EINION AP LLYWARCH OF CARMARTHENSHIRE
By Darrell Wolcott
In an earlier paper[1], we had observed
there were two men called Einion ap Llywarch who descended from Pasgen ap Urien. Further
research discloses there were at least four men of that name in this extended family, respectively born c. 1005,
c. 1095, c. 1130 and c. 1165 whom Bartrum has rolled into a single man in his charts[2]. A cursory look at those charts
will find a host of chronologically impossible marriage matches for men said to descend from a single Einion ap Llywarch.
Another confounding factor in
charting this early family is presented by a Sir Elidyr Ddu whom some early writers date contemporarily with Richard the Lionhearted
(thus c. 1160) and others identify with an Elidyr Du who was alive in 1302/3 when fined for withdrawing a lawsuit laid
before the hundred court in Dinefwr[3]. Pedigree citations exist which say men of that name in both eras descended from
an Einion ap Llywarch. Furthermore, even Bartrum's charts list children of Elidyr Ddu born a full generation apart which
indicates the liklihood of men of that name born c. 1255 and c. 1295. Some of the citations[4] actually show the
nickname as "dy" or "ddy" or "ddwy" so it is possible one or more of the men was, in his lifetime, called "dwy" meaning
"two" or Elidyr II ap Elidyr.
In his 1963 "Pedigrees of the
Welsh Tribal Patriarchs"[5] Bartrum mentions "Einion ap Llywarch ap Rhiryd" and "Einion ap Llywarch ap Cynhaethwy", but his
1974 charts[6] have combined those men into a single person whom he dates c. 1130. Our work shows these to have been
two different men, and also identifies an "Einion ap Llywarch ap Gronwy" and an "Einion ap Llywarch ap Rhys"...all within
the same extended family.
The ancestor of the family was Pasgen
ap Urien[7], the man who fled Rhos about 892/93 and later became Lord of Gower. He had brought two young sons with him,
including Ynyr ap Pasgen[8] born c. 880. Descended from this Ynyr were:
880 Ynyr ap Pasgen
l
910 Mor
l
940 Rhiryd
l
975 Llywarch
_________________l_______________
l
l
1010 Rhun
1005 Einion (1)
l
l
1040 Seisyll
1035 Gronwy
l
______l____________
l
l
l
1070 Gwrwared
1070 Rhys 1065
Llywarch
l
l
l
1100 Cynhaethwy
1100 Llywarch 1095 Einion(2)
l
l
l
1130 Llywarch
1130 Einion(4) 1130 Gronwy
_l__________
l
l
l
l l
l
1165 Einion(3) Sir Elidyr 1160 Gronwy
1165 Rhys
l
Ddu (5)
l
1195 Gronwy
1190 Rhys
l
l
1225 Rhys
1225 Elidyr
l
l
1260 Elidyr
1255 Elidyr II(7)
l
1295 Elidyr II(6)
CHART DISCUSSION:
(1) This Einion ap Llywarch
is the one cited as "ap Rhiryd" in Pen. 128, 51. Pen 131, 295 omits "Ynyr" in his ancestry, while both Pen. 127, 152
and Pen. 138, 288 reverse the position of two earlier men to say "Ynyr ap Mor ap Pasgen". No marriage matches are
cited for any of these 9th to 11th century men, so our estimated dating relies on later men. We find a "Rhys
ap Gronwy ap Einion ap Llywarch" who married Marged ferch Gruffudd ap Cydrich ap Gwaithfoed[9]; this lady would date from
c. 1080. We should expect the grandfather of her husband to be born c. 1005/1010...our Einion #1.
975 Llywarch Gwaithfoed of Ystrad Tywy 975
l
l
1005 Einion Cydrich 1005
l l
1035 Gronwy Gruffudd 1045
l l
1070
Rhys=====Marged 1080
(2) The only spouse cited
for any Einion ap Llywarch is Anna ferch Llewelyn ap Cadifor Fawr[10], a lady born c. 1100. This leads us to the conclusion
that the name string "Gronwy ap Einion ap Llywarch" was repeated following the c. 1035 Gronwy, with all extant citations
omitting one set of 3 men. This can also be seen with the spouses cited for a "Gronwy ap Einion ap Llywarch; one
is Lliwelydd ferch Einion Clud ap Madog ap Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan Glodrydd[11], a lady born c. 1145. Accordingly,
we find the man born c. 1095 as our Einion #2:
Cadifor Fawr 1030 Idnerth 1050
l
l
1065 Llywarch Llewelyn 1060
Madog 1080
l l
l
1095
Einion=====Anna 1100 Einion Clud 1115
l
l
1130 Gronwy============Lliwelydd 1145
The above Gronwy ap Einion
also married Gwladys (c. 1145) ferch Cadifor (c. 1115) ap Gwgan (c. 1075) ap Bleddyn (c. 1045) ap Maenyrch[12] of Brychieniog.
He had a daughter, Alis (c. 1165) who married Gwrgeneu (c. 1150) ap Uchdryd (c. 1115) ap Aleth (c. 1085) ap Gwrgeneu
(c. 1055) ap Uchdryd (c. 1020) ap Aleth (c. 990) ap Llawr (c. 960) of Dyfed[14], also descended from Tudwal Gloff.
(3) This Einion ap Llywarch
is the one cited as "ap Cynhaethwy" in Cardiff Ms 10, 119, Mostyn Ms 121b, 111 and Dwnn i, 32. Two other citations[15]
also mention this Einion, but omit Rhiryd from his ancestry. All 5 mentioned citations omit "Ynyr" in the 9th century
ancestry. Dwnn i, 210 manages to maintain the correct chronology for the early family by inserting an "Anarawd" between
Cynhaethwy and Gwrwared to make up for omitting Ynyr. It errs, however, in assigning spouses to the ensuing Gronwy and
Rhys which belong to men of that name born generations earlier and whom we correctly assigned in our discussions of earlier
Einions. Again, our dating of this Einion is dependent on marriage matches made by later men, but our Einion #3 born
c. 1165 is the direct ancestor of Sir Rhys ap Thomas and the Rice family of Newton.
(4) This Einion ap Llywarch
is the ancestor of the Rhys ap Gronwy ap Einion ap Llywarch who married Nest ferch Dafydd Fras ap Hywel Fychan ap Rhydderch
ap Maredudd Fras (c. 1080) ap Rhydderch (c. 1053) ap Tewdwr[16] (that Rhydderch being a brother of King Rhys ap Tewdwr).
He is also the ancestor of the Elidyr ap Rhys ap Gronwy ap Einion ap Llywarch, which Elidyr married Gwladys ferch Philip
ap y Bach ap Gwaithfoed II of Gwent[17]. Thus, an Elidyr ap Rhys born c. 1225 and a Rhys ap Gronwy born c.
1195 yield our Einion #4 born c. 1130. Again, this branch of the family has repeated the 4-name string "Rhys ap Gronwy
ap Llywarch ap Einion" and one set of names has been omitted in the citations by writers who thought it was wrongly duplicated:
975 Llywarch
ap Rhiryd
l
1005 Einion (#1
above) Tewdwr 1015
l
l
1035 Gronwy Rhydderch 1050
l l
1070 Rhys
Maredudd Fras 1080
l
l
1100 Llywarch Rhydderch
1115
l
l
1130 Einion
Hywel Fychan 1145 Gwaithfoed 1135
l
l
l
1160 Gronwy* Dafydd
Fras 1175 y Bach 1170
l
l
l
1190 Rhys=========Nest
1205 Philip 1200
l
l
1225 Elidyr==============Gwladys 1235
This Gronwy also had a daughter,
Sioned (1200) who married Llewelyn Foel (1185) ap Moriddig Fychan (1150) ap Moriddig (1120) ap Blegored (1090) ap Dyfnwal
(1060) ap Eunydd Gwyn (1030) descended from Tudwal Gloff
(5) This Sir Elidyr
Ddu is the man said to have followed Richard the Lionhearted on his 1191 crusade to the Holy Land[18]. It is impossible
to say whether he was called "Ddu" in his lifetime since historians have completely confounded him with later men called
Elidyr Ddu (or perhaps "two") He is the Elidyr Ddu who married Sissely (born c. 1175) ferch Seisyllt ap Llewelyn ap Moriddig
Warwyn ap Drymbenog[19], the latter being a brother of Bleddyn ap Maenyrch of Brychieniog. He did NOT have a son named Elidyr,
but he did have a daughter Catryn who married Gruffudd Gwyr ap Cadifor[20] descended from Bleddyn ap Maenyrch. That
Gruffudd was born c. 1175 in both my charts and those of Bartrum, but must have been in the 4th generation after Bleddyn
and not the 3rd. Thus a wife born c. 1175 and a daughter born c. 1190 yields our Elidyr Ddu #1 born c. 1160:
975 Llywarch
l
1010 Rhun
Maenyrch 1015
l
l - - - - - - - - - - - - l
1040 Seisyll
Drymbenog 1050 Bleddyn 1045
l
l
l
1070 Gwrwared
Moriddig 1080 Gwgan 1075
l
l
l
1100 Cynhaethwy Llewelyn
1115 x (a)
l
l
l
1130 Llywarch
Seisyllt 1145 Cadifor 1140
l
l
l
1160 Sir Elidyr (Ddu?)==Sissely 1175
l
l
l
1190 Catryn==========Gruffudd Gwyr 1175
(a) We suspect the missing
generation was either another Gwgan or another Cadifor, omitted from pedigrees by scribes who thought it was a duplication
NOTE: Subsequent research indicates the son of Bleddyn was called Gwgan Blaidd Gwyrdd (the green wolf)
and his son was Gwgan ap Gwgan born c. 1105
(6) This Elidyr ap Elidyr (whether
called Ddu or II) was the direct male ancestor of Sir Rhys ap Thomas and the Rice family of Newton. This Elidyr was
the father of 3 daughters born c. 1325/1335 (Efa, Sioned, and one unnamed)[22] and 7 sons born c. 1325/1335 (Philip,
Hywel, Gwilym Sais, Maredudd, Owain, Rhys Llwyd and Gruffudd).
(7) This Elidyr ap Elidyr (whether
Ddu or II) was the father of 5 daughters born c. 1285/1295 (Catryn, Joan, Marged, Mallt and Gwenllian)[23] and 3 sons born
c. 1285/1295 (Adda Fawr, Ieuan Goch and Philip). Thus we have our final Elidyr #3 born c. 1255. He is the most
likely of our men called Elidyr Ddu to have been the man named in the 1302/03 court record mentioned earlier. He
is also the Elidyr ap Elidyr cited by Peniarth 176, 318 as marrying a daughter of Madog Hyddgam:
1100 Llywarch Cadwgan of Nannau 1110
l
l
1130 Einion #4
Madog 1140
l
l
1160 Gronwy
Cadwgan 1170
l
l
1190 Rhys
Madog 1200
l
l
1225 Elidyr Madog
Hyddgam 1235
l
l
1255 Elidyr Ddu=======daughter 1265
SUBSEQUENT FAMILIES:
Notice that both our Elidyr
Ddu of 1255 and of 1295 named one son Philip. While the Philip ap Elidyr Ddu of c. 1325 was the grandfather of Gruffudd
ap Nicholas and that Gruffudd was the grandfather of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a more obscure Philip ap Elidyr Ddu of c. 1290
had a daughter Gwladys born c. 1320 who married Gwilym ap Llewelyn Ddu[24] of c. 1305 and a second daughter named Sioned born
c. 1325 who married Morys Castell[25] of c. 1315. He also had two sons born c. 1330 named Dafydd Foel and Nicholas.
Meanwhile, the Philip ap Elidyr
Ddu born c. 1325 married Gwladys (c. 1330) ferch Dafydd Fras (c. 1295) ap Einion Goch (c. 1265) ap Einion Fychan (c.
1235) ap Einion Goeg (c. 1200) ap Rhiwallon (c. 1165) ap Bledri (c. 1130) ap Rhys (c. 1095) ap Bledri ap (c. 1065) Cadifor
Fawr[26]. He had 3 daughters born c. 1355/1365 (Marged, Crisli and one unnamed)[27] and two sons born c. 1355/1365 (Nicholas
and Gruffudd).
That there were two men
in this family residing in the village called Newton (built in the shadow of the old dynastic seat of Dinefwr) named Nicholas
ap Philip ap Elidyr Ddu is also indicated by an old family tradition. The story is told that Nicholas ap Philip had
been wounded on his wedding day and his attending doctor told him that if he abstained from sex for a few days, he would recover
from the wounds. But Nicholas declined to forego his wedding night "duty" and died shortly thereafter. His son Gruffudd
was conceived that night but never knew his father. Most family pedigrees chart Gruffudd as the only son of Nicholas,
but Welsh historian Ralph A. Griffiths has produced evidence that also living in Newton contemporarily with Gruffudd
ap Nicholas were men named Philip Nicholas, John Nicholas and Gronwy ap Dafydd ap Nicholas[28].
A John Nicholas[29] was Reeve
of Newton in 1394/95 and appears to have been born too early to have been a son of the c. 1355 Nicholas, this John born perhaps
c. 1365. A John Nicholas is mentioned in a deed in 1419/20, as is a Philip Nicholas[30]. Gronwy ap Dafydd
ap Nicholas was alive in 1467 in Newton[31]. The floruit of these men is more compatible with them being descended from
a Nicholas ap Philip born c. 1330, so probably are NOT brothers of the Gruffudd ap Nicholas born c. 1385. We would conclude
that Gruffudd WAS an only child, and that the other men were sons of the Nicholas ap Philip who was the brother of Glwadys,
Sioned and Dafydd Foel.
When we extend our chart a few more
generations, we find these "cousin" lines:
1255
Elidyr ap Elidyr
l
1290 Phiip
1295 Elidyr ap Elidyr
l
l
1330 Nicholas
1325 Philip
_______l_________
l
l
l
l
1360 John(a)
1365 Dafydd 1355 Nicholas
ll
l
l
1395 Philip and John(b) 1400 Gronwy(c) 1385 Gruffudd(d)
l
1415 Thomas
l
1449 Sir Rhys
(a) Adult in 1394/94
(b) Adults in 1419/20,
John alive in 1459
(c) Still alive
in 1467
(d) Only child as
father died on wedding night
The Gruffudd
ap Nicholas born c. 1385 became a wealthy and powerful man in south Wales; his son Thomas (c. 1415) was a noted military combatant
for the Lancastrian cause. And Sir Rhys ap Thomas (c. 1449) is best known for his support of Henry Tudor at Bosworth,
where King Richard III was slain and Henry Tudor thereafter became King Henry VII.[32]
