A word about Wikipedia (it is free and needs our support – please donate
any time and especially when they are having a fund raiser!) – these
alphabetical reports to my family on the locations of our ancestors are best
described in words, maps, and pictures using this great resource. These alphabetical reports are a bit skeletal and need to be fleshed out by following the links provided. I am learning a lot about the lands of our forefather and mothers
and how their lives may have been shaped by these distinctive places.
Dacre, Cumberland, England (this small village is now in the Lake District National Park)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacre,_Cumbria
Open this link to see a very interesting history of Dacre.
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5066 This link let’s you easily see where Dacre is located.
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5066 This link let’s you easily see where Dacre is located.
The ancestor: Sir Randolph de Dacre 1240-1286 – this is my 20th
great grandfather and when the line reaches America it is one of our strong,
Quaker lines.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dacre-17
This link shows that our ancestor, Sir Randolph, was the Sheriff of Cumberland
and York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacre_Castle
Photo Dacre Castle by Jim Barton, Wikipedia
“D” is for . . .
Dyfed, Wales
ancestry.com tree said she was born in Dyvet and I see her father is Lord Dyvet. I could not find a mention of “Dyvet” online when looking for that location. Aha! I found it with the spelling “Dyfed” This is the place!
She is my 26th great grandmother and this is our first look at Wales. If you look at her
husband’s family you will see the early Tewdwr (or Tudor) that eventually
produces the kings and queens of England.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caernarfonshire
Here is a link to the county in Wales. This county wasn’t created until the
1200s but it shows a map and location. The place names would have been
there in the 900s. It says she was born in Llechwed Ucha, Dyfed,
Caernarvonshire, Wales. Each county is divided into ‘hundreds’ (or 100 acres).
Llechwed Ucha would be one of these Hundreds, Dyfed is the village (or castle with village).
This line goes back one more generation to her
father, Gwyn ap Rhytherich, Lord of Dyvet (Dyfed). In the Welch naming
tradition ‘ap Rhytherch’ would mean that he is the son of Rhytherch. His
daughter’s name is “Gwenllian verch” the word verch indicates 'daughter'. This line, like the
de Dacre family, comes down through our Quakers and to my father.
Looking in the
history of ‘Dyfed’ this is an interesting article of the ‘whoa variety’
of historical (or fictional) tales about Irish settling in this region of Wales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9isi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Dyfed
This article talks of Viking invasion at the time our ancestors were living
there. In the article you’ll see a lot of difficult names – Welch is a
very different language. The article mentions Cadell ap Rhodri. He is my 29th
GG. But, whereas, Gwyn and Gwenllian and Randolph are from my father’s
family. Cadell and his kin are from my mother’s family. It happens that their
families are in the same areas over and over – no wonder they were attracted to
each other and married.
Post-Roman Welsh petty
kingdoms. Dyfed is the promontory on the southwestern coast. The modern
Anglo-Welsh border is also shown.