MEYRICK
or
MERRICK
family, of
Hascard
,
Fleet
, and
Bush, Pembs.
, and
Wigmore, Worcs.
The
Pembrokeshire
branch of the
Meyrick
s
of
Bodorgan
,
Anglesey
(qq.v.)
arose through the marriage of
Rowland
Meyrick
,
bishop of Bangor
, to
Catherine
, daughter of
Owen
Barrett
of
Gelliswic, Pembs.
Their eldest son,
Sir
GELLY
(
GILLY
,
GILLIES
or
GULLIAM
)
MEYRICK
(
1556?
-
1601
), was named after the maternal estate, and on his father's death (when he was c. 9 years old) was sent to be brought up on his mother's manor of
Hascard
, near
Lamphey, Pembs.
, where he entered the service of
Sir
George
Devereux
(see under
Devereux
). From
c. 1583
he served in the
Low Countries
, attending his patron's nephew, the
2nd earl of Essex
, at
Flushing
in
1585
, and subsequently serving in
Leicester
's forces. On his return he became
steward
of
Essex
's household (
c. 1587
), and represented
Carmarthenshire
in the
1588
Parliament. He followed
Essex
to
Portugal
(
1589
) and
Normandy
(
1591
), and on the death, in
1592
, of his kinsman
Sir
Roger
Williams
(q.v.)
— hitherto
Essex
's right-hand man — he became
all-powerful with the
earl
, to whom his complete devotion was proverbial, and at whose suit the
queen
gave him extensive lands, including
Wigmore castle
, which became his principal seat.
Essex
knighted
him (as
Sir
William
or
Gellian
) on the
Cadiz expedition
(
1596
), and in
1597
he followed his lord to the
Azores
and again sat (probably for
Carmarthenshire
) in
Parliament
, where he had by now achieved some prominence. His last campaign was with
Essex
in
Ireland
(
1599-1600
). After a brief spell of disfavour (
July 1600
), he was employed, in
Jan. 1601
, in rallying to the earl's cause the
Devereux
clientele in
South Wales
, the
Welsh swordsmen
who had served with him abroad, and his own connections in
Radnorshire
(where he had m.,
c. 1584
, the daughter of
Ieuan
Lewis
of
Gladestry
, widow of
John
Gwynn
of
Llanelwedd
, who brought him both estates), and in
Carmarthenshire
(where his daughter
Margaret
was the wife of
Sir
John
Vaughan
of
Golden Grove
, later
1st earl of Carbery
(q.v.)
, as well as his brother
Francis
(below)). He was responsible for billeting the
earl
's followers in
London
, for bribing the
Globe
players to play ‘
Richard the Second
’ on the eve of the revolt (
6 Feb.
), and for the defence of
Essex House
(
8 Feb.
) against the forces of the
Government
. On
13 March 1601
he was
executed
for treason. His son,
Roland
Meyrick
, and his daughter,
lady Vaughan
, were restored in blood and name by
James
I
(
24 May 1606
).
Sir
FRANCIS
MEYRICK
(
kt.
5 Aug. 1599
, d.
29 July 1660
),
of
Fleet
,
Monkton
, younger brother of
Sir
Gelly
, was with him in
Ireland
(
commanding the west Wales contingents
), and also took a minor part in the rising but escaped punishment.
Sir
Francis
's third son,
Sir
JOHN
MEYRICK
(d.
1659
),
soldier
, was
knighted
in
1614 (13 June)
, accompanied the
3rd earl of Essex
to
Flanders
in
1620
, and subsequently fought in the
Low Countries
(
1624
), in
Spain
(
1625
), and under
Gustavus
Adolphus
in the
Thirty Years’ War
, where he was wounded before
Maastricht
(
17 Aug. 1632
). He sat for
Newcastle-under-Lyme
in the
Short and Long Parliaments
, where he was frequently consulted on military questions. He
commanded a regiment
in the
Bishops’ Wars
of
1639-40
(in which his brother
GELLY
MEYRICK
,
knighted
26 Mar. 1639
, as
Sir
Gillan
, was an
ensign
), and was recommended by the Commons for a commission in
Ireland
as soon as the
Irish rebellion
broke out in
Oct. 1641
. During the
Civil War
he became
adjudant-general
of
Essex
's army and later
general of the ordnance
, and he served as
assessment commissioner
for
Pembrokeshire
in
1647
; but he disapproved of the execution of the
king
and went into retirement during the Interregnum, dying in
1659
. His portrait, formerly at
Bush
(the home of his descendants till
1837
), is now at the family seat of
Slebech
. Two of his grandsons held
legal office
in
North Wales
:
JOHN
MEYRICK
of
Bush
(b.
1674
), educated at
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, and the
Middle Temple
, who, after representing
Pembroke
(
1702-8
) and
Cardigan
(
1710-2
) in
Parliament
, became
puisne judge
of the
Anglesey circuit
from
1712-4
, and
FRANCIS
MEYRICK
,
Registrar of North Wales
. The family is still active in
Pembrokeshire
public life.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
J. E. Griffith
,
Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire
Families
, 1914
, 126-7;
-
D. Mathew
,
The Celtic Peoples and Renaissance Europe. A
study of the Celtic and Spanish influences on Elizabethan
history
, 1933
, chapters xviii and xxi;
-
Reports of the ‘Historical
Manuscripts Commission
, 3
rd R.
, 498, 4
th R.
, 336, 5
th R.
, 362-3,
Reports of the ‘Historical
Manuscripts Commission
, i, 367-70,
Reports of the ‘Historical
Manuscripts Commission
, iv, 340, vi-ix, xi, xiii, xiv;
-
Rushworth
,
Historical Collections of Private Passages
of State
, 1721
, iii, 1241 ff.;
-
The Journals of the House of Lords
, i, 445;
-
W. A. Shaw
,
Knights of England
, 1906
, ii, 57, 93, 154, 206;
-
W. R. Williams
,
The history of the Great Sessions in Wales,
1542-1830 together with the lives of the Welsh judges, and
annotated lists of the chamberlains and chancellors,
attorney generals, and prothonotaries of the four circuits
of Chester and Wales
, Brecknock, 1899
, 113;
-
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
,
1946-7
, 77, 84;
-
The National Library of Wales Journal
, vi, 190-1;
-
Firth and Rait
,
Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum,
1642–1660
, 1911
, i, 290.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Arthur Herbert Dodd, M.A., (1891-1975), Bangor
