Can anyone give me any idea when the Welsh system of using ap and ab
for son of started to give way to use of surnames?
Thanks in advance
Angie
The time at which the change from the Welsh to the English naming
pattern occurred depended on geography and social level, i.e. how
close the area was to English influence and how far up the social
scale the family was; the higher up the scale, the earlier the change
was likely to take place. An upper class Welsh family in an area
subject to English influence might have changed to fixed surnames as
early as the mid-sixteenth century, whilst a tenant farmer in a
remote part of Caernarvonshire or Anglesey could be clinging to the
patronymic system as late as 1870.
The difficulties for the genealogist arose during the period
immediately before the transition to a fixed English-style surname
when the situation was very confused and inconsistent.
Here are four examples given in 'Welsh Family History' ed. J Rowlands
-- the first three are from just south-west of Pwllheli,
Caernarfonshire, which indicate a patronymic system was operating
although ostensibly they are using fixed surnames.
1) The children of Robert Williams of Llanbedrog bore the final name
of Roberts in the 1841 census and Williams in the 1851 census.
2) In the 1851 census, Ellis Williams of Llanfihangel Bachellaeth had
five children with the final name of Ellis.
3) In 1862 the marriage took place in Llangian of Ellen Roberts,
daughter of Robert Jones.
4) In Cardiganshire Alban Thomas buried his infant children with the
final name of Thomas. He died in 1742 and his surviving sons grew up
and were known by the final name of Alban.
Another example from the upper Conway valley in Caernarvonshire where
the genitive 's' in Evans, Jones & Williams suggests a fixed surname
system and yet a modified patronymic system is still operating.
Lewis Evans m. Elizabeth Cadwalladr May 1742
|
Daughter: Gwen Lewis m. William Jones Sep 1779
|
Grand-daughter: Hugh Price m. Elizabeth Williams May 1806
|
G-grandson: Lewis Price m. Ellen Jones 1849
(But name on marriage certificate was Lewis Hughes)
--
Regards
Dick Jones
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. U.K. <rcjones(a)rmplc.co.uk>