Chronology of Death

       Date of birth and, date of death are two events that every genealogist hopes to record correctly on each individual placed among the branches of their family tree. Now, recording only the date of death for each individual might be a little suspect as to the goals being utilized. However, the recorders of the earliest Welsh genealogist seem to give only dates of death. What is up with this, was often my thought, when climbing around the branches of some of the earliest generations of my own Jones surname family tree.

      To illustrate this phenomena, the following charts are drawn to show the first 400 years of Welsh kindred leadership as translated by Lloyd (see post July 6th, 2023). The districts of Gwynedd (Royal Tribe I) colored blue, Deheubarth (Royal Tribe II) colored green and, Powys (Royal Tribe III) colored orange, are represented by the squares drawn for each individual named by Lloyd pp. 273 - 277 titled "Genealogical Tables". Each chart is drawn in chronological order for ten year periods. Significant events are listed in yellow.  My family, from Tudor Trevor (JC-1) to Iorwerth (JI-1), are represented by the squares outlined in red. So, hold on to your seat belt and let's go, starting from 900 A.D.! 

      The first chart begins with the law giving years of Hywel Dda (EB-15) and end with his death 950 A.D. He died representing Deheuabarth (Square colored green), and his son-in-law Tudor Trevor (JC-1) had already died two years before. It was not until the sons of Hywel Dda (EB-15) began their own quest for recognition that the laws of cooperation began to decay. Folks from the north seem to battle against folks from their south trying to get their date of death into my chart. 

      Just after the start of the next 100 years [1039 A.D.], a fellow named Gruffudd ap Llywellyn (ED-28) made his own way upon the stage. He certainly made a distinct pathway around all the kin groups until his death in 1063 A.D. led by an individual named Harold II (M-39). This Harold has been portrayed often as "the last of the Saxons" [see page 494 in the book by Ashley discussed in post 20 Feb. 2023]. Now the walls of all came tumbling down after 1066 A.D. when those French speaking folks from across the Channel introduced William I (SD-7). You can certainly see the impact that this had upon all the dying, with Powys now coming into the charts along with all those green colored fellows. Cynrig (JF-1) was killed 1073 A.D. just about in the middle of all the other deaths.

       Henry I (O-3) [p. 508 Ashley], gave his debut the very start of the next 100 years. The death dates took their climb to new heights (n=33) almost totaling more than the first 400 years together. Jeuaf (JH-1) was given his name by its Norman spelling, and the death chronology shows why Iorwerth (JI-1) might have wanted to make the family's move to the hills [see last post]. The last chart to be shown starts in the year 1200 A.D.  These dates begin after the next in my family tree are to be named.

      You can see that the dates of death are at their highest number (n=38) after Henry III (SB-19) started his play in this dance of death. [Ashley p. 531] My ancestors are shown only by their code numbers at this point but, their names are yet to be listed. The Welsh genealogists began their kindred family trees starting around 1150 A.D. and, you can certainly see why it could be called a chronology of death.