KEAR

 1         

KEAR family research

   Introduction.

   My wife, Elaine, is a KEAR.  She is descended from the KEARs of the Forest of Dean.  All of Elaine's ancestors were born, and lived and died in the Forest, up to the late 19^th century when her great grand-father, ELIJAH THORNTON KEAR ( 22 August 1867, Little Dean, Forest of Dean ) left his village and moved to Castleford in West Yorkshire.  Elijah worked in the coal mines of Castleford. Mining is in the KEAR blood and Elijah was carrying on the centuries old traditional KEAR occupation.  Elaines' brother, Warrick Kear, has researched their ancestry to the year 1540, to a GEORGE KERE, a brother of 'Yeoman' EDWARD KERE of the 'Bream Line' of Forest KEARs. Warrick used parish registers and statutory records and avoided anecdotal evidence, and thus relied on scholarship to prove family connections.  Anyone who has pursued family history is aware of the problem with anecdotal evidence.  It is problematic because it is offered by persons who prefer history as they want it to be rather than history as it is.  My own view, has, and always has been that a proposed family history or pedigree be chronologically stable, both standing alone and when integrated with every family said to be connected by marriage.  Ancient pedigrees are not proof of anyone's descent, and, when the burden of proof falls on me, the least I can provide is a pedigree that is chronologically stable and does not contradict the evidence from known grants, deeds, jury service and might be an accurate compilation.   

  My contribution to research concerning the ancient origin of the surname 'KEAR' comes on the coat – tails of the extensive research of Doctor David Kear ( NZ ), Barbara Owen ( UK ) and Averil Kear ( UK ).  The pages that I have put together must be regarded as a brief precis of their extensive research and Kear family researchers should turn to the published research of the aforementioned scholars.  The findings of their research can be found in the following publications; Barbara Owen's, James Kear of Cinderford and his forbears the KEARS of The Forest Of Dean ( Owen 1989 ); Doctor David Kear,  Forest Of Dean KEAR Families – Ancestry and Descendants ( Kear 2002 ) ; The Forest Of Dean KEARs – An Iron Age Family ( 'The New Regard' The Journal Of The Forest Of Dean Local History Society, Number 20, 2005 ), and Extracts From Forest Of Dean 'KEAR' Families Ancestry and Descendants ( May 2006 & December 2006 ).  A copy of Doctor David Kear's monumental Forest Of Dean KEAR Families – Ancestry and Descendants ( Kear 2002 ), has been deposited with the Gloucestershire Record Office.  Doctor Kear has produced a resource that ' aims to show the family relationships of all the 4,000 or so  known individuals, named 'Kear' at birth or by marriage, who were born before 1900.  Doctor Kear goes on to explain his research, 'It places over 95% of those who lived in the Forest Of Dean, and some 70% worldwide, into 100 or so 'Limbs' which together comprise the total Kear Family Tree.  It also includes a 108-page index giving the birth, marriage and / or deaths details of each of those individuals.  Although Kear's now live throughout Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand etc, virtually all have known or suspected roots back to the Forest Of Dean'.  The initial research into the origin of the KEAR surname as recorded in the Forest Of  Dean, was the idea of Doctor Kear's father, Harold Kear, who suggested that there might be an ancient root to the 'Kear' surname. Doctor David Kear explains ' The basic research has been a family affair.  It was begun by our father in the 1920s, and expanded during World War II through his collaboration with Bob Kear, his second cousin.  The work was continued by my sister Barbara Owen, and then by myself, with valuable help from my son Philip Kear and many others worldwide.  By far the most important among the latter has been Averil Kear of the Forest Of Dean  Local History Society, and lately of the Gloucestershire Record Office. The primary  sources  for KEAR was church registers, deeds, wills and census returns deposited at the Gloucestershire Record Office and the Gloucestershire Collection at the City Library.  Barbara Owen comments on the problematic nature of the sources, 'Some items are tantalisingly brief and establish only a date and a name, and if lucky a place....' (  Owen 1989 ).  Doctor Kear adds, 'The research involved all the sources, pitfalls, frustrations, triumphs, and skeletons, so familiar to all family historians' .( Kear 2005 ).  After years of research by using all available sources available to the family historian it seemed the KEAR surname research would never be progressed farther than the year 1565/6 when Edward Kear married Johanna White. Doctor Kear makes this comment regarding the entry for Edward's marriage in the parish register,' The marriage record 'miraculously escaped the rodent attack by about a quarter of an inch.  His table tomb was the second oldest, by a few months, of those still standing, in Newland Churchyard at the time of Bigland's survey ( 1792 ).  Its inscription is still legible, recording his death as on 26 February 1613.  That Edward was a yeoman ( landowner ) born about 1540 at the time of Henry VIII.  Both Edward, and one of his sons, held the important mining position of Deputy Gaveller, the official who was essentially responsible for the effective running of the Forest's important mining industry in those days.  The period before 'Yeoman Edward', and more particularly before parish records, demanded a new approach.  Wills and other legal documents, particularly regarding land transfers, provided most of the input, but the methodology became one of a logical approach which attempted to squeeze every drop of knowledge from every scrap of data',( Kear 2005 ).   The 'logical approach' is a method of research I will return to when I present my argument concerning the Welsh ancestry of the KEAR folk.  The question for Doctor Kear and Barbara was 'what evidence is there for earlier KEAR presence in the Forest?'  It was Barbara Owen who proved instrumental in furthering the KEAR research to an earlier time in the lives of the inhabitants of the Forest Of Dean.  Barbara came across an entry in Cyril Hart's,  The Regard of the Forest of Dene in 1282. Translation, Comments and Notes. ( 1987 ).  In that publication, an Adam de Keyrlun is stated to having operated for two years ( in 1282 ) one of eight forges in the Staunton Bailiwick.

  Was it possible that the Adam de Keyrlun referenced in Hart, who dates that individual to c1235 AD, ( 1987 ) was the progenitur of the

Kears of the Forest of Dean?  Let's remind ourselves of Harold Kear's initial idea concerning the origin of the KEAR surname.  Barbara Owen writes that it was her father, Harold Kear, who 'had an idea that the name ( KEAR )is a corruption of the Welsh 'CAER', and that the first people to whom it was attached acquired it because they lived at a place called the caer or castle ( or KAIR or some other corruption )'.( Owen 1989 ).  All of the consequent KEAR surname research following Harold Kear's initial idea  was underpinned by the desire to to show that the KEARs of the Forest Of Dean, and its environs, were of Welsh extract and connected to a place-name prefixed 'Caer'.  Research to date lends credence to Harold Kear's initial idea of the 1920s.  We are now in a position where we can assume that most, almost all, Forest of Dean KEARs were descended from Adam de Keyrlun ( c.1220 AD my date ), who presumably brought an iron-making capability to the Forest from Caerleon in south Wales in the thirteenth century.  There is evidence showing an individual named MORGAN de KARLIUN being granted Dymock Manor by King Henry III after 1222, and died in 1246, ( Morgan de Caerleon born c.1185 and alive in 1235 AD.  His pedigree is cited in the mediaeval manuscript 'ACHAU BRENHINOEDD A THYWYSOGION CYMRU' ).

  At least two documents show Morgan ap Howel's name as Morgan de Kerlyun, so there is no doubt that it was he who was granted Dymock., ( Originalia Rolls doc. E371 National Archives, Kew ).  Morgan de Karliun's steward is named Adam ap Iorwerth or Adam Gwent, ( c.1190 AD ), whose father had been steward to Morgan's predecessor, suggesting a close relationship between the families.  This part of the evidence for accepting that Adam de Keyrlun ( so close to the spelling of Morgan de KERLYUN ) was the same person as Adam Gwent's son Adam Fychan, who had land interests in the Tidenham area.  Although Bradney is silent as to a title for Adam Fychan, I would think he was Lord of Beachley since his son, Sir John ap Adam Fychan is styled 'Lord of Beachley and Beverston'.  The family of another of Adam Gwent's sons settled in the nearby Woolaston area.  It is not known where in the Staunton Bailiwick was Adam de Keyrlun's forge, but that Bailiwick apparently extended SE from the Coleford-Clearwell area of the Forest- ie towards the Tidenham-Woolaston area.  Several records exist of a reeve of Alweredston ( Tidenham-Woolaston area ) in 1285-90 named 'Odo Kere'.  'Odo' is assumed to have been also a son of Adam Gwent, his original name of de Keyrlun being contracted to KERE as Adam's had been.  He is accepted as a younger brother of Adam, but it is not impossible that Odo was a further alias of the one person already known as Adam Fychan or Adam de Keyrlun.

Note about the meaning of the Welsh 'Fychan'.

The Welsh word 'Fychan' actually means 'little' in the sense that a same- named child of Adam Gwent would be 'little Adam' to distinguish him from his father.  Not in the sense of physical stature; a short man was called 'Bach'.  Fychan is pronounced VAW kun and came to be used much like the English 'junior'.  Many Welsh families adopted the nickname as their surname, spelling it Vaughn or Vaughan.  The English smoothed its pronunciation to VAWN.  There was a nickname given which meant 'the younger' but it was Ieuanc.

  Others named KYRIE from the coastal area ( Tidenham ) and KAI(E)R from Pentyrch ( Cardiff area ), are all thought to have been descendants of yet other sons of Adam Gwent.  They were the only other early KEAR-like names.  Thus all known 'Forest of Dean KEARs' are assumed to have descended from that Adam, who appears to have had connections with iron-smelting in Caerleon judging by his Coat of Arms of three pheons ( spearheads ) on a band.  Adam de Keyrlun ( alias Fychan and perhaps even Odo ) is considered as their legendary Patriarch because he was the first of the early family to have an association with the Forest of Dean, and is more certainly the KEARs ancestor.  His name 'KEYRLUN' was shortened at both ends to 'KEYR', and thence evolved through 'KERE', 'KEERE', 'KEARE, and even 'CARE' to the modern 'KEAR'.   Because Adam de Keyrlun was the first with the name in the Forest he has come to be considered the patriarch of all Forest of Dean 'Kears'. Doctor Kear suggests that, 'any identification of earlier individuals in the family is merely speculative, and at this point ( the twelfth century ) Kear genealogy ( essentially about individuals ) should perhaps be considered as concluded, ( although some might consider that Adam Gwent's father Iorwerth, and his grandfather Caradog, born about 1120 AD, might be permissible genealogical additions ).( Kear 2005 ).

  It is at this point that I turn to my argument concerning the ancestry of Adam Gwent.  My argument is based on Bradney's A History Of Monmouthshire ( 1923, re-issued 1993 ); Kari Maund and Wendy Davies et al and a 'logical approach' to my research.  I have seen no source other than Bradney's that gives the ancestry of Adam Gwent., ( Bradney 1923, p 218 ).It is set out thus; Adam Gwent's father as Iorwerth ap Caradog, steward to Iorwerth ap Owen ( father of Howel, Lord of Carlleon ) ap Meurig ap Pyll ap Briavel ap Caradog ap Rhiwallon. My dates for the births of Adam Gwent's ancestors are thus,( starting with the earliest recorded ancestor ); Rhiwallon ( c.965 AD, of Penrhos, upper Gwent ); Caradog ( c.995 AD, of Penrhos,upper Gwent ); Breichol ( c.1030 AD, of Penrhos, upper Gwent ); Pyll ( c.1060 AD, of Penrhos, upper Gwent ); Meurig (c.1090 AD, of Penrhos, upper Gwent ); Caradog ( c.1125 of Penrhos, upper Gwent ); Iorwerth ( c. 1160 AD, of Penrhos, upper Gwent ); Adam Gwent ( c. 1190 AD of Caerleon, Gwent ).  Adam Gwent's son, Adam Fychan, (c.1220 ) and living in 1249 AD, had a son Sir John ap Adam who ( p. 219 ) 'married Elizabeth, only child and heir of John de Gournay, with whom he held a large estate comprising the manors of Beverston and Beachley in Gloucestershire, originally part of the estates of the Lords Berkeley'.  Sir John was summoned to Parliament in 1296 and died soon after 1310 with his son Thomas 'under age'.  Sir John ap Adam, otherwise known as Lord John ap Adam, was present at the Battle of Falkirk, July 1298.  I will return to Lord John ap Adam and the record concerning his involvement in the battle of Falkirk July 1298.

  Clearly they, ( Adam Gwent's ancestry ),  were of noble Cymry stock or else they would not have been given daughters of the royal family in Gwent as wives.  I doubt the paternal manor of Penrhoscould have been received as a grant for services to the Caerleon princes since it was located inSkenfrith in upper Gwent.  Thus my own belief is that the ancestry of Adam Gwent originated in Penrhos in upper Gwent and moved to Caerleon in the 12^th century. As previously stated, I find no sources other than Bradney for the family of Adam Gwent, but, by a study of the lands held by him and his descendants and of the marriages cited for them I arrived at my conclusion, which is, Adam Gwent was probably descended from a junior cadet of the ruling families in Gwent and Glamorgan, all of whom I trace to Owain ap King Morgan Hen.  That Owain had three sons;

l      Hywel, born c.940 AD whose eldest son Meurig, was the father of Cadwgan father of Ynyr. The latter, born c.1030, ruled upper Gwent from Abergavenny when the Norman knight Drew de Baladon came to conquer it.  I suggest Gwaethfoed ap Gwyn ( descended from the Powysian family of Tegonwy ap Teon ) then ruled the area just east of Ynyr and was seated at Monmouth.  Rather than fighting for their lands, de Baladon married one of his daughters to a son of Ynyr ( Ynyr Ddu married Jois de Baladon ) and another recently widowed daughter married Sir Gwyn ap Gwaethfoed,

l       Idwallon was the father of Ithel Ddu whose grandson, Iestyn ap Gwrgan, ruled the portion

of Morgannwg west of Gwent,

l      Iestyn was the father of Rhydderch ( d.1033 ) who ruled lower Gwent. 

  ( note: Various historians and mediaeval genealogists, anxious to glorify the lineage of Rhodri Mawr, claimed this Iestyn was a son of Owain ap Hywel Dda.  But that Gwynedd/Deheubarth family never ruled any of the old Silurian lands in southeast Wales ).  Therefore, I have tentatively attached Rhiwalllon ( c.965 AD ), ancestor of Adam Gwent, as a younger son of Hywel ap Owain ap King Morgan Hen.  His manor in Penrhos, upper Gwent, seems to indicate a connection to that branch of the family even though his immediate ancestors are found in service to the Iestyn branch seated at Caerleon.  There is no single source for the families that descended from Morgan Hen.  Various charters in the Book of LLan Dav  mention Rhys and Cadwgan, sons of Meurig ap Hywel who most scholars ( including Kari Maund ) identify as Hywel ap Owain ap Morgan Hen.  Many of the pedigrees concerning Iestyn ap Gwrgan continue as'ap Ithel Ddu ap Idwallon ap Morgan Hen', while others offer 'Gwrgan ap Ithel Ddu ap Owain ap Morgan Hen'.  Both versions are a full generation too short to reach from a c.1040 AD Iestyn to a c.880 AD Morgan Hen.  If you assume each omitted a different ancestor, then 'Iestyn ap Gwrgan ap Ithel Ddu ap Idwallon ap Owain ap Morgan Hen is a reasonable construct.  With that construct, it posits sons Hywel and Idwallon for Owain ap Morgan Hen.  While many sources follow the family of Iestyn ap Gwrgan in the western part of Glamorgan, virtually all of them start the 10^th and 11^thcentury rulers in Gwent with Ynyr of c.1030 and Rhydderch ap Iestyn of c.975.  Knowing that the ancestors of Morgan Hen were primarily Gwentian kings, I concluded that both Ynyr and Iestyn ( father of Rhydderch ) must represent other branches of his family.  Since no sources identify the grandsons of Meurig ap Hywel ( only the sons ) Ynyr must have been such a grandson; he occurs at the right time but whether his father was Cadwgan or Rhys is merely a guess.  I opted for Cadwgan as he seemed to be the older of the three brothers based on mentions in the LLAN DAV charters. Iestyn, father of Rhydderch occurs c.945 and he both fits as a third son of Owain ap Morgan Hen and gives us three such sons for the three main kingdoms in south-east Wales.  My opinion is that Penrhos was a part of the patrimony of Hywel ap Owain ap Morgan Hen that went to the younger son, who I suggest was Rhiwallon, who sits atop the pedigree of Adam Gwent.  That patrimony likely included more land in upper Gwent which, went via gavelkind over the succeeding generations, left only Penrhos to Iorwerth ap Caradog, the father of Adam, ( under the law of 'Gavelkind', the youngest son was entitled to the residence of his father irrespective of how the remainder of the father's land was divided between his brothers ).  Caradog may have held other lands and had other sons, so it is at least possible that Iorwerth was not the eldest son.  We only know that Penrhos eventually came to Adam Gwent and had once been held by his grandfather, Caradog.  Bradney described the property of 'Penrhos Fwrdios', at the head of moorland, close to the Afon Lwyd ( River Lwyd ).  He then gave the 'pedigree shewing descendants  of Adam Gwent in the male line', commencing with Adam's father Iorwerth ap Caradoc, and wrote: 'In the thirteenth century Penrhos was held by one Adam ap Iorwerth, generally referred to as Adam Gwent, who was steward to Morgan ap Howel the last of the Welsh princes at Caerlleon.  In 1246 Adam obtained from King Henry III a charter confirming lands he held from his father ( Iorwerth c.1160 AD ) and grandfather ( Caradoc c.1125 AD ), and by gift from Morgan ap Howel, in Llefenedd, Caerlleon and Edlogan' ( lands northwards from Carleon towards Usk, and southwards towards the sea to the east of the river Usk ), ( Bradney 1923, re-issued 1993 ).

  In reviewing the sources for the marriage of the legitimate but unnamed daughter of Adam Gwent,

I came across GRUFFUDD AP HYWEL, ( Bradney Vol III, part 2, pp, 218-20 ).  Bradney shows PENRHOS going to this daughter and casts a pedigree on page 220 saying she married GRONWY FYCHAN ap GRONWY ap RHIRYD FLAIDD.  He shows this marriage had only a single child,

JOAN, who married GRUFFUDD TEW AP HYWEL descended from RHYS GOCH Lord of YSTRAD YW in BRYCHEINIOG born c.1270 AD.  The pedigree of the Williams family of PENRHOS FWRDIOS is found in Bradney’s History of Monmouthshire, Vol 3, part 2, p 220.  It shows ADAM GWENT’S unnamed daughter marrying GRONWY FYCHAN and their daughter, JOAN marrying GRUFFUDD TEW.  Their son, DAFYDD had a son named HYWEL GAM and through him PENRHOS passed to THOMAS WILLIAMS.  GRUFFUDD TEW  descended from RHYS GOCH of YSTRAD YW.  The RHYS GOCH family were from YSTRAD YW in BRYCHEINIOG and while next door to upper Gwent, they never ruled anything there.  GRUFFUDD TEWS arms are ‘Argent, a dragon’s head erased vert, holding in the mouth a sinister hand couped at the wrist proper’.  It seems a variation of those arms were adopted by the William’s family as ‘argent, 3 wyvern’s heads vert, in their mouth hands couped at the wrist proper’. ( PAPWORTH’S ORDINARY, p 937 ).  I have seen no pedigrees which indicate that JOAN ferch GRONWY FYCHAN remarried after GRUFFUDD TEW was hanged, nor that the couple had a child other than DAFYDD who inherited PENRHOS.

CARADOG (c.995 AD) ap RHIWALLON ( c. 965 AD ) and VILLA GUNNUC in

GWARTHA CWMM.

  Among the LLAN DAV charters is one which Wendy Davies dates to 1075, but Kari Maund believes may be as early as 1071.  It was made by Caradog ap Rhiwallon on his deathbed, supposedly to atone for his earlier slaying of his brother, Cynan.  The plot of land given to the church at Llandaff is called VILLA GUNNUC in GWARTHA CWMM.  Both Wendy Davies and Melville Richards identify that as LLANGWM ISAF in Usk in lower Gwent.  Caradog ap Rhiwallon also appears in a couple of earlier charters as a witness, but in that one Davies dates to c.1045, he also grants lands to the church called LLANPETYR in HENNRIU.  This is said to be LLANBEDR – YN – HENRHIW in the parish of LANGSTONE, commote of LLEBENYDD,hundred of Caldicot.  In the grant, Caradog describes himself as 'Comes' of king Meurig.  This would be Meurig ap Hywel ap Owain ap Morgan Hen, king of upper Gwent.  Recall that I ( without any source authority ) made Rhiwallon, at the top of Adam Gwent's pedigree, a brother of this Meurig.  It thus seems quite reasonable that a son of Meurig's younger brother would be a soldier in his warband, and depending on how you define 'Comes', perhaps even the leader of that warband.  To me, this is more evidence pointing to Adam Gwent having been descended from a junior cadet of the ruling family in upper Gwent.  I date his ancestor, Caradog ap Rhiwallon, to c.995/1000 AD or in his 40s when the charter was issued.  This is also consistent with him being onhis deathbed in the 1070s.  The ancestors of Adam Gwent probably held extensive lands in Gwentin the 11^th century, his inheritance of Penrhos only indicates how 'gavelkind' usually carved up large holdings to provide a piece for each succeeding generation.  While Kari Maund expresses her doubts about it, that c.1045 charter claims the gift was to atone for Caradog's part in the purported sin of King Meurig against one of his men, Seisyll ap Gistlerth.  Meurig had confessed to violating the sanctuary of LLANDAFF to seize the wife of that Seisyll, for which act he had been excommunicated.  Meurig sought pardon, restored the woman and gave the church some land. The text of Caradog's grant indicates he abetted that act as the 'Comes' of King Meurig.

  Note regarding the meaning of 'Comes'.

  Doctor M L Bierbrier in his piece New Developments In Medieval Genealogy gives valuable insight into the meaning of 'Comes'.  Bierbrier noticed the use of the title 'Comes' in post Domesdaydocuments, eg, 'Comes' of various locations, but occasionally the Comes ( Earl ) is found under his own name such as de Redvers, Comes.'  With Bierbrier's comments in mind I will render 'Caradog as the 'Comes' of King Meurig' as 'Caradog the Earl of King Meurig'.

( see Genealogists' Magazine Journal of the Society of Genealogists, Volume 27 Number 10 June 2003 p,466 ).

                             ADAM GWENT ( c. 1190 AD ) and THE LORDS OF CAERLEON

  At this point in my account of Adam Gwent's ancestry I will turn to the ruling family in Caerleon in lower Gwent – the Lords of Caerleon.  If we follow the inheritance trail for Adam Gwent's children, it will be clear that his mother was ALIS ferch SIR BLEDDYN BROADSPEAR, Lord of LLANLLOWEL.  Bradney references the ancestry of Adam Gwent.  Adam's ancestry appears as anappendage to the history of the senior line in lower Gwent – the Lords of Caerleon, and using  Bradney as the source authority, Iorwerth ap Caradog is the earliest of Adam Gwent's family known to have lived in Caerleon.  My opinion is Iorwerth ( c.1160 AD the father of Adam Gwent ), moved to Caerleon, from Penrhos to marry Alis ferch Bleddyn Broadspear and it would explain why Iorwerth landed a high position at the court at Caerleon, depending on which came first, his position or his marriage. A fresh analysis of the inheritance trail makes it reasonable to presume that Alis ferch Sir Bleddyn Broadspear is the mother of Adam Gwent.  Alis brought the manors of LLANLLOWEL and BEACHLEY to her husband ( and children ).  You will find LLANLLOWELbeing inherited by CYNHAETHWY a base son of Adam Gwent and BEACHLEY given to ADAM FYCHAN, another base son.  If both these sons were sired out of wedlock, as Bradney claims, it seems much more likely that any lands which had been the ancestral manors of Alis ferch Bleddynwould have gone to her children.....not to sons of her husband by a mistress.  By making Alis the wife of Iorwerth ap Caradog, then her son was ADAM GWENT and it makes sense he would inherit his mother's lands and Adam's children received the lands on marriage.  As for Alis's father, BLEDDYN BROADSPEAR, I have not seen a source that identifies his ancestry.  It is my belief he was a son of MORGAN ap OWAIN WAN of lower Gwent.  This was only arrived at because BLEDDYN'S lands were a part of the territory known to have been ruled by the aforementioned MORGAN.  The LLYFR BAGLAN, 79, 215 and 323; DWNN I, 196, 292 and 312 all cite ALIS ferch BLEDDYN BROADSPEAR and most of those that mention his lands call him Lord of LLANLLOWEL and BEACHLEY.  LLANLLOWEL ( or LLANLLYWEL ) was located in USK in lower Gwent, the latter being the patrimonial lands given to Morgan ap Owain Wan.  By the time Adam Gwent died, he held his ancestral manor of PENRHOS which he gave to his only legitimate daughter.  But he also held lands recently acquired from his mother and from grants by the royal family of Caerleon which he served.  It was these estates which he settled on his out-of-

wedlock children when they married. 

  Sir John ap Adam ap Adam Fychan ap Adam Gwent

  Bradney shows Adam Gwent's son, Adam Fychan ( c.1220 ) living in 1249, had a son, namely, Sir John ap Adam, ( P,219 ).  I date his birth c.1255 AD.  Sir John ap Adam was an enforcer for King Edward I and was summoned to Parliament and to military service as a Baronet ( he was required to bring men with him ) several times between 1297 and 1307.  Sir John ap Adam Fychan is called John Abadam in a 1297 entry in Parliamentary Writs, p 292.   A writ dated 30 March 1298 summoning him ( along with about 50 others ) to attend the King in York with horses and arms on the feast of Pentecost.  The list of names is alphabetical and he is first as JOHANNI ab ADAM, ( the item on John ap Adam summoned to York is described in Printed  Parliamentary Writs, Vol I, p310 ).   Further evidence for Sir John ap Adam can be found in Writs of Parliament, Francis Palgrave Ed, Vol 2, published 1827.  This volume contains 27 writs dated from 1297 to 1307 which name John ap Adam ( in various forms of his name).  Most are either summonses to Parliament or to perform military service for the King.  A writ dated 25^th May 1298 appears in Vol I, pp, 310-11.  The writ is in latin and is addressed to 68 men including John ap Adam mandating them to appear at York and to bring four men each, together with horses and arms, for military service against the Scots.  John ap Adam appears 39^th on the list which is not in alphabetical order.  The list that is in alphabetical order is the ALPHABETICAL DIGEST OF PERSONS which begins on page 421.  This is an index showing dates, descriptions and page numbers where each man is named.  The first name in this list is AB ADAM or AP ADAM, JOHN.  There is an entry for Sir John ap Adam in The Falkirk Roll of Arms, held in The British Museum.  It is described as 'Roll of Arms of the Commanders on the English side at The Battle of Falkirk'.  The arms he bore, as described in Roll of Arms of Knights at Falkirk are also ascribed to BLEDDYN BROADSPEARE, ( see PAPWORTH'S ORDINARY ARMS).  Finally he is mentioned in the Falkirk Roll of Arms asJOHAN DE BADHAM.  This has been translated into english and the full entry reads, 'John ap Adam Baron of Beverstone Sal. 1297. Summon to Parl. 1299.  L. POPE 1301 ( letter to the POPE ),OB, C.1309.  Argent on a cross gules, 5 mullets or the mullets are sometimes pierced'.A list of arms is included in 'Parliamentary Writs' and on page 411 is SIRE JOHN DE BADDEHMfollowed by the same arms.

 It appears Sir John ap Adam made a claim for a horse lost at battle.    He is called DNS Johannes de Badeham, ( The Roll of Horses – Exchequer QR Army 26 Edward I22/20 ).   Which proves it wasn't a total disaster for the Scots, they did kill Sir John's horse!!

  Bradney says Adam Fychan received BEACHLEY from his father, and that land was held by SirJohn ap Adam and his son, Thomas.  Sir John John ap Adam obtained BEVERSTON by his marriage to its heiress, ELIZABETH DE GOURNAY.  Another source says 'Elizabeth De Gournay carried the BEVERSTON property to LORD JOHN AP ADAM in 1287', ( and ) 'conveyed the manor of Barrow Gurney in marriage to Sir John Ap Adam, Lord of Beverston'.  There are two publications that give precise year dates for the marriage of ELIZABETH DE GOURNAY to SIR JOHN AP ADAM.  The STRIGULENSIA gives the following information about that marriage,'The heiress ( ELIZABETH DE GOURNAY ) had been united to her husband, SIR JOHN AP ADAM, before the death of her father, which took place in 19 EDWARD I......'   By using EDWARD I reign, ( 1272-1307 ), as a stable time line ELIZABETH DE GOURNAY married SIR JOHN AP ADAM in 1291.  Another source entitled COLLECTIONS FOR A PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF BARROW GURNEY gives the following information regarding their marriage,'ELIZABETH DE GOURNAY,who by her marriage to SIR JOHN AP ADAM 19 Lord of Beverston and Kingweston, when only sixteen years of age, carried Barrow to that family...'  That would makeELIZABETH DE GOURNAY'S birth date 1275.  According to my guesstimate for SIR JOHN AP ADAM's birth year ( c.1255 ), then he would have been 36 years old when he married the 16 year old ELIZABETH DE GOURNAY.  I estimate the birth year for their child THOMAS AP ADAMas 1299, based on report that he came of age in the 13 of EDWARD II reign, ( 1307-1327 ).ELIZABETH's father, JOHN DE GOURNAY is reported to have lived 1261 to 1291.  That would mean  JOHN DE GOURNAY was aged 14 years when he fathered ELIZABETH.  I find  it improbable, not impossible.  In respect to age difference at marriage, EDWARD I married ELEANOR when she was aged 13 and himself aged 15, ( they married 1 November 1254 ).EDWARD's second marriage was to MARGUERITE OF FRANCE when he was aged 60 and his bride was aged 17, ( they married 10 September 1299 ).  

The ancestry of Elaine Covington ( nee Kear )

  Barbara Owen's research revealed a WILLIAM KEERE of NEWLAND in 1366 ( Owen 1989 ).

Eventually, 'two WILLIAM KEARS were identified both of whom were born around 1330-1335.It was discovered that one of those two WILLIAM KEARS who lived near NEWLAND, had a son JOHN, who became the first of a succession of six eldest sons named JOHN KEAR ( with various spellings of the surname ).  They were born between about 1365 and 1505.  The youngest is thought to have been 'YEOMAN EDWARD'S' father..........'For the period immediately before the two WILLIAMs, data is scarce.  However, one or other of the WILLIAMs is assumed to have been either the son of GILBERT KYRIE of LYDNEY ( born about 1300 ), or grandson of ROBERT KEERE of TIDENHAM ( born about 1270 )( Kear 2005 ).  If David Kear's assumption regarding the descent of the WILLIAM KEAR grandson of ROBERT KEERE of TIDENHAM is correct, then, a timeline to ADAM GWENT of CAERLEON can be presented thus:

ADAM GWENT of CAERLEON (  c. 1185-90 AD )

(  the  father of )

                                        ADAM FYCHAN aka ADAM DE KEYRLUN ( c. 1220 AD )

                                                                     ( the father of two sons )

                                                      SIR JOHN AP ADAM FYCHAN ( c.1255 – 1310 AD )

                                                      ROBERT KEERE of TIDENHAM ( c. 1260/70 )

 According to Owen, 'the earliest definite trace of the family name in Gloucestershire occurs in 1306 when ROBERT KEERE was a free tenant, holding 7 and half acres of land in the manor of Tudenham ( now Tidenham ) for which he paid 2s.6d per annum to the Lord of the manor, Roger le Bigod, Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk...................the size of his holding suggests that this Robert was engaged in some kind of husbandry'.( Owen 1989 ).  David Kear says, 'Certainly, following the decline of Caerleon, some of ( that ) ADAM GWENT's sons and grandsons moved into the area along the northern bank of the Seven estuary around Tidenham and Lydney – the area which is broadly topographically below the Staunton Bailiwick.' ( 2005 ).   

ROBERT KEERE ( c.1260/70 ) had an unknown son born c.1305.  That unknown son was father to WILLIAM KEERE ( c.1335 ),who married JOHANNE and established the CHURCHEND, 'EDWARD' and BREAM TREES.  WILLIAM KEERE and JOHANNE, 'who lived near NEWLAND, had a son JOHN, who became the first of a succession of six eldest sons named JOHN KEAR ( with various spellings of the surname ).  They were born between about 1365 and 1505.  The youngest is thought to have been 'YEOMAN EDWARD'S' father.........' ( Kear 2005 ).  'YEOMAN EDWARD'S' younger brother was GEORGE KEAR ( KERE ), born 1549 who married ELIZABETH PARTRIDGE in the year 1573 in NEWLAND.  GEORGE was buried 20 June 1627, NEWLAND.  GEORGE and ELIZABETH's son HENRY KEAR ( KERE ) was baptized 14 April1576, NEWLAND.  HENRY'S son, JOHANES ( JOHN ) KEAR was born about 1603, NEWLAND AND MARRIED JOAN.  Their son, JOHANES ( JOHN ) KEAR was born about 1631, NEWLAND.  JOHANES' son JOHN KEAR born 1659, NEWLAND married MARIAM 24 October1683, NEWLAND.  Their son, JOHN KEAR, baptized 24 July 1695, NEWLAND married ELIZABETH THOMAS 25 August 1723, NEWLAND.  Their son WILLIAM KEAR, baptized 1726, NEWLAND married ELEANOR in 1747 BREAM.  Their son ENOCH KEARE baptized 1771, BREAM, married HANNAH HAWKINS 29 November 1796, NEWLAND.  Their son, ENOCH KEAR, baptized 14 September 1800, BREAM married MARY BALDWIN 21 August 1824 ST BRIAVELS.  Their son ELIJAH KEAR born 15 October 1837 WHITECROFT, WEST DEAN married ANN PHILLIPS 25 December 1862, ST JOHN'S CHURCH , RUSPEDGE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.  Their son ELIJAHTHORNTON KEAR born 22 AUGUST 1867 LITTLE DEAN FOREST OF DEAN married CLARA MASON 10 FEBRUARY 1889, PARISH CHURCH, CASTLEFORD, YORKSHIRE.  Their son HAROLD KEAR born 8 DECEMBER 1898, CASTLEFORD, YORKSHIRE married DORIS SYKES 7 MAY 1921 CASTLEFORD, YORKSHIRE.  Their son HAROLD RENWICK KEAR born 3 JULY 1927 CASTLEFORD, YORKSHIRE is the father of ELAINE KEAR born 21 NOVEMBER 1952 CASTLEFORD YORKSHIRE.