The topic of English immigration came up on the Powys mailing list in June 2000.
Tony Francis [email protected] said
Hi Malcolm, Seeing [an earlier message] reminded me:
John BEBB husband of Jane BREYNTON, Trefeglwys about 1642:[ ...]
daughter of Humphrey BREYNTON 1604-1662 & Catherine ____?;
aunt of Hester JARMAN, 2nd wife/husband John ASHTON 1667-1732
Arwystli was a lordship in western Montgomeryshire, following the Acts of
Union (1536-1543). According to the Rowlands' in "Second Stages in Researching Welsh Ancestry", "there was a significant in-migration of English families to Montgomeryshire and, in particular, to the lordship of Arwystli in western Montgomeryshire during the period 1572-1580. At that time, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, held the lordship of Arwystli, with other lordships, from the Crown." ["The Crown" being none other than the inimitable Elizabeth I herself! :-)This explains the presence of many of the [English names above MB]. Some of these families probably spoke both Welsh and English, as some were clerics (vicars), while others were "yeomen" with land, so would have much Anglo influence in their lives. They did not, however, limit their marriages to "English" spouses, as family members married LLOYD's, POWELL's, GITTEN's, HUGHES, BREES, HUMPHREYS, DAVIES, and so on. I do see a pattern, though, where the marriages seemed to be with people of the same social status, which was normal for those times.
David Peate of the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society took the subject further. David is very knowledgeable about Montgomeryshire, and Llanbryn-Mair in particular:
Re: BEBB, etc., ancestors
Dear Malcolm, Tony and Julie
An English plantation in Arwystli is too facile an explanation for the intrusion of English surnames in Montgomeryshire. The Tudor court case on which this premise is made forms an article which I had in Ninnau early in 1999. There was an equally significant incoming of English surnames in Cyfeiliog where names such as BREES, KNIGHT, HANCOCK, BATE, TIBBOTT and PEATE make early appearances. These were followed a century later in Cyfeiliog by DITCH, TART, IRISH and others. Many of the holders of these surnames moved gradually westwards across the county during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. PEATE and BEBB are associated particularly with Llanbryn-Mair but they were also in other more easterly parishes at an earlier period. Those who may be interested in these early English intrusions should most certainly read the article in the last volume (87) of the Montgomeryshire Collections of the Powysland Club (1999). Murray Chapman's article "An English Settlement in Western Montgomeryshire during the Tudor Period" is fascinating including as it does the earliest sighting of 'foreign' surnames which are derived from the gaol files from 1540. For instance, Thomas BEBB is recorded in 1554 in Hendidley in the parish of Llanllwchaiarn and John HAMER (not, surprisingly, on the Radnorshire/ Montgomeryshire border) but in Guilsfield in 1566.
Regards, David Peate
Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society
The reference to the Earl of Leicester is particularly interesting, since Leicestershire has been suggested as an early source of Bebbs. The similar Bubb and Bibb also seem to have their roots in the English Midlands, I have seen several references to them in that area. I recently did a little research for Ben Bibb, which showed Bibbs (1999) concentrated around Wolverhampton in the West Midlands.
Bebbs are also found in some numbers in the bordering county of Shropshire, where many are farmers (2000).
These observations generally tie in with each other, to provide an interesting line of enquiry.
Last updated on June 14, 2000
Return to Top