Welsh Journals

SIR ROLAND DE VELEVILLE* THE allegation made by several Welsh historians1 that Henry VII whilst he was in Brittany begot a bastard son, later known as Sir Roland de Vielleville, alias Velville, Veleville, etc., does not appear to be supported by any valid evidence. It seems to be clear that this allegation is derived entirely from mis-statements made as long ago as 1833 by that enthusiastic but frequently inaccurate amateur historian of Anglesey, Angharad Llwyd. She, in her pioneering prize-essay, A History of the Island of Mona or Anglesey, made the following assertions (pp. 131-2): I find by the Lleweny Papers that, in the 1st of Henry VII, he appointed his illegitimate son, Sir Roland Velville, alias Britany, constable and captain of this place (Beaumaris), but the conduct of the garrison, was so offensive to the neighbourhood, that the king gave orders for its removal. Lord Combermere, of Combermere Abbey, is in possession of the original grant of the constableship to his maternal ancestor, Syr R. Velville, dated 'apud Caernarvon, Julii 3, 1st Henry VII', he died in 1533, describing himself in his will, made in that year, as 'constable of Beaumaris CastelF.2 But the Lleweni Papers do not appear to give any support for this statement regarding Roland's parentage, and there are several other incorrect assertions in this passage. The only known Lleweni paper that could have led Angharad Llwyd into this assertion is now calendared in the Salusbury Correspondence, item 186 (Lleweni Paper no. 124). This is a private letter dated 1636-37 from John *1 am obliged to Mr. G. O. Pierce and Mr. J. Gwynfor Jones, of the Department of the History of Wales, Cardiff, for assistance in the preparation of this article. 1 D. Williams. 'The Family of Henry VII', in History To-Day, IV (1954). 77-84. Henry, we are told, fathered a son by a Breton woman. His name was Roland Velville, knighted by Henry VII, and made constable of Beaumaris castle, and died, 1527. Cf. J. Ballinger, 'Katherine of Berain', in Y Cymmrodor, XL (1929), 1-2: 'During his years in exile in Brittany, before he came to the throne, Henry VII had, by a Breton lady, a natural son. Roland Velville, whom he knighted after coming to the throne. He made him constable of Beaumaris Castle. Cf. J. Williams. 'Penmynydd and the Tudors', in Arch. Camb., 3rd ser.. XV (1869), 402, and Pedigrees of Anglesey and Caernarvonshire Families, ed. J. E. Griffiths (1914). 26. The Calendar of Salusbury Correspondence, 1553-c. 1700, ed. W. J. Smith (1954). p. 265, Index, sub. tit. Henry VII. lists 'his illeg. son', item 186, which in fact offers no evidence on the point. There is likewise no evidence forthcoming to support her statement( pp. 333-4) that Henry VII granted him 486 acres of land in Penmynydd, which may have formed part of the estate of Maredudd ap Tudur. This somewhat improbable assertion was followed by J. Ballinger, loc. cit., p. 2, and J. Williams, loc. cit., p. 402, but was not accepted by Glyn Roberts, 'Wyrion Eden', Trans. Anglesey Antiquarian Society (1951), p. 64. Mr. E. Gwynne Jones, Librarian of University College of North Wales, Bangor, assures me that no relevant manuscript evidence is known there.