The Domesday Book and John

Understanding the JONES surname, begins with the understanding of the use of the Christian name JOHN. The earliest written records of the Norman Conquest, give a resource to explore this name among the culture of the day.

In 1086, William I ordered a survey of his conquered lands. This was carried out by seven or eight panels of commissioners, each working a separate group of counties. Each commissioner compiled elaborate accounts of the estates of the King and of his "tenants in chief", those who held their land by direct services to him. The survey covered all the counties of England (not Wales) except Northumberland, Durham, Westmorland, Cumberland, and northern Lancashire. It does not include London. It does provide historical and geographical materials collected by shires, hundreds, and villages. This survey represented the new Norman concept of a feudal society based on the honour or barony, a network of estates that were treated as a unit even if not adjacent.

For genealogist it also provides a rich history of names and the use of names. For JONES tree climbers it clearly shows that the use of the surname JONES did not exist in Norman England. The name JOHN appears, but it is not the most common name utilized in this survery. The first figure (show as page -4-) documents the use of the name JOHN in the Domesday records. Its use is recorded approximately 31 times. For comparison, William is recorded 494 times, Richard 114, Edward 69, and Henry 27 times. Other commonly used names were Robert > 600 listings, Roger > 400 listings, and Hugh > 400 listings. It is also of interest to note that the surname (first name followed by a second was being used during this period. However, the use of only one name (i.e., Richard), followed by the use of a name with some title (i.e., Richard of Warwick) was more widely employed. The Welsh spellings of John of the use of "ap John" was not found in the Domesday listings.

The second figure, listed as page -5-, shows a summary for the name JOHN, and how it was used at the taking of the Domesday Book. Twelve times the name JOHN was used without characterization. Eighteen times, the name JOHN was characterized by an additional term, or series of terms, i.e., "John the chamberlain". It also gives the counties in which the name JOHN appears.

The first number shown in each reference is the chapter number, followed by the entry number. The reference is: "Domesday Book: A Survey of the Counties of England." Winchester, England, 1086. In, Domesday Book, #37, Index of Persons. Edited, Dodgson & Palmer, Phillimore, 1992. Known as "The Phillimore Domesday Series", the series of books are arranged by counties.

From: The Jones Genealogist, Vol.IV, No.,5, March/April, 1993.

Impact, The Act of Union 1536

The following figure represents a summary of information abstracted from a series of publications which indexed the Public Records Office of Great Britain. The reference is titled: "An Index of Ancient Petitions, Great Britain Public Records Office, List and Indexes." I used this index to abstract the legal records of England for the surname JONES. In 1994, I published these results in my newsletter entitled: "The Jones Genealogist". It is copied here to provide the results of this research for the appearance of the JONES surname in England and Wales before and after the Act of Union 1536. It shows that the surname JONES did not appear in the legal records in Wales before 1538. The surname JONES begins to appear in England starting around 1500, but it was not until 1558 that a large number of cases using the surname JONES appears. Those first appearing in England represent the Welsh who had already followed the Tudors. As English law became that of Wales, the JONES surname begins to appear in the legal records. [Please note that this newsletter is copyrighted, Library of Congress No. 6192-01064476.] Future post will go into more detail from this research, but since my JONES surname begins during this time period, I thought it would be a good place to show how the Act of Union impacted the derivation of the JONES surname and all other Welsh surnames!

At this time in Welsh history, the English had a very biased view of the Welsh naming system. Jokes, poems, and plays were written by the English about the ancient Welsh system of genealogical naming. Cheese, for example, was described as:

"Adam's own cousin-german by its birth ap curds ap milk ap cow ap grass ap earth."

An English judge in 1540 is credited with the following verse"

"Take ten," he said, "and call them Rice;

Take other ten, and call them Price;

Take fifty others, call them Pughes;

A hundred more, I'll dub them Hughes;

Now Roberts name some hundred score;

And Williams name a legion more;

And call, "he moaned in languid tones,

"Call all the other thousands--Jones."

References:

The Jones Genealogist, Vol.1, No.1, May/June, 1989, p. 3-4.

The Jones Genealogist, Vol.VI, No.4, Nov/Dec, 1994, p. 1

List of Early Chancery Proceedings, Preserved In The Public Record Office, Kraus Reprint Corp., NY, 1963.

Taking the surname JONES

My JONES family line continues through Edward(JN-1) just before the family adopts the surname JONES. The family begins to marry into English families with the appearance of the surname system Margaret Wylde(JN-2), Margaret Eyton(JO-2), Jane Almer(JP-2), Margaret Puleston(JQ-2), Margaret Trevor(JR-2), and Mary Sonlli(JR-181). It was the Act of Union, under Henry VIII, that did the final job on the Welsh naming system. Families from Wales were required to take on the English legal system, and began to take on the English surname. The majority of this transition occurred between the arrival of the Welsh Tudor line (Henry VII), and its end under Elizabeth I. In the legal records of England, there were only 7 JONES in Wales for the year 1538. By the year 1558, there were 115 JONES! [Much more to be given about this transition period.]

My own Welsh family takes the surname JONES during this transition period. John(JP-1) who married Jane Almer(JP-2) has at least two sons who take the surname JONES. Robert ap John of Llwyn-onn becomes Robert Jones(JQ-1), and Richard ap John becomes Richard Jones(JQ-95). This Richard Jones(JQ-95) is the line of descent for my JONES family. His son Thomas Jones(JR-180) is the father of Richard Jones(JS-165) who is the first to leave England to reside permanently in Virginia in 1648! Another line of JONES is through David(JP-3) who had a son John(JQ-3) of Plas Cadwgan, who had a son Edward ap John, becoming Edward Jones(JR-3). This lineage has a Edward Jones(JS-3) who gives his life involved in a plot called Babington's Plot, 1586! Much, much more to come.

So from Edward(JN-1) it would be:

Robert(JO-1)

John(JP-1)

Richard(JQ-95)

Thomas(JR-180)

Richard(JS-165)....to Virginia!

In the Welsh naming system this would be:

Richard ap Thomas ap Richard ap John ap Robert ap Edward!

Sons of Cynrig

The sons of Cynrig(JF-1) continues my JONES family line. David(JG-13) and Ednyfed(JG-15) branch into other family surnames. It is Ninnian(JG-1) that become the direct lineage for my family. His third son Jeuaf(JH-1) marries into the line of Elystan Gloddydd(JF-6) and continues the connection to the eldest son of Tudor Trevor(JC-1) named Gronwy(JD-1). Iorwerth fychan(JI-1) becomes known as the first of "Llwyn-onn", which in the Welsh means "Ash Grove". The family continues to be connected to this name for many more generations to come. It would appear that a winter home was located just east of what is know as Wrexham. A summer home was located eastward into the hills around Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, just south of Ruthin. [Much more will be said about Llwyn-onn.]

The figure to the right shows the lineage from Iorweth fychan(JI-1) to Edward(JN-1). The boys in blue take center stage, and the boys in orange are cut short. [I have other graphs showing these lines.] My direct JONES lineage continues as:

Iorweth fychan(JI-1)
Gruffydd(JJ-1)
Iorwerth(JK-1)
Llewelyn(JL-1)
Howel(JM-1)
Edward(JN-1) marries Margaret Wylde(JN-2).

This makes fifteen generations from Gadforch(JA-1). Much more to come.

Rocks and Hard Places

The death of Cynrig(JF-1) 1073/1075 A.D., was a cause of retribution by the senior line of Tudor Trevor(JC-1). Recorded in Welsh history only as "the sons of Rhys Sais", they took revenge in 1081 A.D., upon the rulers of Gwynnedd who had caused the death of great...great...grandfather Cynrig(JF-1).

This time period in Welsh history was certainly one of turmoil. The Normans had just arrived to the island, and they had made an effort to squash any local resistance by 1070 A.D. During the same time, the Welsh tribal groups were in constant fights with one another over who had rights to certain lands. As a result, the boundaries between these lands were constantly changing. The baby of the family, Dingad(JD-3), had his land between the "rocks" and the "hard places". From the east came the Normans (the rocks) who had already made a fortification at Chester. To the northwest was the kingdom of Gwynnedd(the hard places) who wanted to expand its family's claims into Powys, where my JONES family had its roots. J.E. Lloyd discusses this history in some detail in his book, "A History of Wales", p. 18-19. His reference to our family's genealogy is recorded in footnote 68, page 285, where he records the "Mostyn MS 117" as a record of the family from Beli Mawr. This history is also discussed in a very detailed analysis of Welsh genealogical relationships by K.L. Maund , 1991, in his book "Ireland, Wales, and England in the Eleventh Century", p. 93. [He records the death of Cynrig as 1075 A.D., rather than 1073 A.D. as in Nicholas. ] These references are given to shown that detailed documentation does exist to the Welsh genealogy of my JONES family! The genealogy given in the previous post have all been documented, my own "rocks and hard places". ..genealogy can be full of them!

The Next Generations

You will begin to see why a coding and color system will be most helpful as the family tree begins to expand outward. A new chart is shown to the right, giving the lineage from Gadforch(JA-1) , but starting at the 6th generation. In Welsh genealogy, six generations makes up the cenedl, and Gadforch(JA-1) would be considered the pencenedl.

Elystan Gloddydd(JF-6) begins the lineage of Royal Tribe IV, and his sons and grandsons are shown. (the pink side)

The senior line of Tudor Trevor is taken up by Llydocka(JD-2) when his older brother has only one female descendant Rhingor(JE-3). His lineage (the orange side) through Ednyfedd(JF-4) produces four sons, with the most noted son, Rhys sais(JG-4) giving rise to three sons who become in Welsh history "sons of Rhys sais". They are credited with taking on the family's honour by seeking revenge on those who killed Cynrig(JF-1) in 1073 A.D. [The term "sais" means one who can speak Anglo-Saxon[English] and has taken on the English ways to some degree.] I suspect that the three sons of Cynrig(JF-1) were still infants when the older 1st cousins took revenge. This would have been during the first Norman invasion to the families' land following 1066! The descendants of Rhys sais(JG-4) become major players in the history of the period. It is here, that one son Tudor(JH-6), is listed in Domesday Book 1086, as "Tudor Walensis" on contested land in Shropeshire.

The baby boy Dingad(JD-3), has his descent through Cynrig(JF-1) with three sons; David(JG-13), Ninnian(JG-1), and Ednyfed(JG-15). (the boys in blue) It is through Ninnian(JG-1) that my JONES family continues its descent.



The second figure to the right shown the descent of Ednyfed(JG-15), who also had a Tydyr(JH-9). Both the names Ednyfed and Tudor(Tydyr) are frequently used among the family. You can again see why a coding and color system will be helpful in keeping everyone straight! The line of Ednyfed(JG-15) is the root of the family Broughton.

You will notice that there is often marriage between the family branches. Here, the color coding is also helpful. In my JONES family, Jeuaf(JH-1) marries Efa(JH-18) bridging the pink side with the blue side.

Early Welsh Descendants

The earliest descendants of Tudor Trevor(JC-1) are given in the previous three posts. Three sons and a daughter begin this descent. Gronwy(JD-1), the eldest, has a daughter as sole heir, and this line begins the family of Elystan Glodrydd(JF-6) one of the Royal Tribes of Wales. The senior line then moves to the second son Llydocka(JD-2), who's daughter marries Ednowan Bendew(JE-8). This begins another Welsh tribal group which has frequent descendants. Llydocka's son Llywarch gam(JE-4) becomes the head of the senior branch, taking the arms of Tudor Trevor(JC-1). The baby son, Dingad(JD-3), has a son Rhiwallon(JE-1), who begins his family's descent taking a different arms for distinction from the senior branch. In Burke, p.884, this is given as: "Rywallon (Rywallow ap Dyngad ap Tudor-Trevor, Lord of Bromfield, co. Denbigh). Erm. a lion ramp. sa." The lion rampant was the principle charge(image)(symbol) for both, but the tinctures(colors) were different. This puzzled me for many years until I was able to get some understanding of the use of arms in this time period. At any rate, the son of Dingad(JD-3), Rhiwallon(JE-1), has a different arms recorded, and is used by some of the descendants of Rhiwallon(JE-1). At later dates, the arms of Tudor Trevor(JC-1) is claimed by some branches of Dingad(JD-3), thus generating some confusion among the lineages. In summary to this point, my direct JONES line from Gadforch(JA-1) is:

Gadforch(JA-1)
Ynyr(JB-1)
Tudor Trevor(JC-1)
Dingad(JD-3) [The boys color coded blue.]
Rhiwallon(JE-1)
Cynrig(JF-1), slain 1073 A.D.