A Little Geography

 It is frequently difficult to form a mental image of places named in a writing.  Where is that place?  How far away?  What does it look like?  Anyway, there are a lot of such places in my family tree that when understood, a great many brick walls are solved.  The next several posts will try and present the information regarding these places, so the reader might form their own images.  Many places are well recognized and well known, but let's start at the beginning when it became understood my family tree begins in Wales.  Being from the U.S., there were few mental images in my cobwebs of the brain.  The following is taken from a family newsletter begun in 1989.

On Lineal Descent

       One of the first group of people to settle the land that was to become called the "Welsh Marches" were the Celts.  Thought to have arrived between 500 B.C.- 400 B.C., they brought their family groups and special skills to manage iron production.  New settlements began to sprout up around the growth of barley corn, wheat, and rye, thus giving the potential to stay longer in one location rather than chase those four-legged critters.  Their skill with iron certainly helped them control the land about their settlements.

      Livestock became an important aspect of this settled environment, bringing sheep, cattle, and pigs into a much closer relationship.  Grazing land became more important as the settlement and family grew. Following the sheep up to the best grazing land high in the hills and mountains, they soon came to realize that this was not such a good location during the winter months.  They would return to their home base, leading them back to a better setting to survive until the spring season returned.  

      Much later, the early Welsh culture maintained this routine calling their summer dwelling "hafod" and their winter settlement "hendre".  It was this activity that gave the area their fame as the best fleece (wool) in the land.  It was the Inigo Sr./Jr.  and my own Jones family that had the same lineal descent.

A Cash Crop

      Sheep were multiple players on the home front.  The Giles (Frances and Joseph) in their book Life In A Medieval Village p.147, state that sheep were valued for "...fleece, meat, milk, manure, and skin (whose special character made it a writing material of incomparable durability)." On the same page it was recorded that in one area 23 folks owned 885 sheep.  That is roughly 38 sheep per person.  Here is the deal: 1) lambing time was in early spring, 2) the young were usually weaned in 12 weeks to graze with their mothers, 3) they were sheared in mid-June, and 4) fleeces were then carried to market.  Lots of work is here.  

      It is generally recognized that during the time of our Inigo Sr./Jr. the best (high-quality) wool was derived from the Welsh Marches.  This area is often difficult to understand especially to us who did not live during this window of time.  Basically, it was the boarder land between the Welsh and the Normans from 1066 to the Wars of the Roses 1485.  By 1573 many Welsh had followed Henry VII, and Henry VIII had legally united Wales and England under The Act of Union 1536.  The centers of this Norman march into Wales were Chester in the north, Shrewsberry in the center, and Chepstow in the south.  It was Shrewsbury in the center that occupied the Jones family for many years before and located our families' cash crop.

Counting Sheep

      The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers surrounded the life and family of Inigo Jones, Sr.  In this context members generally fell into two categories, i.e. freemen or liverymen.  It is unclear which group our Inigo (Sr.) belonged, but it was accepted that if either parent was a liveryman one could be admitted by patrimony.  Inigo (Jr.) seemed to have taken a different course later in his life, but he would have been born under these traditions in 1573.  Anyway, the clothworkers would depend on wool for their livelihood and business success.

      Peter Spufford in his book "Owner and Profit The Merchant In Medieval Europe" p. 326 states that "Apart from building materials, fuel and metals, the most significant raw materials to be carried about Europe were those destined to feed the textile industries, particularly the woollen cloth industry."  In addition, Frances and Joseph Giles in their book "Life In A Medieval Village" p. 65 indicates that "English wool was especially prized for its fineness, the most sought-after single characteristic of a fiber."  Again in Spufford's book just listed p. 328, he identifies "...the Welsh Marches which produced the very best wool in Western Europe...".

      Now counting the sheep, Spufford p. 326,  indicates that a stack of wool was very large, taking a whole wagon to hold a single sack of wool.  He states, "Each sack contained the wool of between 180 and 250  sheep, since fleeces varied greatly in weight." Just imagine what it would take to shear 188 to 250 sheep!  You certainly would not lose any sleep after this endeavor.

A Families' Affair 1573

      Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary p. 19 defines affair as  "1 a pl : commercial, professional, or public business, b : matter, concern".  There are several other definitions here, but this is the one meant to be used during this post. 

      The father of our Inigo Jones (1573 -1652) was another fellow named Inigo.  A Sr./Jr. phenomena which is frequently found in many folks family tree.  Inigo Sr. was living with his family in London before 1573 when Inigo Jr. was christened in the church of St. Bartholomew the Less, Smithfield, 29 July 1673.  By the time of his father's will 14 Feb. 1596-7, there were three other living children; Joan, Judith, and Mary.  There where at least four other siblings that died in infancy. This would place the life of Inigo Sr. ca. 1553 - 1597 if one assumes Inigo Jr. was first born and the generally accepted marriage was 18-21 yrs. of age.

By the time Inigo Sr. arrived in London he was involved in the clothing business.  This was his trade and the folks in Smithfield held every year a cloth fair around the feast of St. Bartholomew. [from 1133 A.D. to 1840 A.D.]  Booths were occupied by drapers and cloth workers.  According to Livery Company documents: "Livery Companies are trade associations based in the City of London.  They originally developed as guilds. They were responsible for the regulation of their respective trades, controlling, for instance, wages and labor conditions."  In 1515 an order of precedence was settled for the 103 Livery Companies in London.  This order was based on the Companies' economic or political power.  Mercers (General Merchants) were #1.  The Company of Drapers were #3.  Our families' affair (Company of Clothworkers) was listed as #12 out of the 103 companies ranked according to their economic power.  Not so bad a position for economic or political power among these ranked companies.

The Homeland of Inigo Jones (1573 - 1652)

      The last post of  December 15 discussed the Welsh origin of the name Inigo.  Continuing with the history of  Inigo Jones, this post will describe the geographic location of his homeland.  Let's begin with Burke 1884 edition on page 547 which states:

       "Jones, or Johnes (Grothkenan, Co. Denbigh) of this line was Inigo Jones, the architect)"

      Beginning here, the line (and location) is given.  The Welsh County of Denbigh is well known and recognized since the statutes of Rhuddlan 1283 A.D. [Nicholas, Vol. I, p.365]  Now Grothenan is much more difficult.  It was not indexed in Nicholas, or the Ordnance Survey Atlas of Victorian & Edwardian Britain.  A Gazetteer of Welsh Place-Names (by the University of Wales Press, 1967) did not list such a place.  It must no longer exist was my thought.  Where to go from here?  Well believe it or not, Dwnn, Vol. II. page 348 list "Garthgynam", and in foot note 5, states it was "In the parish of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, near Ruthyn."  Wow, could this be the same place?  My own Jones line comes from this same location. [Llwyn-ynn Hall, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, Denbighshire! Two miles south of Ruthin!]  Wow, what a deal!

      Let's see now...  G(R)(O)TH(K)(E)NAN from Burke [English] ...

                                 G(A)(R)TH(G)(Y)NAM from Dwnn [Welsh].

      Welsh to English, always difficult to the phonetic ear.  For the Welsh language "G" is muted to "K". [Welsh Genealogical Research, by Franklin p. 22]  A good fit I would say.

                                 GARDD = garden (DD = th in the Welsh.)

                                   GER = near by

                                   MAN = high place ...(mutation of B = M from BON)

      More to come about this homeland.

      

Inigo Jones (1573 - 1652)

      In 2005, the University of Manchester (England) listed 126 references pertaining to Inigo Jones. [copac.ac.uk]  In addition to this listing, he is recognized as transforming the architectural scene in Briton beginning 1615.  [Lives of the Stuart Age p. 239]  This Stuart source also states "...bore the unfamiliar Spanish name of Inigo." [p. 240]  Having the same Welsh descent and sharing the same surname, some time was spent exploring the origin of this first name Inigo.  Here are some of the findings.

      Using one of my favorite Welsh genealogy text by Nicholas [Annals and Antiquities of The Counties and County Families of Wales] he states describing an iron gate designed by our Inigo as "...the principal entrance, was designed by the writer's countryman, "Ynyr Shon" (Inigo Jones)." [p.661 Vol. II]  So there you have it!  A Welsh name of origin which was written in Welsh saved in Welsh documents [Mostyn manuscripts].

      The earliest use of this first name appears to be in South Wales around the year of 510 A.D.  According to Ashley in his book titled "British Kings and Queens", he states that in Gwent "Honorius or Ynyr" was a ruler of Caerwent.  He also states that in the Celtic language he was known as "ynyr". [p.124]  Thus this name in the earliest language was Celtic.

       By following my own family tree to Wales (Jones of course), it led me again to Nicholas [p.354 Vol. I] which shows the paternal descent of Tudor Trevor from "Ynyr ap Gadforch".  This Welsh tribal group leads to many of the surname Jones.  

       In Burke [The General Armory of England, Scotland, and Wales p.547] it records the arms of Inigo Jones.  On p.1035 it gives the arms of Tudor Trevor.  These are from the same family arms that are carried many generations down the family tree.