THE TRIBES OF WALES

PCBG notes (last updated 03.01.21 (except for cross-reference changed 14.02.22)
(1) As mentioned on the Individuals page, this page identifies the various people who have been identified as the founders or progenitors of the Tribes of Wales. They are identified within the database as linked to this page using §W§ (LXX) where LXX (or LX) links to the relevant section below and identifies which individual is linked-to.
(2) As many of the pedigrees delve into mythology, it is perhaps not surprising that different people identify the tribes differently. I have so far given precedence to those reported by John Edward Griffith because I have made much use of his work, Griffith's Pedigrees (see 'Griffith' on the Sources & Acknowledgements page) but there are other worthy sources that I have yet to take properly into account. Not least amongst these are the two volumes by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, published in 1846, on Lewis Dwnn's 'Heraldic Visitations of Wales' (1586-1613).
(3) I am NOT expert on Welsh Genealogy and merely dip in-and-out of this complex subject. As it would take years of dedicated research to do it justice, please keep your expectations of what is offered here at the modest level that is all that it merits. I do NOT speak Welsh, and find it difficult to follow some of the cross-references given in many Welsh pedigrees (not helped by the inconsistency of the spelling of names & places, the lack of family names, and the rarity of dates), so I may never complete this project - but I think it worthy of a serious effort.
(4) This page was first released on 06.10.10 and was worked on for a time during which sections (A) & (B) below were added, based on the above-mentioned 'Griffith Pedigrees' and all of (B) and most of (A) were linked into the database. After a gap of some years, this project was restarted on 30.12.20. On 03.01.21, sections (C) & (D) below were added using the 1887 edition by Richard Williams (which added 'An Account of The Fifteen Tribes of North Wales') of 'The Royal Tribes of Wales' by Philip Yorke of Erthig (1799). Making progress on this is one of the main Long-term projects identified for the database.

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There are 4 sections below:
(A) References F1-F37 : Founders of many Welsh families as reported by John Edward Griffiths (see above).
(B) References T1-T22 : Progenitors of many Welsh families as reported by John Edward Griffiths (see above).
(C) References R1-R5 : Ancestors of the 5 Royal Tribes of Wales as reported by Philip Yorke & Richard Williams (see above).
(D) References N1-N16 : Ancestors of the 15-16 Noble Tribes of Wales as reported by Richard Williams (see above).

Where the same person appears in more than one section and that person is in the database, I make only one link between this page and the relevant database page but cross-refer between the relevant sections on this page. Note that sometimes someone is shown in one of the sections even though he was an ancestor/descendant of someone else who is also shown. For example: Einion ap Gerant (F35) and Ednyfed Vychan (F11/T1) are shown separately even though they were both descendants of Marchudd ap Cynan (F16/T19).

Any name or thing with @@@ is to be investigated or reviewed in the near future.

Link to the W subindex (British section)

(A) The Stock of the Founders as identified by John Edwards Griffith in 'Griffith's Pedigrees' (1914, pp 324-325)

This section comes from "The Stock of the founders of the families mentioned in this Book, and a few others connected in side-branches." The connected pages show the ancestors of the founders, most of whom are also identified as progenitors of Tribes and so are reported in Section (B) below also.

(B) The 22 progenitors of Tribes as identified by John Edwards Griffith in 'Griffith's Pedigrees' (1914, pp 389-397)

The connected pages show the descendants of the progenitors of the Tribes.

(C) The ancestors of the 5 Royal Tribes of Wales as identified by Philip Yorke (1799) & Richard Williams (1887)

This list not yet been compared with other lists of the ancestors. @@@

R1. Gruffudd ab Cynan (p1) (see F31 above)
R2. Rhys ab Tewdwr (p27) (on Wales03)
R3. Bleddyn ab Cynfyn (p39) (see T8 above)
R4. Jestyn ab Gwrgant (p120) (on Wales68)
R5. Athelstan (Elystan) Glodrydd (p125) (see F25 above)

(D) The (16) ancestors of the 15 Tribes of North Wales as identified by Richard Williams (1887)

Like many others, Williams suggests that there were 15 Tribes but he lists 16 people! This list not yet been compared with other lists of the ancestors. It would not be surprising if Braint Hir is not always included in similar lists given that, as reported on Tmp24, "His progeny did not much increase". @@@