Elissau ap Gruffyd

Ellis ap Griffith (c.1440 – 1489) or Elissau ap Gruffudd, was the Baron of Gwyddelwern in Denbighshire, Wales, and the Governor of Penllyn. His granduncle was Owen Glendower, Prince of Wales. Following his family defeat during the Glyndwr Rising, his branch inherited the co-representation of the Royal House of Powys, and were immortalized by William Shakespeare in the history play Henry IV. Through his mother Lowrie, he inherited the lordship of his grandfather, Tudor Glendower, and by marriage, the estate of Plas-yn-Yale. By this union, he became the founder of the House of Yale, represented by the Yale family, later known in America as the benefactors of Yale University.

Biography

Ellis ap Griffith was born circa 1440, in Corwen, Denbighshire, to Griffith ap Einion of Corsygedol and Lowrie ap Tudur of Gwyddelwern, members of the Royal House of Mathrafal and the Ducal House of FitzGerald. His father Griffith ap Einion held the office of Woodward of the commote of Ardudwy, Merioneth, under the Lancastrian Henry V of England, and was proprietor of the Corsygedol estate, in his family since the 13th century. His grandfather was Lord Tudor Glendower, son of prince Gruffudd Fychan II.

His uncles were Ieuan ap Einion, 5th Baron of Edeirnion, and Howel Sele, of the family of Hywel Sele, 9th Lord of Nannau. His mother was first married to Robin ab Gruffydd, Lord of Rhos. Their family later married with the Lords of the Nannau estate, near Dolgellau, which has been in their possession for over 900 years, allying the descendants of King Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, founder of the House of Mathrafal, and rival of William the Conqueror.

His mother Lowrie inherited the royal claims after the fall of the Royal House of Mathrafal, and transmitted to Ellis the lordship of Gwyddelwern from his grandfather. His family would later be featured in William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, along Shakespeare's Henriad, with his granduncle being the rebel character Owen Glendower.

The Tudors of Penmynydd, their cousins through Tudor ap Goronwy, were also defeated, and a member, Owen ap Maredudd, emigrated to England and took the name of his grandfather, becoming Sir Owen Tudor, first of the House of Tudor. He married the widow of Henry V, Queen Catherine of France, and became the grandfather of the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII of England, father of Henry VIII. Owen Tudor was Ellis's second cousin, and Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth Tudor were third cousins.

Ellis ap Griffith succeeded his grandfather's lordship of about 10 000 acres, holding the title of Baron of Gwyddelwern, and held the office of Raglot (Governor or ruler) of the commote of Penllyn, and Juror of the county of Merionethshire, under the Yorkist Edward IV of England.

House of Yale

Ellis ap Griffith founded the House of Yale circa 1480, when he married Margaret, daughter of Jenkyn of Allt Llwyn Dragon (Dragon's Grove Hill), renamed Plas-yn-Yale. By this union came the usage of the Yale name as a surname, adopted from the maternal side, a practice that was adopted later by Chancellor Thomas Yale, first of the name.

The Lion of the Kingdom of Powys, the emblem of Mathrafal, inherited from the Princes of Powys Fadog, Lords of Yale, is featured as the Black Lion on Ellis's coat of arms. Ellis bore both the arms of Gwyddelwern as Baron and heir of his grandfather, Lord Tudur ap Gruffudd, and those of his father Gruffydd ab Einion (Vaughan) of Corsygedol, which was inherited in the male line from Osborne Fitzgerald of the Fitzgerald dynasty, through the branch of the Lords Desmond, later Earls of Desmond. Osborne was an Anglo-Norman who descended from Gerald de Windsor of Carew Castle, son of the 1st Governor of Windsor Castle for William the Conqueror. He came from Ireland to Wales during the middle of the 13th century, and was granted estates and arms by the Prince of North Wales, Llywelyn the Great.

Over time, the Yales married with their cousin branch, the Hughes of Gwerclas, and other noble houses of Britain, such as the Cavendishs, Dukes of Devonshire, and the Norths, Earls of Guilford. Lord North of Wroxton Abbey, the British Prime Minister who lost the American War of Independence under his term, was a cousin. Thomas Yale of Plas-yn-Yale married the daughter of the 14th Baron of Cymmer-yn-Edeirnion, and their daughter Dorothy Yale, married the 16th Baron. In the early 19th century, Sarah Yale, head of the House of Yale, and last of the direct male line, died without children. As an heraldic heiress, the Plas-yn-Yale estate and coat of arms were entailed in her will, making Lt. Col. William Parry-Jones, her cousin, the new heir general of the House, and exchanged by Royal licence 1867, his name and arms for those of Yale, becoming Lt. Col. William Parry Yale.

His nephew, Oxford lawyer William Corbet Yale, succeeded him, and also inherited Widcombe Manor and Madryn Castle from his cousin, Sir Thomas Love-Jones-Parry, son of Lt. Gen. Sir Love Jones-Parry. He was also of the family of Admiral Robert Lloyd, who fought against America and brought back to England the body of Maj. Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham, the brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington. His heir was Oxford lawyer John Edward Ivor Yale, son-in-law of Sir Henry Lewis of Belmont, and member of the family of William Debonaire Haggard and the Haggards, who were admirals and bankers in the City of London. As of 1969, the Yales were still featured as members of the British nobility in Burke's book of the landed gentry, and in 2021 died from this branch Queen's Counsel David Yale of Snowdonia.

Family

Ellis ap Griffith's siblings were :

Gruffydd Fychan (Vaughan), who married to Maud Clement, daughter and coheir of Sir John Clement, Lord of Tregaron, family of John of the same name, Justiciar of South Wales, and slain in 1293. Gruffydd would inherit the Corsygedol estate from the line of Osborne Fitzgerald, and his branch would continue through : Margaret Wynn, who married Sir Roger Mostyn, 5th Baronet of Mostyn Hall, great-grandson of the 2nd Earl of Nottingham of Burley Manor, and nephew and cousin of the Duchess and Duke of Roxburghe of Floors Castle. Charlotte Mostyn, who married Sir Thomas Swymmer Mostyn-Champneys, 2nd Bt of the Orchardleigh Estate.

Ellis's brother Gruffydd was one of the tree captains who held out Harlech Castle against the Yorkists, siding with his cousin, the previous Earl of Pembroke, Jasper Tudor, later Duke of Bedford. Gruffydd was Jury foreman under Henry VI of England. He later hided at his home in Corsygedol Jasper and Henry, Earl of Richmond, on their way to exile in France.

His son, William Vaughan, Ellis's nephew, was granted the castle by Henry, became Lord of Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, High Sheriff of Cardiganshire, and his descendants lived at the castle until the 17th century. He also married Margaret Perrot, daughter of Sir William Perrot and Jane Wogan. She was a grandniece of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and the great-granddaughter of Sir William ap Thomas of Raglan Castle.

Ellis's grandsons followed the rise of their cousins, and served them as Secretary to Henry VIII's head of state, Cardinal Wolsey of Hampton Court, through Roger Lloyd Yale, and as Chancellor to the head of the Anglican Church and ambassador to the Virgin Queen, through Dr. Thomas Yale. Thomas's patron, Archbishop Matthew Parker, was Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth's chaplain during her childhood before her mother's execution. Ellis's cousin, Roger Puleston, son of Robert Puleston, commanded Denbigh Castle for Jasper Tudor during the War of the Roses, and a great-grandson, Dr. David Yale, became Chancellor of Chester. He also married his son Thomas Yale to the daughter of the Bishop of Chester during Elizabeth's reign.

Marriage

Ellis ap Griffith died in 1489. With his wife Margaret, daughter of Jenkyn of Allt Llwyn Dragon (Plas-yn-Yale), they had seven sons. They had the following children :