Dictionary of Welsh Biography from mid 5th century to 1940
This publication contains some 4,900 entries within its 1157 pages.

Selections:

ANGHARAD (d. 1162), wife of Gruffudd ap Cynan, was a daughter of Owain ab Edwin, a chieftain of eastern Gwynedd. She m. Gruffudd about 1095, during his early struggle for power, and survived her husband many years, dying in 1162. Their children were Cadwallon (d. 1132), Owain (Gwynedd), and Cadwaladr, and five daughters, named Gwenllian, Marared (Margaret) m. Gruffydd ap Rhys, and Susanna m. Madog ap Maredudd. Angharad is singled out for lavish praise by her husband’s biographer, as a handsome blonde, gentle, eloquent, generous, discreet, good to her people and charitable to the poor. Gruffyydd left her, in addition to half his goods as provided by Welsh law, two shares of land (rhandir) and the profits of the port of Abermenai.

BASSETT, CHRISTOPHER (1753-84), Methodist cleric; b. at Aberthaw, Penmark, (Glam.), son of Christopher and Alice Bassett, both of whom were disciples of Howel Harris. He was educated at Cowbridge grammar school and Jesus College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1772 (M.A. 1775). Cont’d...

CADWGAN (D. 1111), prince, was the second son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (q.v.). He is the first heard of in 1088, when, with his brothers, Madog and Rhiryd, he attacked Deheubarth and drove Rhys ap Tewdwr (q.v.) into exile. Cont’d...

DAVIES, DAVID (`Dai’r Cantwr’; 1812? - 74), Rebecca rioter; b. in the hamlet of Treguff (Tregof) in the parish of Llancarfan, Glam., in 1812 or 1813 (his age was given as 31 when he reached Tasmania in July 1844). His father is said to have been John Davies, a tenant of the duke of Beaufort. It would seem that he was dead at the time of Dai’s transportation. Cont’d...

FITZ ALAN, lords of Oswestry and Clun, and later earls of Arundel. The Fitz Alan family was settled at Oswestry in the early years of the 12th cent., but their position was challenged by Maredudd the son of Bleddyn. Cont’d...

FITZGERALD, DAVID (d. 1176), bishop of S. Davids, 1148-76; son of Gerald de Windsor and Nest (q.v.), daughter of Rhys ap Twedwr, and uncle to Giraldus Cambrensis (q.v.). He is first heard of as a archdeacon of Cardigan and an canon of S. Davids. Cont’d...

GRIFFITH, JOHN THOMAS (1845-1917). Baptist minister in the U.S.A. and Wales; b. 1 Jan. 1845 at Pen-y-parc in the Vale of Glamorgan. He was baptised 20 May 1859 at Pisgah, Pyle. He was at Mountain Ash in 1862. He was m. in Jan. 1865; he also started to preach that year. He emigrated to Scranton. U.S.A., and worked in a coal mine. Cont’d...

GWYNLLYW (Gundleius, Gunlyn), saint, ©&Mac173;. late 5th - early 6th cent., was the son of Glywys, ruler of the kingdom of Glywysing which extended over parts of eastern Carmarthenshire, Glamorgan, and Monmouthshire. Gwynllyw’s mother was Guaul, daughter of Ceredig ap Cunedda. Cont’d...

HILLS-JOHNES, Sir JAMES (1833-1919), general; b. 20 Aug. 1833, son of James Hills, Neechindipore, Bengal, India, and Charlotte, daughter of Angelo Savi. He was educated at he Edinburgh Academy and Addiscombe. He entered the Bengal Artillery in 1853 and served in the Indian Mutiny, 1857-8, winning the Victoria Cross for saving his battery at the siege of Delhi. Cont’d...

JONES, LEWIS (1836-1904), pioneer in Patagonia, and writer; b. at Caernarvon. He moved to Holyhead where, in conjunction with his fellow-printer Evan Jones (afterward of Caernarvon) (1836--1915) (q.v.) he edited the Pwnsh Cymraeg. He then went to Liverpool where he became one of the leaders of the Welsh Colony movement. In 1862 he was sent with capt. (afterwards Sir) T. Love Jones-Parry (q.v. under Parry of Madryn family) to explore Patagonia, and returned with a report so highly coloured as to be misleading. Cont’d...

LHUYD, EDWARD (1660-1709), botanist, geologist, antiquary, and philologist. The illegitimate son of Edward Lloyd of Llanforda, near Oswestry, and Bridget Pryse of Glan- ffraid near Tal-y-bont, Cards. Cont’d...

MORGAN, HENRY (1635?-88), buccaneer. Numerous attempts have been made to identify the parents of Henry Morgan, all based on the assumption that he was related to the Morgans of Tredegar. These attempts have all proved unsatisfactory. The following entry in the Bristol Apprentice Books (Servants to Foreign Plantations) can be regarded with virtual certainty as referring to him: `1655, February 9. Henry Morgan of Abergavenny, labourer, bound to Timothy Tounsend of Bristoll, cutler, for three years to seruve in Barbadoes on the like Condicions.’ Cont’d...

PARRY, JOHN (1835-97), leader of the Anti-tithe movement from 1886 onwards; b. at Llanarmon-yn-Iƒl, 24 July 1835, son of the Rev. Hugh Parry. He was carpenter, shepherd, estate agent, writer, and poet, and owner of an exceptionally rich and varied library (now in N.L.W. Cont’d...

SEIRIOL (c. 500-c. 550), founder and first abbot of Penmon church; son of Owain Danwyn ab Einion ap Cunedda Wledig, and so a second cousin of king Maelgwn Gwynedd (q.v.) and of the same age as the latter. According to Anglesey tradition, he was a great friend of S. Cybi (q.v.). Seiriol was the chief saint of the Dindaethwy district in Anglesey and also Penmaenmawr, Caerns.; his feast day, according to the earliest calendars was 1 Feb. Cont’d...

WILLIAMS, Sir HUGH (1718-94, soldier and Member of Parliament; b. in 1718, the son of Griffith Williams of Ariannws (Llangelynnin. Conway valley) and grandson of Edmund Williams, brother of Sir Hugh Williams of Marl. Cont’d...

YALE family, of Plƒs yn Iƒl (Llanelidan) and Plas Grono (Wrexham). This ancient Denbighshire family was descended from Osbwrn Wyddel (q.v.) of Cors-y- gedol, Mer., ancestor of the Vaughans of that place through the marriage of Osbwrn’s great- great-grandson Elise with the heiress of Allt Llwyn Dragon, later Plƒs yn Iƒl. His grandson, THOMAS YALE (c. 1526-77), ecclesiastical lawyer. Cont’d...