Monday, June 16, 2008

Gwatkin One-Name Study

Gwatkin One-Name Study: "The earliest use of Gwatkin and its variants that I have found is in 1428, when Thomas ap Gwatkyn is described as living at or owning land known as Tyre Nest in the area of Woluesnewton, Usk, Monmouthshire (Badminton Deeds, National Library of Wales).

Surnames, in the sense in which we use them now, came into use gradually in Wales and the Welsh border counties over the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The first use of Gwatkin that resembles the use of a surname that I have identified is in 1543 in Monmouthshire, when, on the 21st of April, a prenuptial agreement was made before the marriage of William Herbert of Monmouthshire and Jane ap Gwatkin, daughter of John Thomas ap John of Langattoke iuxta Veke, gent. and widow of James ap Gwatkin of Lanthewy Rothergh (Milborne Manuscripts, National Library of Wales)."

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