THOMAS
family, of
Coed Helen (or Alun)
and
Aber, Caerns.
RICE
THOMAS
(d.
1577
),
the founder of this family's fortune in
Caernarvonshire
, was a son of
Sir
WILLIAM
THOMAS
,
Llangathen, Carms.
,
sheriff
of
Carmarthenshire
in
1541-2
.
Rice
m.
Jane
, daughter of
Sir
John
Puleston
of
Caernarvon
and widow of
Edward
Gruffydd
of
Penrhyn
, who had d. at
Dublin
in
1540
. He was appointed by
Roger
Williams
, the
surveyor of crown lands in North Wales
, to be his deputy in the counties of
Anglesey
,
Caernarvon
, and
Merioneth
; this doubtless helped him to acquire, in
1551
, leases of the valuable manors of
Aber
(
Caerns.
) and
Cemaes
(
Anglesey
). In
1553
he and his wife acquired for themselves and his heirs the grant of these two manors (
Cal. Pat. Rolls.
,
1553
, 121). His first appearance in extant records as a
justice of the peace
for
Caernarvonshire
occurs in
1552
. He was
sheriff
of
Anglesey
in
1563-4
, and of
Caernarvonshire
in
1573-4
.
WILLIAM
THOMAS
(
1551
-
1586
),
his son and heir, was b. at
Caernarvon
. As a boy he was page to the
duchess of Somerset
, and is said to have been brought up under the same tutors as her son,
lord
Edward
Somerset
, and to have learnt three languages,
Latin
,
Italian
, and
French
(
Sir
John
Wynn
of
Gwydir
,
Memoirs
). A
soldier
of distinction, he served in
Ireland
and later in
Flanders
. He made his will in
1584
‘
by reason I am
imployed in her maiesties service
in
Flaunders
’ (
P.C.C., Spencer
2).
Sir
John
Wynn
states that he was
captain of 200 men
from
North Wales
who went to the
Low Countries
with the
earl of Leicester
, and that he was
killed
at the
battle of Zutphen
(
1586
); he m.
Ellen
, daughter of
William
Gruffydd
of
Caernarvon
, a son of
Sir
William
Gruffydd
of
Penrhyn
, by whom he had nine children. He was a
justice of the peace
for
Caernarvonshire
from
c.
1575
,
sheriff
in
1580-1
, and
Member of Parliament
for the county in
1574
and
1584
. In
Jan. 1581
, he was a purchaser from the
earl of Leicester
of lands in
Llyn
, which had formerly belonged to the
abbey of Bardsey
. At his death he left lands in
Carmarthenshire
, as well as his estates in
Anglesey
and
Caernarvonshire
.
His eldest son and heir,
Sir
WILLIAM
THOMAS
(
knighted
in
1603
), was b. in
1572
and educated at
Christ Church
,
Oxford
(matriculated
24 May 1588
,
B.A.
28 Jan. 1592
). He became a
justice of the peace
and
deputy-lieutenant
for
Caernarvonshire
,
sheriff
in
1607-8
, and was admitted a member of the
council of the Marches
in
1617
(
Hist. MSS. Comm., 13th Report, App.
, iv, 254). He was a prominent and constant ally of
Sir
John
Wynn
of
Gwydir
. In
1605
he took steps to acquire ‘
Koydalen
,’
Caernarvon
(which eventually became the family's seat) and in this project enlisted the aid of
Sir
John
Wynn
(
Cal. Wynn Papers
, 343). The family already
owned property within the borough of
Caernarvon
, and
Sir
William
' principal mansion was always in that town, although he built,
c. 1600
, a new house at his manor of
Aber
, near the site of an older house, probably built by his father or grandfather.
Sir
William
' house at
Aber
, a modest Jacobean mansion with a tower, still stands. It has been known as ‘
Pen-y-bryn
’ at least since
1672
. In
1609
, under the king's commission for confirming defective titles,
Sir
William
was obliged to pay £56 13s. 4d. to the Crown for a grant of the manors of
Aber
and
Cemaes
. He d. at
Caernarvon
in
1634
, leaving a widow, six sons, and two daughters. For some undiscovered reason, he had disinherited his eldest son,
John
, in
1618
, entailing most of the estate on his second son (
P.R.O., C142/534/112, inq. post mortem
); but in his will he left to
John
the moiety of the tenement called ‘
Y Fferme Vawre
,’ in the
manor of Cemaes
, and the remainder of other lands in
Anglesey
that should be unsold after the portions of his (
Sir
William
's) daughters and four younger sons had been paid, provided that
John
did not attempt to disturb his father's settlement of the estates.
Sir
William
appointed his wife,
Gaynor
, his sole executrix (
P.C.C., 113, Seager
).
His second son,
WILLIAM
THOMAS
, succeeded his father in the possession of all the family's estates in
Caernarvonshire
, consisting of the
manor of Aber
and various land and property in
Caernarvon
and elsewhere, including ‘
Coed Alen
,’ and also, possibly, of some specified lands in
Anglesey
. In
1618
he had m.
Catherine
, daughter of
Richard
Parry
,
bishop of S. Asaph
. At the time of his father's death,
William
had two sons,
Richard
and
Gruffydd
. He was admitted a student of
Gray's Inn
in the year of his marriage. He was the first of the family to be identified chiefly with
Aber
, and so must have made his home at
Pen-y-bryn
. A
justice of the peace
for
Caernarvonshire
, and
sheriff
in
1637-8
, he sat for
Caernarvon borough
in the
Long Parliament
and made some stir by his speech against deans and chapters and by other speeches. In
July, 1642
, however, he left to join the king, and in
Feb. 1644
was disabled by
Parliament
for deserting the service of the House, being in the king's quarters and ‘adhering to that party.’ In the same month he was rewarded by the
king
with the appointment of
groom of the chamber to the queen
(
Cal. S.P. Dom.
,
1644
, 14). His estates were sequestered by Parliament. In
July 1650
he referred in a letter to what he had endured ‘
from both parties, not only since the last rising in
Anglesey
, but for many years before it
,’ and spoke of his ‘
extreme want of necessaries
’ (
N.L.W., Llanfair-Brynodol, 150
). In
1651
he was able to compound for the sum of £780, the fine being later reduced to £646. He d. in
March 1654
, leaving his eldest son and heir,
RICHARD
THOMAS
,
an estate heavily encumbered. The family suffered a serious setback as a result of the part which
William
Thomas
played in the
Civil Wars
, and it never recovered its former position.
Richard
, who had also
compounded in
1651
for delinquency in the first and second wars, ‘
being an infant in the king's quarters
’, seems to have been continually in financial difficulties; in
1659
, he was asking his aunt,
lady
Grace
Wynn
of
Gwydir
, for money and complaining that his wife would allow him none (
Cal. Wynn Papers
, 2208).
Richard
m., in
Oct. 1654
,
Dorothy
, eldest daughter of
Edward
Williams
of
Wig
. He d. without issue early in
1666
; in his will he had asked to be buried in
Aber church
. He was succeeded by his brother
GRUFFYDD
THOMAS
who, like
Richard
, was evidently familiar with ‘
pressing occasions for money
’ during his tenure of the estate (
P.R.O., C7/339/71
); he d. without issue in
1676
. The estate then passed to
JOHN
THOMAS
,
‘next in kin expectant upon the death of the said
Gruffydd
Thomas
, the tenant for life’ (ibid.). He would seem to have been a first cousin, the eldest son of
Robert
Thomas
,
Gruffydd
's uncle. He m.
Gruffydd
's widow,
Jane
,
c.
1678
. There is evidence which indicates that he lived at
Eglwys Gymyn
in
Carmarthenshire
before succeeding to the
Thomas
estates in
Caernarvonshire
(
U.C.N.W.
,
Garthewin MS. 2077
); and that he found himself in financial difficulties very soon after entering upon his inheritance. These difficulties led him, in
1678
, into transactions with the
Bulkeley
family
of
Baron Hill
,
Beaumaris
, transactions which involved the advowson of
Aber
and land within that manor (
U.C.N.W.
,
Baron Hill MS. 3133
).
Lord Bulkeley
acquired possession of the advowson, and in
1680
appears to have even gained possession of the manor, though only temporarily, for
John
Thomas
was certainly
lord of the manor
of
Aber
from at least
1686
until his death. A partial recovery of the family's former prosperity is suggested by the fact that
John
Thomas
was appointed
sheriff
of
Caernarvonshire
for
1693-4
. Like
Richard
and
Gruffydd
before him he appears to have lived chiefly at
Pen-y-bryn
,
Aber
. He had a son,
William
, who matriculated at
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, in
1698
, aged 18, but the son must have died before him. When
John
Thomas
d. in
1705
he was succeeded by his brother,
JOSEPH
THOMAS
, a
cleric
.
Following the death of
John
Thomas
, the
manor of Aber
appears to have passed out of the possession of the
Thomas
family. By
1715
it was certainly in the ownership of
Richard
,
viscount Bulkeley
of
Baron Hill
. Thereafter the
Thomas
family was associated with
Coed Helen
,
Caernarvon
.
Joseph
Thomas
is stated to have d. in
1708
. He was succeeded by his eldest son,
RICE
THOMAS
,
who was admitted to the
Middle Temple
in
1714
and
called to the Bar
in
1720
. He d. in
1722
, and was succeeded by his son,
WILLIAM
THOMAS
,
sheriff
of
Caernarvonshire
in
1746
. In
1753
William
brought, unsuccessfully, an action in
Chancery
against
Thomas
James
,
lord Bulkeley
, claiming the advowson of
Aber
(
N.L.W.
,
Llanfair-Brynodol MSS.
;
U.C.N.W.
,
Baron Hill MS. 4590
). He d. in
1763
and was succeeded by
RICE
THOMAS
(
1746
-
1814
),
sheriff
of
Caernarvonshire
in
1771
, who was in turn
succeeded by his son, also named
RICE
THOMAS
(
1771
-
1850
),
sheriff
of
Caernarvonshire
in
1831-2
, a quiet country gentleman, who was the last of the family in the direct male line. His sister,
Elizabeth
, had m., in
1792
,
Sir
William Bulkeley
Hughes
of
Plas Coch
,
Anglesey
(see under
Hughes
,
William Bulkeley
). The second son of this marriage was the
Rev.
Rice Robert
Hughes
(
1800
-
1850
), and it was his eldest son,
RICE
WILLIAM
THOMAS
(
1841
-
1892
), who inherited the
Coed Helen estate
, assuming the name of
Thomas
.
Bibliography:
-
Heraldic Visitations
of Wales and Part of the Marches
, 1846
, i, 27; ii, 152-3;
-
E. A. Lewis
and
J. Conway Davies
,
Records of the Court of Augmentations
relating to Wales and Monmouthshire
, Cardiff,
1954
, 63, 276, 278, 302;
-
Sir John Wynn
,
The History of the Gwydir Family
,
1927
, ed.
J. Ballinger
(
1927
), 66-7;
-
Flenley
,
A Calendar of the Register of the Council
in…Wales and the Marches…
Cymmrodorion Record Series
8, 1916
, 135;
-
E. G. Jones
, ‘The Caernarvonshire Squires’(M.A. thesis);
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
;
-
An Inventory of the
Ancient Monuments in CaernarvonshireThe Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical
Monuments in Wales , London,
1956-1964
, i, 3;
-
Register of Admissions to Gray's Inn,
1521–1889…
, 1889
, 151;
-
The Parliamentary or Constitutional History
of England from the earliest times to the Restoration of
Charles II, 1751-62.
, 1753
(
1753
), ix, 15;
-
W. R. Williams
,
The History of the Parliamentary
Representation of Wales
, 1895
, 59, 66;
-
A. H. Dodd
,
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
(
1948
), 51;
-
Calendar of the Committee for Compounding
with Delinquents, etc., 1643–1660
. Record Publication
, iv, 2740-1, 2820;
-
A. Ivor Pryce
,
Diocese of Bangor During Three Centuries,
seventeenth to nineteenth century inclusive being a digest
of the registers of the bishops
, 1929
, 11;
-
Register of Admissions to the Honourable
Society of the Middle Temple, 1501–1944
, 1949
, 273-4;
-
Burke's … Peerage, Baronetage, and
Knightage
(
1937
), 1180;
-
P.R.O.
Public Record Office, List of Sheriffs for
England and Wales…to A.D. 1831
, 1898
, LRI/213, 215, 222, Sta. Cha. 5/W49/7, 5/J12/23, 8/284/9, Chancery Pdgs. C5/565/67, C6/133/215;
-
N.L.W.
Llanfair and Brynodol MSS. at the National Library
of Wales, Aberystwyth
, bundles 94, 98;
- Bangor diocese probate records (N.L.W.);
-
U.C.N.W.,
Garthewin Manuscripts at the University of
North Wales, Bangor
2080, 2089;
-
Plas Coch Manuscripts
3264, 3267;
-
Caerns. record office, quarter sessions files. 1640, 1652, 1680, 1686, 1704, 1715,
Coed Helen Manuscripts
Author:
Professor William Ogwen Williams, M.A., D.A.A., (1924-1969),
Aberystwyth / Bangor
