Egwest of Penegoes

[Br1gau]

Hi,

I have come across a series of articles written in 1910 for Y Gwyliedydd Newydd by a gentleman using the pen name of Egwest in which he reminisces about his early years growing up in Penegoes.  Does anyone know who he might be? I am trying to pin down the dates of these memories.  Could be anywhere around 1830 – 1850.  I believe he spent his latter years in the Abergynolwyn – Talyllyn area.

brigau

[Mabel Bagshawe]

Another correspondent of Y Gwyliedydd Newydd called Dora seems to suggest Egwest is John Whittington, if I am reading this correctly
 
https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4027468/4027473/29/

[Br1gau]

Hello Mabel,

Yes that’s him, how did I miss the article!  Possibly by using the wrong search terms – the “Dora” letter has him growing up in Penygroes not Penegoes.  John Whittington was born 1836 Penegoes and died 1916 Llwyngwril, buried Llangelynin.  Only a minor detail but very helpful in establishing a time frame for the Penegoes family I’m researching.

Thank you so much for taking the time.

[Egwisyn]

Annwyl Brigau

I have also come across that article by Egwest.

Egwest is likely a pseudonym, derived from the possible origin of the name of Penegoes, being 'Pen - egwest', or Egwest's head. I vaguely recollect that the original Egwest was some ancient Welsh leader who fought his last battle around Penegoes and his head was kept there as a relic thereafter.

However, my primary interest in the article was my own genealogy. As the article makes clear, the Rev. Edward Whittington Jones (hereafter, EWJ) and the Rev. David Egwys Jones (DEJ) were brothers whose grandfather on their mother's side was Edward Whittington (who ended up living in Llanbadarn Fawr, just outside Aberystwyth), oldest son of John Whittington, the sexton at Penegoes church ('Jack y Clochydd') by his first wife. He refers to himself in the article as EWJ and DEJ's 'half-uncle', suggesting he was the progeny of John Whittington's second marriage.

Rowland Whittington (whose bardic name 'Egwisyn' I have taken as a handle for current purposes) was the next son of Jack y Clochydd. He was a preacher and poet but ended up in the USA where he died (7 Feb 1878). Much of this can also be traced through the hen papurau newydd.

The next son, William Whittington (died 18 Feb 1899), became a preacher in the Rhondda Valley (Pen-y-Graig, I think). He had at least three kids.

All of this is of interest to me because EWJ and DEJ were my paternal grandmother's brothers. Therefore, Jack y Clochydd was my great great great grandfather. I think DEJ was born simply 'David Jones' but took 'Egwys' as an additional name. I suspect it is also derived from the 'Penegoes' name origin.

Having someone marry twice is a great source of confusion in this genealogy business but I suspect other articles in this same source give clues as to the other siblings of Edward Whittington. I remember seeing some that confused me terribly. I also suspect that quite a number of the Whittingtons went to the USA.

I have also noticed the letter to the newspaper by 'Dora'. I suspect she was confused and may have been talking about another John Whittington, not Jack Y Clochydd. It may also be that my Cymraeg is not up to understanding the slightly archaic language.

My notes from earlier searching indicate that Jack y Clochydd's other children might include an Isaac, a John, a Thomas and a Hugh. One of them might have been writing as 'Egwest'. You must be dead careful because names likely 'Rowland' and 'Edward' keep getting recycled across the generations.

One of Edward Whittington's daughters, Ann, married a John Jones from Penparcau, near Aberystwyth. When her son, DEJ, was going to get married in Borth (just north of Aberystwyth). John and Ann were then living in the Rhondda, in Porth. Ann went from Porth up to Borth for the wedding but dropped dead! (13 August 1907)

Happy to exchange any further intelligence on the complex Whittington family.