Dear Avie,
You will get plenty of replies on this one.
It used to be the case that there were no surnames in Wales but that has
died out except for a tiny minority. Ap means 'son of'.
Llywelyn the Great was Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. His father was Iorwerth ab
Owain Gwynedd. The ab was because of the vowel 'O'. Gradually, the English
forced them to use surnames. In between, the ap disappeared. e.g. my gggg
grandfather was Morris Jones but HIS father was John Thomas. (Jones means
son of John). And HIS father was Thomas Rowland.
On another line, my ggg grandfather was Williams. His Father was William
Evans and HIS father was Evan Williams.
The surname Bowen is from ab Owain. Probert is from ap Robert.
This system was the Patronymic system. If not clear, please ask anything.
Glyn
Glyn Jones FRPS
www.glynphoto.com
Remember Tryweryn
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----- Original Message -----
From: <WALES-GEN-D-request(a)rootsweb.com>
To: <WALES-GEN-D(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 4:02 PM
Subject: WALES-GEN-D Digest V02 #74