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The Welsh Lineage
Compiled by Benjamin ap Wayne Bowen
Wales and the English concept of Counties and Shires.
From 1284 to 1536
It was the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 that first introduced the English concept of the county into Wales, dividing the former Welsh kingdom or principality of Gwynedd into the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfon and Merioneth. A similar development occurred in the royal territories of Cardigan and Carmarthen; in the north east the district of Flint (under the aegis of the palatinate of Chester) became a proto-county and something akin to a feudal county developed in both the territories of Glamorgan and Pembroke.
From 1536 to 1974
It was the Acts of Union 1536-1543 that brought about the Shiring of Wales and established what might be termed the thirteen historic counties of Wales, that is;
Anglesey - Sir Fôn
Breconshire or Brecknockshire - Sir Frycheiniog
Caernarfonshire or Carnarvonshire - Sir Gaernarfon
Carmarthenshire - Sir Gaerfyrddin
Cardiganshire - Sir Aberteifi
Denbighshire - Sir Ddinbych
Flintshire - Sir y Fflint
Glamorganshire - Sir Forgannwg
Merionethshire - Sir Feirionnydd
Monmouthshire - Sir Fynwy
Montgomeryshire - Sir Drefaldwyn
Pembrokeshire - Sir Benfro
Radnorshire - Sir Faesyfed
In general when considering the question of British counties, it is important to distinguish between the above as geographical entities and as political or administrative entities, since the principal towns in each shire were likely to be county boroughs and therefore independent of the administrative entity that was the 'county council'. As far as Wales was concerned, this only applied to Glamorganshire where the towns of Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea enjoyed county borough status and Monmouthshire where Newport was similarly blessed.
From 1974 to 1996
As a consequence of the Local Government Act 1972, on April 1st 1974 the thirteen historic counties were abolished and Wales was divided up into eight regions or upper-tier counties which listed below with their essential pre-1974 equivalent.
Clwyd - Flintshire and Denbighshire
Dyfed - Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire
Gwynedd - Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire
Powys - Brecknockshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire
Gwent - Monmouthshire
Mid Glamorgan
South Glamorgan
West Glamorgan
The Shiring of WalesThe name given to the provisions of the Acts of Union 1536-1543 by which the English system of dividing the country into shires or counties for the purposes of local government, the administration of justice and parliamentary representation was applied in Wales.
The Statute of Rhuddlan had partially applied this system to the former kingdom of Gwynedd (which was divided into Anglesey, Caernarfon, and Merioneth), and something akin to the English notion of a county had developed in the royal territories of Cardigan, Carmarthern and Flint. In addition the the marcher lordships of Pembroke and Glamorgan had developed into something like feudal proto-counties.
This process was now completed and extended to the rest of Wales, establishing a comprehensive system of counties; what might be termed the historic counties of Wales that survived until 1974 (in a political sense) and still have relevance today. If only because the county boundaries where nor arbitary but based firmly on the old Welsh divisions of cantref and commote.
As a result it effectively established the territorial boundaries of Wales although this was not the intention. As Wales and England were to be effectively united into a single legal jurisdiction, the boundary between the two did not matter. The method by which land was divided up between 'Welsh' and 'English' counties was purely administrative convenience; many former marcher lordships such as Oswestry and Ewyas were simply parcelled off into Shropshire and Herefordshire, and were therefore 'lost' from Wales.
The newly created counties created the basis for the formation of the circuits of the court system known as the Courts of Great Sessions, with twelve counties now grouped into four judicial circuits and the thirteenth, Monmouthshire, being linked with the Oxford circuit. (Which of course gave rise to the misguided notion, much prevalent in later centuries, that Monmouthshire was not part of 'Wales'.)
Along with this division into counties for the purposes of local government and the administration of justice came the provision of representation for Wales in parliament. One member of parliament was allocated for each county and one for each county borough, except that Merionethshire was not considered to have any town worthy of borough status and so Monmouthsire was given two county members. In 1543 Haverfordwest was made a parliamentary borough and hence Wales sent a total of thirty seven members of parliament.
The basis for the formation of the thirteen shire counties of Wales.
The counties of the principality of North Wales, that is
Anglesey
Caernarfonshire
Merionethshire
remainded unchanged except that Merionethshire now included the former marcher lordship of Mawddwy
In the other royal counties, that is
Cardiganshire
Carmarthenshire
Flintshire
Cardiganshire remained unchanged but Carmarthernshire was expanded to include lands on the eastern bank of the river Towy namely Cydwelli, Is Cennen and Llandovery, and Flintshire now included the marcher lordships of Ystrad Alun and Hawarden.
For the remainder of Wales shires were formed from the following marcher lordships;
Breconshire from Brecon Builth and Blaenllyfni
Denbighshire from Denbigh, Rhuthin Bromfield and Yale and Chirk
Glamorganshire from Glamorgan and Gower
Monmouthshire from Gwynllwg, Abergavenny, Monmouth, Usk, Caerleon and Chepstow
Montgomeryshire from Powys, Cedewain and Ceri
Pembrokeshire from Pembroke together with Pebidiog, Cemais, Cilgerran, Llawhaden, Wiston, Haverfordwest, Narnerth,
St Clares, and LaugharneRadnorshire from Gwrthernion, Elfael, Radnor and Maelienydd
SOURCE A History of Wales by John Davies
from :
Links to on-site pages
[ Our purpose : The Preamble ] [ Contents ][ Identifying persons named ] [ Locating places named ]
[ Extraction believed to have been done by Ken Bowen from the book "Ancestral Lines" by Carl Boyer. ]
[ Maps of Wales ] [ Wales : Counties and Shires ]
[ Bowens of Wales ] [ Bowen Sheriff's of Pembrokeshire, Wales : About Pembrokeshire ]
[ The Last Will and Testament of Richard Bowin, Sr. of Rehoboth Mass. June 4, 1675 ]
[ The Inventory of the Estate of Richard Bowen Sr. of Rehoboth Mass. June 4, 1675 ]
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