The Law

The laws of the land they come to be called.  Those social directives that helps stabilize and hold together a culture.  The ancient laws of Wales were organized around 850 AD.  A fellow named "Hywel Dda" is credited with such an activity.  These have been translated from the Welsh and published as "Hywel Dda The Law".   The cover of my copy is shown below.

For those who might want to study the Welsh tribal system and its social directives, this book is for you.  First published by Gomer Press, Llandysul, Dyfed in 1986.  It is translated by Dafydd Jenkins and contains the law texts from medieval Wales.

For my own Welsh genealogy, it is recorded that Hywel Dda was the father-in-law to Tudor Trevor, the beginning of my Welsh family tree.  How about that, a father-in-law from the past!   This text has served me well to help understand the culture of this beginning.

Tudor Trevor (JC-1) Founder of The Tribe

Tudor Trevor (JC-1) is identified as "Founder of The Tribe of The Marches".  He is perhaps the most well documented of the folks residing among the Welsh family groups.  There are at least 15 family surnames that claim their descent from this individual.  My own "Jones of Llwynon" being one of these family groups.  The figure below shows a listing of these family surnames, with several branching to multiple branches.

His wife is identified as Angharad, a daughter of Howel Dda.  Howel Dda has a great deal to do with Welsh history and codification of the laws of Wales.  It is perhaps this marriage that helps settle the dust of continual warfare between the "southern" and "northern" tribes.  At least before the Viking attacks, there was an attempt to unite the culture of Wales.

Tudor Trevor (JC-1) is described as being "Lord of Hereford, Whittington, and Both Maelors".  By this generation, it would appear that Oswestry has been lost [perhaps in exchange for Hereford], and a section of the "south" had been added.  Of course, Hereford was a very slippery slice of land to hang on to.  It must have been from this point that Whittington became the location of the families settlement.

              [Please note that you can click on the picture to enlarge the view.]