By Kindred and Descent

      To live another day is generally considered a good idea. My Welsh ancestors took a number of suggestions from their Celtic ancestors, who had a number of years to learn along the corridors of life. Fables to traditions were collected and passed down to the next generation. Claimed land became part of this survival technique, and the first of the family to occupy successfully the geographic area often became the founding father of the family. As the family grew in numbers, future rights to occupy the homeland became more significant. The father-kin and mother-kin defined the right of inheritance and placed one into a kindred group responsible for the care and advancement to the next generation.  Your rights and place to sit around the table, and sleep beside the fireplace, all came into play. How one related to their kin group became more and more important for the successful living to another day. Your name became the method to accomplish this task. This name was given to you by the elders of the family; you know, the grandfathers and granduncles, and all those folks who had authority surrounding your existence. Named after your father, who was named after his father (your grandfather), who was named after his father (your great-great grandfather), who was named after their father, on and on to the ninth generation. All in the family knew this descent, and who belonged to your kindred. As discussed in the last post of January 3rd, by 800 A.D. the land had pretty much been claimed and named by a number of different kin groups. This arrangement produced a host of problems since the land boundaries were poorly defined. An individual named Rhodai ap Merfyn Frych found his way into this arena by claim of kindred and descent. He also married into this dynamic situation. The following figure shows his descent. More to be said about this fellow.

                           Taken from The Jones Genealogist, Vol III, no.6, 1991-1992, p.5