| Notes |
- From The Thomas Family:
Thomas ap Gruffyd, who is described as a man of a character very different from his turbulent father, and one of the most accomplished gentlemen of the age, with a mildness of disposition and elegance of manners rarely found in those cruel times of civil warfare. To avoid taking part in the contests of the rival houses of York and Lancaster he withdrew to the accomplished Court of Burgundy, then ruled over by Philip the Good, in whose service he enrolled himself. There he became famous for his boldness and skill in the tilt and tourney, and in single combat. After the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Griffith, his gallantry and gracious disposition are said to have won the affections of a near relative of the Duke, and Thomas, having probably offended by his presumption the Duke's heir, the Count of Charolois (afterward so well known as Charles the Bold) was compelled to return to Wales. There he had constant encounters with his neighbours, particularly Henry ap Gwilym of Court Henry in the Vale of Towey, between whose family and his there seems to have existed an ancient feud. His last duel took place some time toward the end of Henry the Sixth's reign, or the beginning of that of Edward the Fourth, when he fought with David Gough somewhere in Merionethshire and killed him. Having laid aside his armour and thrown himself upon the ground to rest after the combat, he was treacherously run through the body and killed by one of Cough's retainers. He was buried in the Abbey of Bardsey, Caernarvonshire.
He was m. to Elizabeth, dau. and heiress of Sir John Griffith of Abermarlais, and possibly1 to another Elizabeth, dau. of James de Burgoigne, natural son of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, or herself a natural dau. of the Duke; from her descended the great clan of Johnes of Abermarlais. Dolau Cothy, Llanbadarnfawr, and Hafod. It has given ten high sheriffs to Cardigan, Caermarthen, and Pembroke; numbered among its members Thomas Johnes, the translator of Froissart, and was represented by John Johnes, Esq., of Dolau Cothy, J. P. and D. L. for Caermarthen in 1872. By his first wife Thomas ap Gruffyd had issue:
L MORGAN, killed in the Civil Wars. .
ii. DAVID, killed in the Civil Wars.
Bi. A dau., m. GRIFFITH AP HOWELL, issue .
JAMES AP GRIFFITH (f. v.).
iv. MARGARET, m. SIR RICHARD HERBERT, of Coldbrook (a. v.).
v. RHYS or REES, his heir, of whom presently.
vi. Another dau., m. JOHN, 4th son of WILLIAM HERBERT, Earl of
Pembroke {a. v.).
rii. DAVID 2d.
viii. JOHN.
bt. Possibly a second MARGARET, m. JOHN HERLE, of Brecknock.
Thomas ap Gruffydd's two elder sons, Morgan and David, became, immediately on their father's decease, warm partizans, on opposite sides, of the houses of York and Lancaster. When Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, after the overthrow of Queen Margaret at Tewkesbury, retired to Pembroke, accompanied by his nephew, Henry, Earl of Richmond, Morgan ap Thomas invested the castle, in order to prevent their escaping out of the country. Upon this David ap Thomas hastily collected together about two thousand men, armed any way,
1 Reusnenes says: '"One such daughter married apud Britones."
fell on the besiegers by surprise, obliged them to retire, and gave the Earl and his young charge an opportunity to escape to Tenby, whence they immediately sailed to Brittany. This is nearly all that is recorded of these two brothers. But both are said to have lost their lives in the Wars of the Roses.
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1429 - 1474 (45 years)
