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Welsh Families

The following general notes apply to all the Welsh families. There are frequent discrepancies, often more than 100 years, between dates from different sources. The information herein regarding events pre-1000 has, in the main, been taken from "A Welsh Classical Dictionary, People in History and Legend up to about A.D. 1000" (Dr. Peter Clement Bartrum, 1993). Its recent appearance suggests it should be the most reliable source presently available. The date spans (often approximate) in brackets after a name are usually taken from Bartrum. After 1000, other genealogical sources have been used, in particular "The Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940" (ed. the late Sir John Edward Lloyd, English version 1959).

A Welsh name usually incorporates a reference to the person's father. Just as in Scots, Kenneth MacAlpin means Kenneth son of Alpin, and in Norman, Geoffrey FitzRichard means Geoffrey son of Richard, so in Welsh ap means "son of" (though ap is usually expressed as ab where it precedes a vowel), and ferch means "daughter of". For example, Mawr ap Merfyn; Meurig ab Idwal; Angharad ferch Meurig. In the early Welsh generations (with their Gaelic origin), the term mac was perhaps more correct, appearing in genealogical tables abbreviated simply as m.

Recommended reading includes: "A History of Wales" (John Davies, 1990); "Kingdoms of the Celts" (John King, 1998); "Chieftains and Princes" (Charles Kightly, 1994); "The Welsh Princes, 1063-1283" (Roger Turvey, 2002); "Anglo-Welsh Wars, 1050-1300" (Stuart Ivinson, 2001); "Castles of the Princes of Gwynedd" (Richard Avent, 1983).

The generation numbers can be erratic, as many of the persons can be arrived at by a number of routes. A wide variation, though, is symptomatic of a discrepancy in the published sources. Generation numbers are relative to Maurice BODDY.

There is an INDEX to Personal Names.