(1238–1283). Prince of Gwynedd. Third son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, younger brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last). Intermittently in conflict with his brother and in alliance with Edward I, but in 1282 started revolt against English dominance and assumed the style Prince of Wales after his brother’s death at Cilmeri. Hanged, drawn and quartered by Edward in 1283.

(c.1315–50) The greatest of the medieval Welsh poets.

Secretary of the North Wales Quarrymen’s. Union 1896. Great friend of Ellis, Tom and Edwards, Sir Owen M.

(1818–1890) Industrialist from Llandinam, Montgomeryshire. In 1887 he formed the Ocean Coal Company, which by 1914 was a major producer of steam coal in the Rhondda.

1880–1967), Methodist minister and author from Llandegla, near Wrexham.

(1905–1953). Miner, teacher and poet from Rhymni, Glamorgan.

Roman Catholic priest from Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire. Worked in north Wales during Elizabethan persecution of Catholics, and hanged, drawn and quartered for his priesthood at Beaumaris on 27 July 1593.

One of the leaders of the movement for Irish independence in the nineteenth century. Organiser of the Irish Land League.

Believers in the existence of a god, but who denied the revealed religion of Christianity.

That area of land which was worked directly by the lord of the manor’s servants.

Study of population sizes.

Leading gentleman of a county, one of those having certain military and other functions under the Lord Lieutenant.

The transfer of specified powers – here, from Westminster to Wales. There have been two referenda for the establishment of a Welsh Assembly to govern Wales with limited powers. The first, in 1979, rejected the proposals by 79.7% to 20.3% on a 58.8% turnout. The second, in 1997, accepted improved proposals by 50.3% to 49.7% on a 50.1% turnout.

See Devolution.

Board of Deacons or elected ‘middle management’ of nonconformist chapels.

The act of separating the Church in Wales from the Church of England which was the established Church.

Conservative MP from 1837. Prime Minister 1868 and 1874–80.

Nonconformity – conscientious refusal to accept the doctrines, ceremonies and order of the Church of England.

Henry VIII closed down the Roman Catholic monasteries in the 1530s. This was partly a consequence of his break with Rome, but mainly because he coveted their great wealth.

A steward or seneschal in Welsh administration; in Gwynedd he was the effective first minister of the prince.

Taking goods and household possessions away by force from people who would not or could not pay fines in money. Particularly associated with refusal to pay tithes in north Wales in the 1880s and 1890s.

One of the great mendicant orders of friars. Founded by St Dominic (1221). (See also Franciscans.)

In March 1834 six Dorchester labourers were sentenced to seven years' transportation to a penal colony in Australia for organising trade union activities in the Dorsetshire village of Tolpuddle. Great public demonstrations resulted eventually in the remittance of the sentences.

A widow’s share of her late husband’s property.

One of the four great ironworks of Merthyr Tydfil, along with Cyfarthfa, Penydarren and Plymouth (ironworks).

Christian Mirror. Published in 1585, at the height of the Elizabethan persecution of Catholics, the Drych contains key teachings of the Catholic Church in Welsh.