Four Branches

      Family trees grow and can branch in all kinds of directions. Putting a "big picture" together of the starting point of all the branches can often help unknot many generations down the tree. Such is the linage of Tudor Trevor (JC-1), the starting point for many family groups. The following figure shows the earliest four branches of this family kindred, with one branch becoming the connecting point to my own Jones surname family tree. Let's look.

      The eldest son Gronwy (JD-1) [pink color] leaves a daughter as the only heir. This daughter Rhingor (JE-3) marries Cyhelin (JE-6) of Hereford, and begins one of the most famous "Royal Tribes of Wales" with her son Ethelystan Glodrydd (JF-6). This connection is documented in Burke, p. lxii. His kindred settles the country between the rivers Wye and the Severn.

      The middle son Llydocka (JD-2) [orange color] leaves a male heir Llywarch (JE-4) who's grandson Rhys Sais (JG-4) becomes a proprietor [4th in descent]. His own male heirs become famous for the blood-feud of our kindred group avenging Cynrig (JF-1). This Cynrig (JF-1) is of my own branch. [Maund, p. 93, see post May 3rd, 2023]

      Finally yes, the baby boy named Dingad (JD-3) [blue color] whose grandson Cynrig (JF-1) was killed around 1075 A.D., and it was his cousins, the sons of Rhys Sais (JG-4) who took revenge. You can see there were five sons involved here!

      The single daughter Rhingor (JD-4) marries a fellow named Gwrydr (JD-8) and begins her line of descent with the kindred of her husband.

       Wow, three male lines of descent, but only the middle and youngest sons continue their male line down the many tree branches to reach my own Jones family. 

Sons

      The life and times of the children belonging to Tudor Trevor (JC-1) and Anghard (JC-2) would certainly have had its ups and downs. Gronwy (JD-1), Llydocka (JD-2), and Dingad (JC-3) were identified as proprietors when they were to come into their own. However, born between 934 A.D. and 948 A.D. they would only be children when their father died in 948 A.D. Their grandfather Hywel Dda, had already assembled and discussed the accepted social behavior of the day. Stated on page 130 of "The Law of Hywel Dda", under the title of "Sons", it describes:

      "From when the son is born until he is fourteen years old, it is right for him to be at his father's platter, with his father as lord over him. And no punishment of him is right save his father's."

      Now in our case, the father had died most likely before their 14th birthdays. The law in this situation states:

       "A boy is entitled to a guardian for him until he is fourteen years old - his father if he is alive; and if his father is not alive, it is for the lord to give him a guardian, to act on his behalf to claim compensation for him, and to make compensation on his behalf". 

      Hywel Dda was to die within two years of Tudor Trevor (JC-1), being around the year 950 A.D. It would be my guess that Ynyr Frych (JC-3), the brother of Tudor and, the Abbot of "Abad Dor", took this role. Apparently the fellows were well cared for, and the following chart continues the family tree.

     Each sibling; Gronwy (JD-1) outlined in pink, Llydocka (JD-2) outlined in orange, Dingad (JD-3) outlined in blue, and Rhingor (JD-4) outlined only in pencil, all married and passed down the stories of the family. Each branch of the folks above produced a large number of descendants which will be presented in future posts using the same colors as shown above. The references for each individual diagramed is given in the numbers beside their name. For  (1)= Dwnn, (2)=Nicholas, and (3)= Burke, see post of April 9th, 2023.

As The Fourth Man

      The children of Tudor Trevor (JC-1) and Anghard (JC-2) would be the fourth generation down from the top of this family tree. Of these, there were three sons and one daughter all born between 934 AD. and 950 A.D. The Welsh laws of the day recognized the fourth male as having "Claims by Proprietary Right". On page 104 of Hywel Dda The Law" it states: 

       "Whosoever wants to claim land by kindred and descent, let him show his pedigree as the stock from which he derives; and if he is there as fourth man he is a proprietor, for it is as fourth man that a person becomes a proprietor."

      In the "GLOSSARY AND INDEX TO NOTES" page 375, a proprietor is explained "...for the holder of the fullest admissible right to land...". [for a review of this book see post of April 4th, 2022] Now, the following figure gives the family tree being discussed, and it shows the names of the children of Tudor Trevor (JC-1).

      Gronwy (JD-1) is the eldest male child. His symbol is colored pink, and from this point onward, or downward, his line of descent will be enclosed as pink.  Llydocka (JD-2) who takes his name from his grandfather on his mother's side Lludoca (JA-3) is outlined in orange. Likewise, from this point forward, his line of descent will take the color orange. Now, the baby of the family is Dingad (JD-3). He has special affinity, since I am the baby of my nuclear family, and I know what it is growing up with older brothers. His color is blue, and his line of descent will be marked blue. It is Dingad, as a fourth man, that my own Jones family is connected to this first four generations of my Welsh ancestors. 

      The daughter Rhingor (JD-4) is to be given in marriage, and becomes a member of her husband's kindred. Not forgotten, but her line of descent becomes that of her adopted family. Please note that in Dwnn, p. 307, the daughter, Rhingor, is named Arddyn who marries a fellow named Gwrydr hen.

A Field of Dreams

      Cubs, Yankies, Dodgers, and Reds in my room of the world would easily be recognized as professional baseball teams, all playing on their own field of dreams during the 1960s.  However, if you were to go back in time to the start of my family tree, you might instead be able to call it the league of tribes. Who exactly were all the players and on what teams? The 9th and 10th century were a dynamic period in time, with incessant wars, and a number of peoples who were attempting only to survive on their own field of dreams. For the genealogy nut inside me, trying to put all the players together that impacted my Jones surname family tree, was part of the exploration and understanding of my own ancestors.

      Let's see now, the name would be something like the "Life Lived League" of the 9th and 10th century. All major players of the day would become members, with each team having to pay their dues. Perhaps there would be four divisions named, "The Celtic", "The Teutonic", "The Scandinavians", and the last being named "The Invaders". Each division would have a number of teams all playing against one another with the chant shared by all, "To The Victor Goes The Spoils". There would be no rules and, each team could create their own secret plays. No holds barred and anything goes. What a game it must have been.

      Here are the lineups for each division:

                                                                The Celtic = "4-leaf Clovers" (Irish)

                                                                                     " The Bag Pipers" (Scots)

                                                                                     "The Red Dragons" (Welsh)

                                                                                     "The Players Purple" (Picts)

                                                               The Teutonic = "The White Dragons" (Saxons)

                                                                                        "The Golden Wings" (Angles)

                                                                                        "The Anglia" (Jutes)

                                                      The Scandinavians = "The Settlers" (Danes)

                                                                                         "The Cut Throats" (Vikings)

                                                                                         "The White Knights" (Swedes)

                                                         The Migrators = " The Invaders" (Visigoths/Ostrogoths)

                                                                                      "The Pirates" (Vandals)

                                                                                      "The Horde" (Huns)

      Wow! What a league it would become. Each team would be anxious to play against one another in their game of life. The umpires could be the monks from the nearest monastery, if they would show up at all. The coaches would be fired if they experienced a few losses in a row, and not very many would get an extended contract. The best players would get all the glory, but game injuries would be all too common.  No IRAs would be written here. My Tudor Trevor (JC-1) played for "The Red Dragons". On which team did your ancestors play? Certainly, each team would have their own field of dreams.

                                                                             

                                                                                        

    

All That Stuff

       Occasionally individuals have e-mailed and asked questions. One frequently asked is do you have documentation for all the family tree that is presented, and what evidence do you have to support the claim to male descent from Tudor Trevor (JC-1)? As you might guess, climbing trees back five generations may be difficult enough but, come on, climbing down the branches to 850 A.D. is not possible. Many times I would agree that it seems impossible but, climbing trees for more than 62 years has provided many opportunities to investigate the possibility. The last several posts have shown my copies of original sources that have helped along the way. There are many, many, many more collected along the various branches of my Jones surname family tree. For example, here are the titles of the materials collected that just address Tudor Trevor (JC-1). These sources/references/documents/research etc. are stored in notebooks which were collected during many of my time travels. Appropriately called "Research Notebooks", these are numbered now from RN#1 to RN#275. [RN abbreviation for research notebook]

                                                RN#153 - House of Tudor Trevor

                                                RN#154- The Children of Tudor Trevor

                                                RN#157- Trevor/Working Sheets

                                                RN#187- House of Trevor Geography

                                                RN#158- Associated Family Names (also a RN#158A)

                                                RN#169- Early Welsh/Anglo-Saxon Leadership

                                                RN#262- Political Connections

                                                RN#219- Family Tree through The Sons

                                                RN#215- Family Genealogy By Welsh Counties

      Each notebook contains 50 - 150 pages pertaining to the topic/subject listed. Here is another picture of the notebooks and how they are stored. Each can be retrieved and updated as needed. See post of April 14th, 2023 for additional details

      Just look at all that stuff.

Tribe of the Marches

      Questions frequently arise about the individuals you are trying to decide how they might relate, or not, into your family tree. One such question that arose regarding Tudor Trevor (JC-1) was how did he get titled "founder of the tribe of the Marches" living around 900 A.D. when the Marches did not come into existence until some 200+ years later?  Hum...did not seem to fit chronology if this was actually the case. Digging more around these facts seemed appropriate.

      An article by K.L. Maund titled Ireland, Wales, and England in the Eleventh Century, The Boydell Press, 1991, provided many helpful facts. The second chapter "The Eleventh-century Rulers of Wales: Their Political and Genealogical Relationships" provided all sorts of historical information when the Marches were being formed. On the page titled "ABBREVIATIONS" he shows the known genealogical texts of the time. A great number indeed are shown, and in my working copy of this page are given the various sources:

      

      Wow, just look at them. On page 93 of his text, he notes that the family of Tudor Trevor (JC-1) is "...a noble, not royal, family...". On page 237, Maund, in his index, listed "Tudur Trefor ab Ymyr" which is a somewhat different spelling. In addition, Meic Stephens [see post October 29th, 2022] describes on page 260 that the Welsh genealogical texts were started to be written around 1100 A.D. 

     Now, putting all this together, suggests that Tudor Trevor (JC-1) must have been labeled "Founder of the tribe of the Marches" by those looking back in time through the windows of 1100 A.D., and not by folks living 900 A.D. These factors help fit things a little better into my Welsh family tree and my Jones surname tree climbing.

      These research notes are stored in RN#3 titled "Welsh Genealogy and Pedigrees- K.L. Maund.

Other Surnames

      The name Tudor Trevor (JC-1) is claimed by many other families as their beginning root. The surname of many are distinctly different and, at first glance caused a great deal of bewilderment. When starting my Jones surname tree climbing at age nine, my understanding was that one individual, with the same surname as yours, would be at the top of the family tree.  How could many different surnames come from the same root? Much was needed to be learned, especially when getting to those Welsh branches. Anyhow, the following two pages are taken from my RN# 236. The number of "other" surnames are recorded with the reference source of the surname given. There are 22 such families listed here, all recorded before 1884. What a deal!

            Note: the (3) stands for Burke [1884] and Dwnn mostly Vol.II, [1846].

     Here is my Jones surname connection, "Jones of Llwynon" which is marked in blue. Yes indeed, all these families share their roots to Tudor Trevor (JC-1).   It took a number of years to figure all this tree climbing stuff out!