Welsh Journals

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Watkin of Henllan Griffith Watkin of Narberth was succeeded by his son Thomas Watkin who lived mainly at Loveston. The origin of this family is not known, but they were sufficiently important to have borne a coat-of-arms described by Dwnn as gules a chevron or between three towers of the second, with open doorways sable. Thomas Watkin married Joan daughter of William Adams of Patrickchurch near Pembroke, by his wife Maud Perrot, a union that allied Watkin to some of the most influential families in the county. By Joan, Thomas Watkin had four daughters, coheiresses, namely, i, Margaret who married her second cousin Griffith White, whose history we shall follow later; ii, Margaret the younger, who married John Einion of Nor- chard, and had issue; iii, Elizabeth who married Thomas Adams of Loveston; and iv, Ann who married Richard Clyne. With this generation the male line of Watkin ended, and the associations of the family of White with Henllan begins. The Whites of Tenby Unlike the families with which they intermarried, the Whites were of burgess origin, prosperous merchants established in the town of Tenby. Even the herald Lewys Dwnn, who did what he could for his clients, could find no aristocratic ancestor to preside at the head of the family tree of White. To judge by their name, it seems clear that the ancestor of the family was of English extraction who had settled in Tenby where his descendants amassed a comfortable competence by application to trade. That they were among the leading burgesses of that town is illustrated by the fact that between 1415 and 1568 they filled the office of sheriff on seven occasions, and between 1420 and 1498 the mayoral chair on no less than twenty-nine occasions. By a stroke of luck, they were to gain Royal favour, and this, together with their adequate coffers, was to lead them into the fold of the Tudor gentry. In 1808 a ruined house, close to the northern side of St Mary's Church, Tenby, known as "White's House" was traditionally regarded as the home of the family. It was bought by Sir William Paxton, an Indian "nabob", who presented it to the Corporation that it might be demolished "to im- prove" the High Street (Laws, Little England Beyond Wales, pp 232, 3%). A sketch of the building is included in Norris's Etchings, and reproduced on p 234 of Laws' book. Judging from sketches it had been a substantial building, evidently of medieval workmanship with some changes made in later times. Dwnn's pedigree is devoid of pretensions and flourishes, and this adds to its credibility. The tree is headed by one John Ie Whitt, followed by his son John who was living in 1360. The last named John was the father of two sons, Thomas and William. The latter married Agnes daughter of Sir Steven Perrot, by whom he had an only child Agnes who married Roger Marychurch. bailiff of Tenby in 1444, 1452 and 1453, and founded a county family. Of the elder brother Thomas we know nothing except that he was living in 1390 and had a son named Jenkyn White. Jenkyn White, alive in 1461, married Elen, sole heiress of Jenkyn Peacock