Elihu Yale was a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, he only lived in America as a child, spending the rest of his life in England, Wales and India. Starting as a clerk, he eventually rose up to the rank of President of the British East India Company settlement in Fort St George, Madras. He later lost that position under charges of corruption for self-dealing and had to pay a fine. In 1699, he returned to Britain with a considerable fortune, around £200,000, mostly made by selling diamonds, and spent his time and wealth toward philanthropy and art collecting. He is best remembered as the primary benefactor of Yale College, which was named in his honor, following a sizable donation of books, portrait and textiles under the request of Rev. Cotton Mather, a Harvard graduate. No direct descendants of his have survived to this day.
Gwyddelwern is a small village and community of 508 residents, reducing to 500 at the 2011 census, situated approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Corwen in Denbighshire in Wales. Historically the village was part of the Edeyrnion district of Meirionnydd. Edeyrnion was part of the Glyndŵr district of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996, when the area became part of the principal area of Denbighshire. The village straddles the A494 road.
Cemais was an ancient cantref of the Kingdom of Dyfed, from the 11th century a Norman Marcher Lordship, from the 16th century a Hundred, and is now part of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It occupied the coastal area between the Teifi estuary and Fishguard, and the northern and southern slopes of the Preseli Hills, covering an area of approximately 140 square miles (360 km2). The Afon Nyfer divided it into two commotes: Cemais Is Nyfer to the north and Cemais Uwch Nyfer to the south.
Heraldry in Wales has a tradition distinct from that of English and Scottish heraldry. There is evidence that heraldry was already being used in Wales by the middle of the thirteenth century; for instance, in Gwynedd, two sons of Llywelyn the Great are recorded as having borne coats of arms in this period. Following the integration of Wales into England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Welsh heraldic tradition became merged into that of England.
The name Rhyd-y-gors or Rhydygors has been associated with two historic sites near the market town of Carmarthen in Southwest Wales. The first was the Norman Rhyd-y-gors Castle and the other was Rhyd-y-gors Mansion, home of the Edwardes family.
Ial or Yale was a commote of medieval Wales within the cantref of Maelor in the Kingdom of Powys. When the Kingdom was divided in 1160, Maelor became part of the Princely realm of Powys Fadog, and belonged to the Royal House of Mathrafal.
This is a list of Sheriffs of Merionethshire. The historic county of Merioneth was originally created in 1284. The administrative county of Merioneth was created from the historic county under the Local Government Act 1888.
Baron of Cymmer-yn-Edeirnion, in the county of Merioneth, is a dormant title used by the senior male-line descendants of Owain Brogyntyn, youngest son of Madog ap Maredudd, King of Powys. Owain Brogyntyn divided his lands equally between his three sons on his death, and his eldest son, Iorwerth, inherited lands centred on Cymmer, in the parish of Llangar and commote of Edeirnion. His son, Gruffydd ab Iorwerth, fought against Edward I during his invasion of Wales. After the Conquest of Wales, Gruffydd came "into the King's peace", and on 22 July 1284, had his lands confirmed by Edward I per baroniam, 'just as his ancestors had held them', thereby creating him a baron in the English feudal baronage. The first surviving use of the title was by Gruffydd's grandson, Owain, who in 1334 was summoned to the sessions at Harlech as Owenus ap Davidus,Dominus de Kimmer. Some authorities, therefore, date the barons from Owain, whereas others begin with Gruffydd. In the fifteenth century their principal residence was known as Plas o Cymmer, and was later renamed Plas Uchaf. Later the 10th Baron moved to the nearby mansion of Gwerclas.
Hughes of Gwerclas were a native Welsh royal family descended from Owain Brogyntyn the illegitimate but acknowledged son of Madog ap Maredudd by a daughter of the "Maer du" or "black mayor" of Rûg in Edernion. His father granted to him and his successors the Cantref of Edeyrnion and the Lordship of Dinmael. These areas were both remote frontier lands situated between Powys and the neighbouring ascendant Kingdom of Gwynedd. From the earlier part of the 12th Century both lordships usually paid homage to Gwynedd.
Owain Brogyntyn ap Madog was the third and illegitimate son of king Madog ap Maredudd, the last king of a united Kingdom of Powys. He was the son of Madog by the daughter of the Maer du or "black mayor" of Rûg in Edeyrnion however some sources cite his mother as Susanna making him legitimate instead. He was the brother of Gruffydd Maelor the ancestor of Owain Glyndŵr. Presumably Owain Brogyntyn would have been raised by his mother at Rûg in Edeyrnion. He was acknowledged by his father and granted by him the lordship of Edeyrnion and also Dinmael. It is quite possible that he inherited some of these lands through his maternal grandfather, the Maer Du, which were confirmed and perhaps extended by his father the king of Powys. At some point he also came into possession of Castle Brogyntyn on the English borders at Selattyn close to Oswestry.
Rhug is a township in the parish of Corwen, Denbighshire, Wales, formerly in the old cantref of Edeirnion and later a part of Merionethshire, two miles from Corwen and ten miles north east of Bala. It includes the hamlet of Bonwen. It is situated near the River Dee, under Berwyn range. About 1150, it was ruled by the Maer Du or "Black Mayor of Rhug" and later became part of the lands of the barons of Edeirnion who ruled from Gwerclas Castle.
Carter-Campbell of Possil is a branch of Clan Campbell, a Scottish clan. Historically, they are part of Clan Campbell, which was regarded as one of the largest Scottish clans. The branch of the Campbell clan was historically centred in Lawers. Some of the clan, which originated with the original Campbells, had links to the lands of Argyll.
The Royal House of Mathrafal began as a cadet branch of the Welsh Royal House of Dinefwr, taking their name from Mathrafal Castle, their principal seat and effective capital. They effectively replaced the House of Gwertherion, who had been ruling the Kingdom of Powys since late Roman Britain, through the politically advantageous marriage of an ancestor, Merfyn the Oppressor. His son, King Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, would join the resistance of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, against the invasion of William the Conqueror, following the Norman conquest of England. Thereafter, they would struggle with the Plantagenets and the remaining Welsh Royal houses for the control of Wales. Although their fortunes rose and fell over the generations, they are primarily remembered as Kings of Powys and last native Prince of Wales.
Tudur ap Gruffudd (1365-1405), also known as Tudor de Glendore or Tudor Glendower, was the Lord of Gwyddelwern, a junior title of the Princely house of Powys Fadog, and was the younger brother of Owain Glyndŵr, the Welsh rebel leader crowned Prince of Wales. His father was Gruffydd Fychan II, the hereditary Prince of Powys Fadog and previous Lord of Gwyddelwern. Along with his brother, Owain Glyndŵr, Tudur was a member of the Royal House of Mathrafal.
Castle House in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales, is a Grade II*–listed Georgian mansion. Described by Dylan Thomas as “the best of houses in the best of places”, it is one of many buildings of note in the medieval township.
Rev. Robert Nicholl Carne was a Welsh rector, landowner, and a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of Glamorgan. He built Dimland Castle at the end of the 18th century upon land left him by his father, from whom he inherited 99 acres.
Castle Otway is a former 18th-century country house which stood on a hill on the outskirts of Templederry, near Nenagh in County Tipperary, Ireland.
Corse Castle near Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire, now ruined, was a fortress and centre of a landed estate in the north-east of Scotland. The present castle dates from the 16th century and stands by the Corse Burn, around 3 miles north-west of Lumphanan.
Baron of Hendwr, in the County of Merioneth, is a dormant title in the English Baronage which was granted on 22 July 1284 to Dafydd ap Gruffydd ap Owain Brogyntyn by letters patent issued by Edward I at Caenarfon. Dafydd and his kinsmen had fought against Edward I during his Conquest of Wales and, after coming into the King's Peace, received a Royal pardon and had their lands confirmed per Baroniam. The second Baron was summoned to Quo Warranto proceedings on 7 December 1334 at Harlech to assess by what authority he claimed his title and he cited the charter granted to his father in 1284. The daughter of the 3rd Baron, Gwerful ferch Madog was the wife of Goronwy ap Tudur, and therefore 3rd great-grandmother of King Henry VII. The 4th Baron, David de Hendwr married Sibella de Cornwall, daughter and heiress of John de Cornwall, great-grandson of Richard 1st Earl of Cornwall on 8 July 1343 at Westminster Abbey.
Giwn Lloyd (1699–1774) of Hendwr and Tyfos, in the county of Merioneth and of Gwersyllt Park and Plas Newydd, in the county of Denbigh, was a Welsh gentleman who lived in the 18th century and was notorious for his dissolute life. He is best remembered for the lengthy court battle which ensued after his death, lasting over twenty years, exhausting the finances of many of his kinsmen, and shocking much of Welsh society.
