Pedigree

I. RYS AP RYDDERCH, of Castle Howell, or Hywel, owner of Gilvachwen Pantstreimon, and other lands in the parish of Llandyssil, Cardiganshire, is the first of this family of whom there appears to be authentic record. Pedigrees by Lewis Dwnn and others, copied from older genealogies, or gathered from traditions preserved by descendants, agree in stating that he was son of Rydderch ap Kydivor ap Dinwal, which Kydivor is said to have married Katharine, a daughter of "Lord Rys," Prince of South Wales, who was commissioned by King Henry I., in 1169, to be Chief Justice of that country, and who died 21 April, 1197. (Dwnn I. 28, 37, 65, 80, 227).

Kydivor ap Dinwal is said to have taken by escalade, for his father-in-law, the Castle of Cardigan, for which feat of arms the said "Lord Rys," it is claimed, bestowed upon him Castle Howell and the other lands mentioned, in the parish of Llandysill, and caused a grant to be made him of the arms borne by his descendants, viz-Sable, a spear-head embrued between three scaling-ladders, argent; on a chief gules a castle tripple turreted of the second.1

The facts are that Castle Howell and the lands above named were the possessions of descendants of "Lord Rys" in the male line for a long time, and, in 1275, belonged to Owen ap Meredith, Lord of the Manor of Llandyssil, who died in that year.

Under any circumstances, the approximate date of the marriage claimed with "Lord Rys'" daughter, and the probable date of birth and of marriage of Rys ap Rydderch, exclude the possibility that the latter could have been Kydivor's grandson. We must conclude, therefore, that this is one of those cases so often found in Welsh genealogy in which "ap" stands for descendant of and not for son of.

1There is a comment by Meyrick in a note to Dwnn (1,227) that this coat is far too elaborate to have been in use at the time stated, and was, doubtless, assumed by Kydivor's descendants to commemorate the achievement of their ancestor.

Rys ap Rydderch was living about the Month of May, 1309, and married Gwenllian, daughter of Llewelyn ap Owen, Lord of the Manor of Llandyssil, one of the Superior Lords of South Wales, and the representative of the Princes of that country. Llewelyn ap Owen was the son of Owen ap Meredith, who died 15 August, 1275, by Anghared or Agaret, daughter of Owen ap Meredith, Lord of Kedewen.

On 15 February, 1279, the King (Edward I.) took the homage of Llewelyn son of Owen, he being still under age and in the King's custody, for all the lands and tenements which he claimed to hold of the King and which belonged to the said Owen his father on the day that he died. (Rot. Wall. 6-9 Edward I. de anno Septimo M. 9 dorso.)

On 11 April, 1279, he held an inquisition for the King, at Lampader Vawr, as one of the Superior Lords of Cardigan (Inq. P.M. 7 Edward I. No. 76). In 1283 he is called Lord of Gwynnionith and Iscoed, and he is also styled Lord of Iscoed Kerdyn and Trefgarn. On 10 November, 1291, the King concedes and confirms to his beloved Lewelin ap Oweyne that he and his heirs shall hold a weekly Market on Wednesdays at his Manor of Llandusil, in the County of Kardigan (Cardigan) and a three days Fair there once in every year, namely on the Eve of, the Day of, and the Morrow of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (September 7, 8, 9). (Rot. Chart. 19 Edward I. No. 3). Llewelyn ap Owen was Patron of the Church of Llandyssil, where he was buried in 1309. (Ecclesiæ Menevenis Harl. Mss. 1249).

On 3 May, 1309, the King's writ of diem clausit extremum was issued to Roger de Mortimer, the King's Justice of South Wales, ordering him to take into the King's hand the lands and tenements of Leulin ap Owayne, who held of the King in Capite. (Except. e Rot. Fin. [Abbrev, at Rec. Office] 2 Edward II.).

Inquisition P.M. taken at Carmarthen on the Thursday next after the Feast of the Holy Trinity (29 May, 1309), when the Jury found that the said Lewelinus ab Oweyn held of the King in Capite one Comot and a half and one Westva, in Cardiganshire &c, and that all the aforesaid tenements are divisable, according to the custom of Wales, between the sons of the said Lewelin. His sons Oweyn and Thomas are his next heirs, of whom Oweyne is eleven and Thomas ten years of age, but the King has no right of marriage over them. (Inq. P. M. 2 Edward II., No. 19).

It appears certain that Rys ap Rydderch obtained Castle Howell, and the other lands mentioned, as a marriage portion from his father-in-law, and also that Gwenllian was by a former wife of Llewelyn ap Owen, whom he married when under age and that she was born about 1279 or 1280.

The second wife of Llewelyn ap Owen is said to have been Eleanor, daughter of Henri Comté de Barre, and granddaughter of Edward I, but this statement is questioned. She is also called daughter of William de Barri, or Barry, which may be correct.

Llewelyn ap Owen was the son of Owen ap Meredith ap Owen ap Griffith ap Rys ("The Lord Rys").

The "Lord Rys" ap Griffith, a native Prince of South Wales, and the grandson of Rys of Tewdwr, was a man preeminent for enterprise and valour among the warriors of the warlike age in which he lived. He founded several Churches and Abbeys among others the Cistercian Abbey of Strata Florida, and was a great patron of the Bards.

In 1176 the "Lord Rys" made a great feast at Christmas in his Castle of Cardigan, on finishing that fortress; and he caused it to be proclaimed throughout all Britain a year and a day beforehand. "Thither came many strangers, which were honourably received, and worthily entertained, so that no man departed discontented. And among deeds of arms and other shews, Rys caused all the poets of Wales, which are makers of songs and recorders of gentlemen's pedigrees and arms, to come thither; and provided chairs for them to be set in his hall, where they should dispute together to try their cunning and gift in their faculties; where great rewards and rich gifts were appointed for the over comers." (Gutyn Owain, Yorke, 35).

Llandyssil or Llandysul, is a parish in the Union of NewcastleEmlyn, and derives its name from the dedication of its church to St. Tysilio. It is situate in the southern part of the county bordering on Carmarthenshire.

The village of Llandyssil is beautifully situated on a reach of the river Teivy, and on a hill above the church are the small remains of the castle which was the baronial residence of Llewelyn ap Owen, above mentioned, his father, and his descendants. Castle Howell, or Hywel, stood near the river Clattwr, and the foundation may yet be traced. The descendants of Rys ap Rydderch, however, built another residence nearby, which, in

after years, came to be called by the same name, and, after its destruction by fire, a third mansion was erected, near the same site, which is still standing, but used for many years, now, as a farm house.

David ap Llewelyn, the great-great-grandson of Griffith Gôch ap Rys ap Rydderch, and cousin of "Kydwgan of Carrog," lived here in great splendour. Lewys Glyn Cothi, the notable Welsh Poet, addressed two poems to this David, in the first of which he is most eulogistic on the structure of his noble mansion (the one destroyed by fire), and then extols his and his wife's liberality; among their wines he enumerates Malmsy, Rochelle, wine from Bourdeaux in the wood, wine from Gascony, Rhenish wine, Claret, Muscadel, and sweet wine. The second poem is in praise of his wife, a daughter of the house of Llwyn David. Their son, David Lloyd, was the first Knight of the Shire, for the County of Cardigan, in the reign of Henry VIII. He had four brothers, from one of whom descended Thomas Griffith, Esquire, Lord of the manor of Lampeter.1 (Dwnn, I, 228, Lewys Glyn Cothi). Rys ap Rydderch had issue by Gwenllian, his wife:

1. Griffith Gôch, who had the lands of Castle Howell, and continued the line there. He was ancestor to Thomas Griffith, Esquire, Lord of the Manor of Lampeter, and his wife was Kathrine, daughter of Sir Elidir Ddu, Knight of the Holy Sepulcher. (Dwnn, I, 27, 52, 228, &c.)

2. Rys Voel, who had the lands called Pantstriemon, where his descendants reside to this day. (Dwnn, I, 38, &c.)

3. Richard ap Rys, of whom presently.

4. Kydifor ap Rys. (Dwnn, I, 187).

1Thomas Griffith, Esquire, Lord of the Manor of Lampeter, County Cardigan, is usually called as of Maes Velyn, and was the son of Griffith ap levan ap David ap Llewellyn, and inherited the Manor of Lampeter through his grandmother. He is called by Dwnn, Lord of Lampeter, St. Clears and Aberaeron, and was High Sheriff of the County of Cardigan, 1575, and was alive 1609. He married, first, Maud Lloyd, married, secondly, Elizabeth, widow of Griffith Lloyd, of the Forest, and daughter unto David ap Sion, of Llangathen. (Dwnn, I, 17, 65, 140), and married, thirdly, Gwenllian, widow of Francis Johns, or Jones, and daughter of Rys Lloyd, Esq., "of Llan y byddair." In 32 Elizabeth, he sold his Manor of Llambeder (Lampeter) to Jenkin Lloyd, (Elizabeth, his wife, and Thomas Lloyd, joining,) excepting two mills, the "new house" and certain lands. In 7 James I., he sold to his stepson, Matthew Jones, almost

II. RICHARD AP RYS, who is said to have been the 3d son of Rys ap Rydderch and Gwenllian his wife, although sometimes called 2d son, upon the division of his father's lands, had a part of Gilvachwen. He was born circa 1300, and the name of his wife, so far as can be ascertained, is not given in any pedigree extant. (Dwnn, I., 37, 38, &c.) He had issue:

1. Kydwgan Vawr, of whom presently.
(Other issue.)

III. KYDWGAN VAWR (Dwnn, I., 37, &c.), 1st son of Richard ap Rys, was of the parish of Llandyssil, where he held certain lands which had belonged to his father. He was second cousin to Owain Glyndyfrdwyl (Owen Glendower), and appears to have been actively engaged with him in the uprising of the Welsh in 1400, but probably died before the end of that struggle in 1415. His son, David, also joined Owain, was captured in 1410, and sent to Windsor Castle in October of that year.

The name of Kydwgan Vawr's wife has not been ascertained. He had issue:

1. Kydwgan Vychan, alias "Kydwgan of Carrog," of whom presently.

2. David ap Kydwgan, living October, 1410.

IV. KYDWGAN VYCHAN, 1st son of Kydwgan Vawr, (Dwnn I, 37, &c.) called "of Carrog" or Garog, married Ellen, or Elin, who appears to have been the heiress of a great part of the parish of Llanddeiniol, or, as it was anciently called, Carrog, or Garog, from a small stream of that name which flows through

\all of his remaining lands. He had issue: Thomas Griffith, Griffith Griffith, d. s. p. David Griffith, Richard Griffith, John Griffith, William Griffith, Alice, Gwenllian, Elen and Angharad.

10wain Glyndfrydwy was born 1348-9, and was the son of Griffith Vychan, by Elen, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas ap Llewelyn ap Owen, Lord of the Manor of Llandyssil, and was, therefore, cousin to Kydwgan Vawr, once removed, as above; Kydwgan's grandmother being Gwenllain, daughter to Llewelyn ap Owen. (History of Powys Fadog, Lloyd, I, 197, 198).

Note that Dwnn and others in some pedigrees of persons decended from this family add another generation, a third Kydwgan, which is incorrect. The error seems to have occurred from supposing that Kydwgan Vychan and Kydwgan "of Carrog" were father and son, whereas they were the same person.

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