there is a Havard lien given from Sir Walter Havard to Sir John Havard to Sir Henry Havard to Sir John Havard to John Havard to Jenkin Havard to Walter Havard to Madog Havard to Maredydd Havard to John Havard to John Havard to Jenkin Havard to Gwallter Havard to Roger Havard (maried Lleici Llywelyn) to Gwenllian Havard who married Jeffrey Gwilym Jenkin Madog of Llywel, only four miles from Defynnog (who lived in Elizabethan times). So the Defynnog branch is almost certainly descended from Sir Walter Havard.
The illustrious Havard name is originally of Norse (Norwegian) origin, and means “High Steward” (Hoy Vard). It is a common first name in contemporary Trondheim, for example, the area from which the Dukes of Normandy and Earls of Orkney originated. Therefore its origins are probably in Norse mythology, which is very rich and highly developed. For example there is recorded in the Norse Sagas a Thorstein Havardson who was a “great chief” on Sanday in the Orkneys. In contemporary times there is a Norwegian pop singer called Havard Abusland, who transliterates his name into Howard Maple. The Havard name is contemporary with or perhaps older than the Norman conquest and arrived in Wales with Sir Walter Havard, whose Norman French name was Walter Havre de Grace (circa 1090). Havard is still a common surname in contemporary Normandy, notably the quite well known Havard Cornille foundry which cast the Liberty Bell to commemorate the Normandy Landings of June 6th 1944. Sir Walter Havard was a Norman Knight and was given the Manor of Pontgwilym, near Brecon by Bernard de Neufmarche en Lions (also known as Bernard Newmarch). Lower Pontgwilym Farm, (Brecon LD3 9LN, tel +44 1874 624914) may be the site of the original Manor House. So two branches of my family originate very close to each other in Brecon, about thirty miles north of here, but are separated by eight centuries. Bernard de Neufmarche, Ralph de Mortimer, and other Norman Barons rebelled against William II Rufus in favour of Robert Duke of Normandy, and attacked Brycheiniog. They built a strong castle on the north side of the Usk near Brecon. The Knights included Sir Reginald Aubrey, Sir John Scull, Sir Peter Gunter, Sir Humphrey Ffrergill, Sir Miles Piegard, Sir John Waldebieffe, Sir Humphrey Sollers, Sir Richard de Boyes, Sir Walter Havard, Sir Hugh Surdman, Sir Philip Walwin and Sir Richard Paglin. These Barons and Knights therefore destabilized the Norman frontier with Wales against the wishes of William 1st and William 2nd. They defeated Rhys ap Tewdwr, who was killed in the battle (circa 1093). The grandson of Rhys ap Tewdwr, who was the Lord Rhys (Rhys ap Gruffudd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr, Prince of Deheubarth) was the direct ancestor of Henry VII Tudor and therefore of the present monarch, Elizabeth II. For some reason Bernard and his Knights got away with the rebellion, probably because they were militarily too strong for the Norman King. Bernard de Neufmarche de Lions married Nest ferch Caradog ap Trahaearn. The main element of my arms, granted on 7th July 2008, is the golden lion of Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd, the ancestor of Henry VII Tudor.
After this initial hostility towards Brycheiniog, the Havards contributed quite well to Brecon society and became one of the most powerful families in the County of Brecon, which was established by the Normans to rename ancient Brycheiniog, now part of Powys. Several Havards are listed among the aristocracy and landed gentry in the contemporary Burkes’ Peerage, but as usual in the Norman system, the first son inherited everything, other children often became impoverished over time and disappeared from recorded history. In the thirteenth century the Havards founded the Havard Chapel in what is now Brecon Cathedral. The Dean of the Cathedral has kindly given me access to more records there, which I hope to research soon. The Havard Chapel is now the Chapel of the Prince of Wales’ Own Regiment (sixteen Victoria Crosses), formerly the regiment of Wales, formerly the 24th foot South Wales Borderers and formerly the 69th foot who were present at Waterloo and every British battle of any significance. The Havards soon became completely integrated into Welsh society and adopted the Welsh language. The poorer Havards such those in this village speak Welsh to this day, but the aristocratic Havards and the Havard landed gentry have lost the language - a typical linguistic pattern in history. At the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, for example, there was present Thomas Havard of Caerleon in Gwent. This is the battle that established the Tudor Dynasty. Again, in the sixteenth century, Joan Havard, born 1559 in Tredomen near Brecon married Sir Edward Aubrey, showing a continuity of association between the Havards and Aubreys of the eleventh century mentioned as Knights of Bernard de Neufmarche. Joan’s father was William Havard of Tredomen, and her mother was a Vaughan, a daughter of Christopher Vaughan of Tretower Court near Brecon. Joan Havard was therefore descended from Sir Roger Vaughan who married Gwladys ferch Dafydd. Sir Roger Vaughan was born in 1377 in Bredwardine in Herefordshire across the English border and died in 1415 at the Battle of Agincourt after being knighted on the field by Henry V. His father was Roger Hen (Roger the Elder) and his mother was Anne, daughter of Sir William Deveraux, another Norman family. One can see the characteristic mixing of Welsh and Norman names as the aristocracy inter-married. The father of Gwladys ferch Dafydd was Sir Dafydd Gam ap Llewelyn ap Hywel, born in 1351, and also killed at Agincourt in 1415. He is mentioned in Shakespeare’s “Henry V”. The metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan was born at Tretower Court in about 1621 and was known to be fluent in both languages all his life. He never left Wales. This shows that the landed gentry of that time had not yet lost the Welsh language, and so the Havards of that time were also probably bilingual. They were Catholic recusants.
Recent research has shown that the Havards were a Viking family of some social status and their first settlement in Normandy was in Les Flamands near Neuf Marche, south of the town of Gournay en Bret between Rouen and Beauvais. Sir Walter Havard’s arms were a bull’s head with three stars. A complete list of descendants of Sir Walter Havard , very probably from a younger son, Peter, of Walter, was sent to me recently by one of my Havard cousins and is as follows. The names change from Norman to Welsh in some cases and there are some gaps.
Walter (born about 1040, Lord of Pontgwilyn), Peter born 1065, William born 1090, William born 1120, Walter born 1150, William born 1180, William born 1210, Siencin born 1240 (married Margred), Sion born 1280, William born 1325 (married Elizabeth), John born 1360 (married Gwenllian), John born 1360 (married Joan), William (?), Thomas born 1440 (married Margret), John (?), Thomas born 1440, Thomas born 1469 (married Maud), Harry born 1500 (married Katryan), David born 1530 (married Joan), Robert born 1585 (married Elizabeth), Harry born 1640, David born 1665, David born 1690, William born 1710, John born 1735, John born 1755 (married Mary), Thomas born 1782 (married Anne James), William born 1833 (married Lettuce James), John born 12/06/1872 (married Mary Griffiths), Peter Owen born 31/ 7 / 1914, Richard Havard born 15/3/35 of London.
The direct line (oldest son of Sir Walter Havard) is as follows. For some reason the hereditary title of Norman Knight disappears after Sir John, and again the names change from Norman French to Welsh.
Sir Walter, Sir John (married Anne Aubrey, daughter of Sir Reginald Aubrey), Sir Henry (ca. 1100), Sir John, Sir John, John, Jenkin (ca. 1200), Walter, Madog, Meredith (circa 1300). At this point I have data on two branches. The first is that of Joan Havard, who married Sir Edward Aubrey. This is Gwilym, Evan, Lewis (about 1400), John, John, William Havard of Tredomen (married Anne Vaughan), Joan Havard (Tudor times). The second branch is another son of Meredith called John, then John, Jenkin, Gwallter (Welsh form of Walter), Roger, Gwenllian (reign of Elizabeth 1st.). I have some additional notes. Lord Walter Havard of Pontgwilym, the Norman Knight. His elsest son was Lord John Havard, who married Anne Aubrey. The children of Jenkin Havard were Walter, Isabel (married Thomas Dilwyn) and Ann, who married William Burchill.
Bernard de Neufmarche was the second cousin of William of Normandy (William the Conqueror). His great grandfather being Richard II (the Good), Duke of Normandy (996 to 1027). Richard’s second wife was Papia d’Enverneu, and their daughter was Papia of Normandy who married Gilbert de St Valerie. Their daughter was Ada de Hugleville who married Bernard’s father, Geoffrey de Neufmarche. William of Normandy was the illegitimate son of Robert Duke of Normandy and Herleve, wife of Viscount Herluin de Comteville. Robert Duke of Normandy was the son of Richard Duke of Normandy and Judith de Rennes. Bernard de Neufmarche’s paternal grandfather was Turketil de Neufmarche, guardian of William of Normandy. Turketil was murdered about 1040 to 1042 by hirelings of Raoul de Grace. Turketil’s other son was Hugh de Morimont, and Turketil was the second son of Torf, son of Bernard the Dane, Regent of Normandy from 912. Bernard de Neufmarche was born about 1050. In 1084, Bernard is recorded as giving the parishes of Burghill and Brisop in Herefordshire. He died in 1125 and is buried in Gloucester Cathedral. His son Mahel was declared illegitimate, and his sons Ralph and Paine settled in the north of England. As far as I know there is no record of a marriage between the de Neufmarche family and the Havard family.
Bishop William Thomas Havard of Neuadd Defynnog (1889 - 1956) became the 113th Bishop of St David in 1950. He was born on 23rd October 1889, 3rd son of William Havard, a Chapel Deacon of Defynnog, and Gwen. He was educated at Brecon County School, UCW Aberystwyth (B. A. (Third class) in 1912 in history), St Michael’s Llandaff and Jesus College Oxford (M. A. 1921) also D.D, D.T. He was ordained priest in 1914, and from 1915 to 1919 was a chaplain, mentioned in dispatches 1916, Military Cross, 1917, Vicar of St. Mary Swansea 1928 - 1934, Canon of Brecon Cathedral and of East Gower, consecrated Bishop of St. Asaph (1934), 113th Bishop of St David (1950). Powerful preacher in Welsh and English, often at the National Eisteddfod, rugby blue for Oxford, capped for Wales 1919. Married Florence Aimee Holmes in 1922, four children.
A famous variation on the Havard name is Harvard, and another famous one is Howard. The Harvards of Stratford upon Avon were friends of the Shakespeare family, and the Harvard House in Stratford is a half timbered Tudor house open to the public. Here lived the mother of John Harvard who founded Harvard University in the early seventeenth century. Howard is the family name of the Dukes of Norfolk, who are catholics to this day. The most well known of the Howards was Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshall, a minister of Henry VIII and uncle both of the unfortunate Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. His father had fought for Richard III at Bosworth but was found indispensable by Henry VII. Not so Thomas, who was condemned to death by Henry VIII, to whom only himself mattered. The King died a day before the execution was due and so the Duke was released according to custom. He became a rare Minister of Henry VIII who managed to survive to old age. To establish the kinship between these families would require careful and extensive DNA testing - but the kinship seems probable.
The arms of Prince Bleddyn ap Maenarch are displayed in Gregynog Hall of the University of Wales, and as was the custom of the Welsh (i.e. British Celtic) Princes, traces his ancestry to pre Roman times, in his case Beli Mawr (a few years BC to 43 AD, the date of the Claudian invasion). This name may be derived from Adminius, son of Cunobelinus, a Celtic King of Britain. His son was Lludd Llaw Gyffes ap Beli who appears in the Mabinogion as Lludd Silver Hand. Beli was the father of Caswallawn, Arianrhod, Lludd and Llefelys. His son was Canallac ap Lludd, followed by Aballac ap Canallac, Owain ap Aballac, Brithgwein ap Owain, Dwfn ap Brithgwein, Oswedd ap Dwfn, Enyrudd ap Oswedd, Amalguelidd ap Enyrudd, Gwyrdwfi ap Amalguelidd, Owain ap Gwyrdwfi, Gwyrdoli ap Owain, Doli ap Gwyrdoli, Gwyrcein ap Doli, Cein ap Gwyrcein, Iago ap Cein, Tegid (Tacitus) ap Iago (born 314 AD), Padarn Beisrudd ap Tegid, Edeyrn ap Padarn, Cunedda Wledig ap Edeyrn, Einion Yryth ap Cunedda, Llyr Marini, Caradog Freichfras (born 470 AD, King of Gwent), Cawrdaf ap Caradog, Glou ap Caw, Hoyw ap Glou, Cynfarch ap Hoyw, Cyndeg ap Cynfarch, Teithwalch ap Cyndeg (born 830 AD), Tegyd ap Teithwalch, Anarawd ap Tegyd, Gwendy ap Anarawd, Gwengy ap Gwendy, Hydd Hwgan ap Gwengy, Dryffyn ap Hwgan (m. Crisli ferch Idwal), Maenarch ap Dryffyn (m. Elinor ferch Einion), Bleddyn ap Maenarch (died 1092, m Elinor ferch Tewdwr Fawr), then to myself in indirect line over a further nine hundred years.
The continuity of names over nearly one thousand one hundred years from pre Roman Beli Mawr to Bleddyn ap Maenarch shows little or no Roman or any other influence. This agrees with the recent and important finding by Brian Sykes, professor of human genetics at Oxford, that the Celtic DNA is the indigenous majority over the whole of Britain (Wales, Scotland AND England) and the whole of Ireland and the other 6,200 islands of the British Archipelago. This DNA is essentially identical to that found in present day coastal regions of Spain and the Basque country, and originates about 6,000 years ago when Iberian fishermen were first able to build ocean going boats to cross the Bay of Biscay. This was the result of five years of research using 10,000 volunteers from Britain and Ireland. The second most common indigenous DNA in Britain is of Norse and Danish Viking raider and invader origin, and pre Norman. There is essentially no Roman, Saxon or Norman influence on the indigenous DNA of Britain. It is also known by advanced linguistic scholarship that proto Celtic emerged in Iberia (Spain and Portugal), as much as twelve thousand years ago. Proto Indo European emerged more than thirty thousand years ago on the Steppes. So the BC Celtic culture of Britain (the oldest Celtic culture) spread outwards from Britain over large parts of Europe, reaching maximum influence about 400 BC in hoards such as that of La Tene and Hallstat, and the proto Celtic language split into many different Celtic languages. In sub Roman Britain and in Ireland (never invaded by the Romans) this culture remained intact, and only very gradually disappeared in England and Scotland. In England however a small continental cultural elite and language predominated. The majority indigenous population (by DNA) of England however remained Celtic and is so to this day. The English are proud of what they remember in a semi mythical fashion as King Arthur (Owain Ddantgwyn Arth), Boudica (Buddug), Caratacus (Caradog), King Lear (Llyr) and Old King Cole (Coel Hen Godebog). In Wales we know the meaning of the original Celtic words. This is just a summary with no pretence either to professional scholarship or to belles lettres of what I know of my family history - the traditional overture to an autobiography.
Myron W. Evans
Craigcefnparc Wales,
August 29th 2009