Lewis Family Origins

Generation #1 - ?

For those of you who have heard me say over and over, "I will never fall into the trap of tracing my ancestry back to King X or Prince Y"; as I was only interested in tracing my families back to the water's edge when and where they got off of the boat. To those people, please accept my apology. This continued branch of research fell into my lap.

• I corresponded with renowned researcher and author of Lewis Patriarchs of Early Virginia and Maryland, Robert JCK Lewis. Thank you, Robert.
• Robert postulated--literally wrote in an email--that his best indication was that my Lewis family descends from the Lewis Family of Abernant Bychan, Cardiganshire, Wales.
• OK; let's go take a look.
• Then, Robert sent pages of graphics from another of his books. I used those graphics to create the shield and crest found above. Thank you, Robert; again.
• No harm. Right?  Well. . .
• When researching another Lewis family, I took out Robert's book. (Of course, I bought Robert's book.) And, I went back to look at the pedigree chart for the Abernant Bychan family.
• There, I found some interesting names and some interesting notes. Perhaps, I might just poke around.
• Fast forward to today.
• I'm building charts based on the pedigree chart from Robert's book which was compiled from chronicles found in Welsh antiquarian journals.
• I'm creating more graphics ie. the Coat of Arms found below.
• I'm even reading some of the original Welsh. How? Poorly; word-by-word.
• Welsh to English Translator: The University of Wales, Trinity, Saint David < http://www.geiriadur.net/>
• So, please enjoy this journey down the proverbial "rabbit hole."

Lewis Family Coat of Arms

I. The Lewys Family of Ancient Britain

In Old Wales, a pedigree of at least three generations was required to associate with society. Therefore, maintaining the records of the family pedigree was a prime duty of the family patriarch. After the Kingdom of Wales was subsumed by Edward I of the Plantagenet Norman-English (1277), the pedigrees of prominent Welsh families were added to the roles of English lords.

In the late 1500s, Lewys Dwnn was appointed Deputy Herald at Arms (1586-1613). His mission was to go around Wales to interview the heads of the many titled families and record their family pedigrees. And as a native speaker of Welsh, Dwnn was the perfect ambassador. Dwnn's exhaustive missive is recorded in his Heraldic Visitations of Wales and is treasured as part of the "Bardic and Historical Remains of Wales."

Dwnn first interviewed James Lewis, Esq. of Abernant Bychan, Cardiganshire (d. 1599). Ten years later, Dwnn interviewed Sir John Lewis, Knight, who provided additional edits to the original pedigree.

Origins of the Lewes family.

Fortunately for social historians, the deputy herald Lewys Dwnn made two calls at plas Abernantbychan in the Cardiganshire parish of Penbryn. On the first, 15 January 1588-9, he was entertained by the head of the household, James Lewes, esquire, Justice of the Peace, which resulted in the production of an exhaustive family tree, duly signed as correct by the squire, and faithfully recorded by the deputy-herald (Heraldic Visitations of Wales, i, 39-40).

Dwnn's host died in 1599 and some ten years later, Dwnn called on his son Sir John Lewes who had succeeded to Abernantbychan, and again made a detailed tree, with numerous additions bringing it up to date (ibid, i, 54-5). Whereas on the former visit Dwnn had enjoyed hospitality only, the second proved more profitable, for in addition to board and lodging, the knight presented him with ten shillings for his travail. Although no biographical details of the earlier ancestors are entered, we can deduce that they belonged to the pedigreed freeman class, the bonheddig, whose marriages were invariably made with partners from families of a similar status, and that they enjoyed a position of local importance. [Lineages]

    Ceredigion : Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, Vol. 8, nos. 1-4, 1976-1979, Gellidywyll: a Ceredigion family South of the Teifi <http://welshjournals.llgc.org.uk/browse/viewpage/llgc-id:1093205> 29 September 2012.

The Ancient History of the Tribe of Lewys
Ancestor	Location/ Notes
Ancient Ancestor: -fl 110 BCE Heli/ Beli Mawr (the Great) -64th King of Britain -Son of Manogan -Father of Caswallon/ Cassivellaunus	fl 110 BCE Heli/ Beli Mawr (the Great) Reigned for 40 yrs. Beli Mawr is claimed as the founder of the Deisi, later rulers of the kingdom of Dyfed, and also of the Silures. -His eldest son, Aballac, is claimed as the ancestor of Coel Hen, of the fourth century 'Kingdom of Northern Britain'. . . -His second child, daughter Lweriadd, marries Llyr Lleddiarth, who is claimed as the founder of Gwent. -Another of his children as claimed by tradition is Cassivellaunus, the mid-first century BC high king who fights against Julius Caesar's expeditions. . .
	15 Generations or about 500 years
1. Coel Hen b. c. 345 CE -Cornelius Dux Brittanarum -(Duke of the Bretons) *Cunedda +Gwawl furch Coel Hen	Coel Hen b. c. 400 CE First King of Northern Britain; High King after Vortigern. -c.380s - 390s Late in the century, the only known British military unit, the First Cohort of Cornovii (Cohors Primae Cornoviorum) can be found serving at the Pons Aelius (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) garrison on the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. -By this time the five hundred-or-so men of the unit would have been commanded by Vortigern [449 CE per Bede] and later under the command of Coel Hen.
2. Ceneu ap Coel	-c.420 - c.450 (St) Ceneu ap Coel Second 'King of Northern Britain'. -c.450 Ceneu's territory is divided into Rheged. . .and Ebrauc. . .which continues under the name of the 'Kingdom of Northern Britain.'
3. Maeswig Gloff/ Mor ap Ceneu	-fl c.450 Mor ap Ceneu / March / Mark Third and last 'King of Northern Britain'. 'Chief of Dragons'. -'Mor' means 'great,' as in Alfred the Great.. . . -It later evolves considerably changed in Welsh as 'mawr', which is applied to several late Welsh kings (notably the ninth century Rhodri Mawr). . . -c. 470 Upon the death of Mor, 'Chief of Dragons' (Pendragon), the 'Kingdom of Northern Britain' is divided between his sons. Einion gains Ebrauc while Arthuis gains the 'Kingdom of the Pennines'.
4. Arthwys ap Mar lived 529 CE	Upon the death of Mor ap Cenau, grandson of Coel Hen, his 'Kingdom of Northern Britain' was divided between his sons. The eldest of them [Einion ap Mor] gained the capital city of the North, Ebrauc. -Arthuis. He was the first 'King of the Pennines'. . .
5. Cynfelyn ap Arthwys	-fl c. 480 Cynfelyn ap Arthwys. Moved south into the Midlands and founded Cynwidion. -Brother, Pabo Post Prydein (St) (Pillar of Britain) Died as a monk in Gwynedd in 530. -The youngest son of King Arthuis of the Pennines. - fl c. 480 Cynfelyn ap Arthwys. King of Middle Britain. Son of the king of the Pennines.
6. Cynwyd of Cynwydion	-fl 510 Cynwyd ap Cynfelyn, King of Cynwidion.
7. Cadrod (of) Calchfynydd	-fl 540 Cadrod/ Cadrawd King of Calchwynedd. -Cadrawd, one of the Gwyr y Gogledd or 'Men of the North', -Shrinkage of Middle Britain to Cynwidion to Calchwynedd, the kingdom is probably now cut off and isolated.  -The Britons in the area. . .descending with the kingdom into darkness as contact with relatives in the north is lost and the noose of Angle and Saxon pressure continues to tighten. -fl c. 600 Possible last king, lost to history when the kingdom was extinguished.
The above notes were gleaned from the pages associated with "Eboracum," Celtic Kingdoms of the British Isles <https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/BritainEbrauc.htm> 27 June 2019.
8. Yspwys of Moel Ysbiddon (682 - 740)	-The Migrant to Wales. Where did he settle? -Moel Ysbiddon, "The stranger's mount." The Lewis family was of Meirionnydd.
22 + 1. Ednowain ap Pyradwen un o'r 15 Llwyth (of the 15th Tribe)	Of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Of the sub-Kingdom of Meirionnydd.
22 + 5. Llewelyn Dal Rain of Ddeheubarth7	First generation at plas Abernant Bychan, Penbryn, Cardiganshire. Married 2C Soned furch Gwilym ap Seyssyllt, the granddaughter of Seyssyll, Lord of Abernant Bychan.
Dwnn, Lewys, "GWEL HELYTH SYR JOHN LEWYS, MARCHOG," Heraldic Visitations, v. 1, pp. 39-40. <https://archive.org/details/HeraldicVisitations> 21 May 2019.

II. Ancient Lineages

1. From the journals of Welsh pedigrees, we read of the second century BCE king in Northern Britain (c. 110 BCE), Heli/ Beli Mawr (the Great) who reigned for 40 years.
-What's important to us is that his eldest son, Aballac, is claimed as the ancestor of Coel Hen, of the early fifth-century "Kingdom of Northern Britain."
-Beli Mawr is claimed as the founder of the Deisi, later rulers of the kingdom of Dyfed, and also of the Silures.
-His second child, daughter Lweriadd, married Llyr Lleddiarth, who is claimed as the founder of Gwent.
-Another of his children, as claimed by tradition, is Cassivellaunus, the mid-first century BCE high king who fought against Julius Caesar's expeditions.
-There is a period of about 500 years of darkness until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain.

2. Then we find Coel Hen, the progenitor of this Lewis family. According to Scottish history, Coel Hen was the progenitor of the Scottish kings of Rheged, Elmet, and Eiden. From Welsh history, we learn that he was also a progenitor of the kings of Wales who descend from Cunedda's marriage with Coel's daughter, Gwawl.

Coel Hen appears in the Harleian genealogies and the later pedigrees known as the Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd (The Descent of the Men of the North) at the head of several post-Roman royal families of the Hen Ogledd. His line [was] collectively called the Coeling. . .He [Coel] was also considered to be the father-in-law of Cunedda, founder of Gwynedd in North Wales, by his daughter Gwawl.

    "Coel Hen" <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coel_Hen> 27 June 2019.

3. The sons in the direct line down from Coel assumed the kingship of their inheritances as the lands of Northern Britain were divided up into lesser and lesser kingdoms. Concurrently, the Angles from the east and the Saxons from the south continued to encroach on Breton territory. We end with Cadrod of Calchfynydd whose kingdom was surrounded and eventually subsumed by the Angle-Breton Kingdom of Mercia.

At the end of the Angle-Saxon-Jute invasions, the lands occupied by the Germanic invaders became what we know as England. The northern boundary roughly corresponds with that of Hadrian's Wall. And, the western boundary roughly corresponds to the traditional boundary with Wales. Of historical significance, Offa, the ethnic German King of Mercia, constructed Offa's Dyke, the north-south physical barrier which marks the boundary between Mercia and the wilds of Wales. Thus, the shape of the future country of England was set by these physical barriers which were carved out of the land.

Modern historians might claim that our Germanic cousins brought order and civilization to their new England. And, the barbaric Bretons were excluded to the wilds of Scotland and Wales and Ireland. But, my perspective is exactly the opposite:
-As previously stated, the Pax Romanum enslaved the native peoples of Britain.
-The post-Roman, Germanic Invaders are purported to have ethnically cleansed our people out of southern Britain. Archaeology does not support the previously held belief that the post-Roman Invaders killed off the Bretons. But, their descendants replaced the Bretons by out-breeding them.
-The Norman Invaders expunged Anglo-Saxon culture, imposing their hegemony over England, Wales, and later Ireland.
-Thus, the Celts were shunted off into the fringes of Britain. But, we survived.

III. Q-Celt vs. P-Celt: the Question of the Ancestral Language

The Lewis family pedigree continues down seven generations from Coel Hen to Yspwys of Moel Ysbiddon, the "Stranger's Mount." Yspwys is noted as a forefather of many Welsh families including the House of Tudor. Reading through the Journals, there appears to be a connection between the term Strangers and what language they spoke. Many cited historians of Wales defer from confronting the great controversy of who spoke q-Celt or p-Celt and when the language changed.

I feel that we will become involved in all that vast tangle of scholarship which surrounds the question of the relationship between the Goedelic and Brythonic Celts in the Roman and sub-Roman periods.

    Ceredigion - Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, "The Corbalengi Stone," v. 4 #1 <https://ceredigionhistory.wales/>  13 July 2019.

I had a simplistic answer. What if our Lewis Tribe, who lived along the northern boundary of Brythonic Britain, continued to speak a version of the old Gaelic of Ireland, from ancient times, which was similar to the language of the barbarian Scoti? Now, I rather think that our Lewis Tribe acquired the Cumbric language, the non-extant P-Celt/ Brythonic language of the Old North.

When their lands were overrun by the Saxon and Angle invaders, members of our Lewis Tribe escaped south and west to their ancient Welsh homeland. But by the time they arrived in Wales, their cousins, the descendants of Cunedda, were already speaking Welsh. Thus, our people would be "strangers" who spoke a different dialect and had strange pronunciations.

IV. SNP R-DF27 and the Iberian-Celt Markers

What's interesting is that Yspwys of Moel Ysbiddon is cited as being from Spain. Although improbable, there is a truth here. Contemporary Welsh chroniclers would know of the previous Roman provinces of Spain. Let us substitute Iberia as a geographic designation for the Spanish political designation.

The core of this research is based on yDNA evidence. Descendants of this Lewis family carry the yDNA markers for the Iberian-Celt clade SNP R-DF27. In plain English, if you are a Lewis from Wales but you do not carry the Iberian-Celt markers for R-DF27, you do not belong to this family. The next question is "When did Yspwys or the family come from Spain?"

The preponderance of evidence presented herein indicates that we are the Milesians of Irish mythology. Our ancestors sailed from the Celtic Promontory (Promunturium Celticum), Gallaecia/ Asturias of northwestern Iberia and conquered Ireland post 1,000 BCE. And as early as 650 BCE, our tribe migrated to/ invaded Wales, bringing their Iberian genetic markers to Britain.

Research Note: My Scoti Campbell family from Argyll carry the markers for R-L21 which is the dominant clade for Ireland and Britain.

From Yspwys, the lineage continues down 14 generations to Ednowain ap Pyradwen/ Bradwen un o'r 15 Llwyth (of the 15th Tribe). That is an additional 400+ years. During this volatile period after the extermination of Roman civilization in Britain, our Cumbric speakers learned to speak Welsh.

V. The Ancient Lineage of the Tribe of Lewys