Elen ferch Thomas ap Llywelyn

Bridgeman (p. 248) notes that Elen seems to have inherited the Lordship of Iscoed and a portion of Gwynnionith from her brother, Owen ap Thomas, who died without children soon after 1355.

Events

Date of Birth: unknown.

Date of Death: unknown.

Relationships

Father: Thomas ap Llywelyn ab Owain (about 1299 - by 1343).

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 7). It is given by Bridgeman (p. 248), by Dwnn (2:54), by Lloyd (1:197), and by Davies (p. 130). Smith makes Elen the daughter of Thomas’s son, Owain.

Mother: uncertain.

Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 7) notes that there is much disagreement in the genealogies about the ancestry of Thomas’s wife. Some sources make her Elinor ferch Maredudd, whose mother was Thomas’s sister. Bridgeman (p. 247) notes that she has been called “Elianor, the daughter and heiress of Philip ap Ivor, Lord of Iscoed,” but Bridgeman is unsure if a Philip ap Ivor ever even existed. He discusses the possibilities in a long footnote (pp. 247-248).

Spouse: Gruffudd Fychan ap Gruffudd ap Madog.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 7, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5). It is given by Mostyn (p. 29), by Bridgeman (p. 248), by Dwnn (2:54), by Lloyd (1:197, 4:146), by Pierce, and by Davies. Davies (endnote 20 to page 139) notes that the relationships shown by Bartrum for Owain Glyn Dŵr’s family are supported in almost every connection by contemporary records such as deeds.

Children:

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)

Owain Glyndŵr (died about 1416) married Margred ferch David Hanmer. The famous Owen Glendower, leader of the last Welsh rebellion against the English.

Isabel married Adda ab Iorwerth Ddu ab Ednyfed Gam.

Tudur married Mawd ferch Ieuaf.

Lowri married Robert Puleston.

Morfudd married Dafydd ab Ednyfed Gam.

References

Bartrum, Peter C., “Rhys ap Tewdwr 7”, and “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500. [The sources Bartrum cites for Elen are: Rhandiroedd Powys -- a MS written by 1493; Peniarth 131 (126, 138) -- a MS written about 1480 by Gutun Owain; Peniarth 129 (60, 76) -- a copy made about 1500 of a MS written about 1497 by Gutun Owain; Peniarth 137 (31) -- a MS written in the early 1500s by ‘Syr’ Thomas ap Ieuan ap Deiews.]

Bartrum, Peter C. “Rhandiroedd Powys” in National Library of Wales journal, Volume 18, pp. 231-237 (1973). [Bartrum notes that it contains definite errors, but seems to have been regarded as authoritative by genealogists of the sixteenth century.]

Bridgeman, George T.O. History of the Princes of South Wales (Wigan: Thomas Birch, 1876).

Davies, R.R. The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr. (Oxford U.P., 1995).

Dwnn, Lewys, and Samuel Rush Meyrick. Heraldic visitations of Wales and part of the marches between the years 1586 and 1613 by Lewys Dwnn. (Llandovery: William Rees, 1846).

Lloyd, Jacob Youde William. The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fodog and the Ancient Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen and Meirionydd. (London: T. Richards, 1881-1887).

Oman, Sandra. “Elen ferch Thomas” in Tree: Wales. Welsh Medieval Database Primarily of Nobility and Gentry. [This resource, which mainly gathers references from secondary sources, appears to be currently offline (July 2016).]

Pierce, Thomas Jones. “Owain Glyndwr” in Welsh Biography Online.

Smith, Llinos, ‘Glyn Dŵr , Owain (c.1359–c.1416)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10816, accessed 11 May 2014]