Gwilym ap Gruffydd Lord of Penrhyn ^{1 2 3 4}

   Another name for Gwilym was Gwilym ap Gruffudd ap Gwilym of Penrhyn.

  Research Notes:

The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, and the Ancient Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen, and Meirionydd, Vol. IV, p. 342 shows him as "Gwilym ab Gruffydd, Lord of Penrhyn," the second son of "Gruffydd Gwilym, Lord of Penrhyn and Cwchwillan," who was the second son of "Gwilym Gruffydd, Lord of Penrhyn and Cwchwillan."

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From Welsh Biography Online (http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s1-GRIF-PEN-1300.html) :

"(3) The eldest son of Griffith and Generys, GWILYM AP GRIFFITH (d. 1431), m. (c. 1390) his kinswoman, Morfydd, daughter of Goronwy ap Tudur (ob. 1382) of Penmynydd (see under Ednyfed Fychan ). Gwilym thereby gained a further share in 'Gafael Goronwy ab Ednyfed' (Penrhyn) as well as lands in Anglesey. In 1389, Gwilym and his younger brother, ROBIN AP GRIFFITH, were granted by their father his lands in Caernarvonshire and Anglesey and it was probably this step which led to their firm establishment in the area. Lands in Bodfeio were given to Robin, who was the ancestor of the family of Williams of Cochwillan (q.v. in App.) . Gwilym was the real founder of the Penrhyn family, but his precise place of residence before 1400 is not known. His wife's dowry had strengthened his hold on 'Gafael Goronwy ab Ednyfed' (Penrhyn) but his main possessions were in the commotes of Menai and Dindaethwy in Anglesey. His wife's mother (Myfanwy) and brother (Tudur ap Goronwy) were alive in 1397 and might be expected to have lived at Penmynydd; nevertheless, Gwilym ap Griffith is described as 'of Penmynydd' in 1400 and 1403, and his will, dated 1430, was signed there. From 1391 to 1397 he held various crown offices in Anglesey, being sheriff in 1396-7.

"His wife's uncles (Rhys, Gwilym, and Maredudd ap Tudur) gave full support to their cousin, Owain Glyndwr (q.v. , and see under Ednyfed Fychan ); Gwilym himself was more cautious, but he was forced by family and other circumstances to throw in his lot with the rebels about 1402. (As has been said, his father and uncle died in Glyndwr 's service.) His brother, Robin of Cochwillan, was also in rebellion but abandoned Glyndwr before 1408, when he appears as a crown official in Caernarvonshire. Gwilym also made his peace with the king before Nov. 1407, when he was restored to his forfeited possessions and was granted, in addition, the lands of twenty-seven Anglesey adherents of Glyndwr who had probably died in rebellion. By 1410 he had been granted the forfeited lands of his wife's uncles, Rhys and Gwilym ap Tudur, both of whom adhered to Glyndwr to the last. His will, dated 1430, also refers to lands which he had obtained from his Tudor kinsmen; his brother-in-law, Tudur ap Goronwy, appears to have d. c. 1400 and his share of the Tudor possessions undoubtedly came into Gwilym's hands. In all, Gwilym ap Griffith appears to have succeeded, through his father's marriage, his own, and the effects of the Glynd rebellion, in gaining control of most of the patrimony of the Tudors; not the least important of the probable consequences was the departure of Owain Tudor (q.v.) to seek his fortunes at the court of Henry V.

"The date of death of Gwilym's first wife is not known. Some time after 1405 he m. Joan, daughter of Sir William Stanley of Hooton, Ches., thus beginning a long and profitable connexion with the rising star of that family. His son by his first wife inherited only his mother's property at Penmynydd, and he was the ancestor of the later Theodores of that place (see Tudor family, of Penmynydd ). Gwilym ap Griffith d. in 1431, leaving his great possessions in Anglesey and Caernarvonshire to his son by the second marriage. (Penrhyn manuscripts, passim; Trans. Angl. Antiq. Soc., 1951, 34-72; J. R. Jones, 'The development of the Penrhyn estate to 1431', University of Wales M.A. thesis, unpublished.)"

  Birth Notes:

Glenda Turcks http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=DESC&db=nanatea&id=I33919 gives b. abt 1330, d. abt 1431. Another source says b. abt 1365.

Gwilym married Morfydd verch Goronwy ap Tudur of Penmynydd about 1390. (Morfydd verch Goronwy ap Tudur of Penmynydd died before 1405.)

Gwilym next married Jonet Stanley of Hooton, daughter of William de Stanleigh "The Elder", Lord of Stanley, Storeton & Hooton and Margery de Hooton, after 1405. (Jonet Stanley of Hooton was born about 1380 in Hooton, Eastham, Wirral, Cheshire, England and died in 1466.)

  Marriage Notes:

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mjr6387&id=I64457

Another source has m. abt 1400 (after Robert Paris) - http://www.penrose.org/getperson.php?personID=I40748&tree=penrose