Message below forwarded to the Powys List on behalf of Cathy, whose address
is not subscribed to the List. Please respond directly to CathyHrmon(a)aol.com
as well as to the List.
John Ball, Brecon, Mid-Wales, UK
Joint Administrator - Powys (& BRE/MGY/RAD) RootsWeb mailing lists
----- Original Message -----
From: <CathyHrmon(a)aol.com>
To: <gary.glen.price(a)charter.net>; <PRICE(a)rootsweb.com>;
<POWYS(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 7:39 PM
Subject: Re: History and Regionality in Wales of the PRICE Surname and
itsVariants
To Gary Glen Price - thanks for the posting of such great information on
the
Price name variations in Wales! The info was great!
Cathy
In a message dated 5/24/2008 3:57:10 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
gary.glen.price(a)charter.net writes:
During the reign of King Henry VIII of England, the Acts of Union of 1536
and 1542 forcibly united Wales with England, prohibited all official use of
the
Welsh language, and required the Welsh to commence using surnames that
could
be recorded in English. Within Wales, there were regional differences in
how the historic Welsh naming system was translated into surnames. The
incorporation of the Welsh preposition "ap" (son of) as part of the surname
occurred with greatest relative frequency in the Welsh counties (shires)
closest to
England. According to research by John Rowlands (1999, Second Stages in
Researching Welsh Ancestry, chapter 11, page 168, figure 11-3), the highest
incidence occurred in Brecknockshire (Breconshire), where 25-30% of
surnames
incorporated "ap." Radnorshire, immediately to the north, where 20-25% of
surnames
incorporated "ap," was almost as high. One such surname is "AP RHYS"
or "AP
REES" and its anglicized variants (PREECE, PREES, PRICE, PRIEST, PRYCE,
etc.). Rowlands reports that "PRICE," which comprises 1.35% of surnames in
Wales
as a whole, has a "heavy concentration (up to 12%) in Breconshire and
Radnorshire" (1999, page 173).
The historical boundary between Brecknockshire / Breconshire (to the south)
and neighboring Radnorshire (to the north) was the River Claren. The River
Claren, coming from the west, flows into the River Wye, coming from the
northeast, at the following coordinate.
Confluence of River Claren & River Wye
52°16'45.27"N
3°30'58.56"W
This confluence is 1.42 miles south of the historic Mid-Wales market town,
Rhayader (Rhaiadr), Powys, UK.
The northernmost village in historical Brecknockshire (Breconshire) appears
to have been Llanwyrthl, which is located at the following coordinate.
Llanwyrthl, Breconshire, Powys, UK
52°15'44.51"N
3°30'7.13"W
The village of Llanwyrthl is located on the west bank of the River Wye, 1.3
miles SSE of the confluence of River Claren and River Wye.
Gary Glen Price