Yesterday I was delivered of my latest addition to my antique book collection. It is a very rare first edition of 'Mona Antiqua Restaurata' by Henry Rowlands printed in 1723. It's basically a history of the Isle of Anglesey (old name Mona) off the north west coast of Wales.
Towards the end of the book, right by what passed for an index back then, two pages of hand written script have been tipped in [carefully glued in at the inner edge] by a previous owner. What is written as an amazing account of a long deceased parishioner & his multitude of offspring. Here I have typed it out exactly as it appears though with some corrections/additions in square brackets. All spelling & grammar is as written. BTW, 'ferch' means daughter of & 'ap' means son of.
A true Coppy of a very remarkable Instance of old age and a numerous offspring, taken out of an old Register belonging to the Parish of Treganan, which is in the Rectory of Llangefni in the County of Anglesey and Transcribed into the new Register thereof for the satisfaction of Posterity.
There Died the 11th of March 1581 in the said Parish of Treganan in the said County of Anglesey one William ap Howel ap Yerwerth aged 105, he had been thrice married, his first wife was Ellen ferch Willain [sic], by her he had 22 children, the second wife was Katherin ferch Richard [&] by her he had 10 children, the third wife was Ellin ferch William now living; by her he had 4 children, he had also to[sic] concubines, the first was Jonet ferch William [&] by her he had 2 children and the other was Lecky Wye [?] and by her he had 5 children. His eldest son was Griffith ap William, now living aged 84.
He [the old man] has children’s children to the fourth generation in abundance, his youngest son is also called Griff ap William aged 2 years and a half, now living in the said Parish and the difference between the two [oldest & youngest] brothers is 81 years and [a] half, for the Eldest was of that age when the youngest son was born. His eldest daughter is called Alice ferch William aged 72. She has been twice marry’d and has a numerous offspring. There being living now of the old man’s offspring in the said Parish 80 persons and at his Funeral there was Computed to be about 300 persons that was descended from him. The said old man was of middle stature, of good complection [sic], never troubled with Cholick, gout or stone, seldom sick [&] of moderate Diet. [He] lived by Tillage, exercised himself much in fishing and fowleing, and had his senses perfect to the last.
Imagine being a young child with an 81 year old brother! I wondered if this was just a yarn but it appears to have some credible substance as found here...
St Caian's Church, Tregaian - Wikipedia
Here is the title page to the book and a picture of the tipped in script.
Hope you enjoyed....
Regards,
Jay.
Towards the end of the book, right by what passed for an index back then, two pages of hand written script have been tipped in [carefully glued in at the inner edge] by a previous owner. What is written as an amazing account of a long deceased parishioner & his multitude of offspring. Here I have typed it out exactly as it appears though with some corrections/additions in square brackets. All spelling & grammar is as written. BTW, 'ferch' means daughter of & 'ap' means son of.
A true Coppy of a very remarkable Instance of old age and a numerous offspring, taken out of an old Register belonging to the Parish of Treganan, which is in the Rectory of Llangefni in the County of Anglesey and Transcribed into the new Register thereof for the satisfaction of Posterity.
There Died the 11th of March 1581 in the said Parish of Treganan in the said County of Anglesey one William ap Howel ap Yerwerth aged 105, he had been thrice married, his first wife was Ellen ferch Willain [sic], by her he had 22 children, the second wife was Katherin ferch Richard [&] by her he had 10 children, the third wife was Ellin ferch William now living; by her he had 4 children, he had also to[sic] concubines, the first was Jonet ferch William [&] by her he had 2 children and the other was Lecky Wye [?] and by her he had 5 children. His eldest son was Griffith ap William, now living aged 84.
He [the old man] has children’s children to the fourth generation in abundance, his youngest son is also called Griff ap William aged 2 years and a half, now living in the said Parish and the difference between the two [oldest & youngest] brothers is 81 years and [a] half, for the Eldest was of that age when the youngest son was born. His eldest daughter is called Alice ferch William aged 72. She has been twice marry’d and has a numerous offspring. There being living now of the old man’s offspring in the said Parish 80 persons and at his Funeral there was Computed to be about 300 persons that was descended from him. The said old man was of middle stature, of good complection [sic], never troubled with Cholick, gout or stone, seldom sick [&] of moderate Diet. [He] lived by Tillage, exercised himself much in fishing and fowleing, and had his senses perfect to the last.
Imagine being a young child with an 81 year old brother! I wondered if this was just a yarn but it appears to have some credible substance as found here...
St Caian's Church, Tregaian - Wikipedia
Here is the title page to the book and a picture of the tipped in script.
Hope you enjoyed....
Regards,
Jay.
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