Meredith, Morgan (fl.1590)
Of Aberhafesp in Montgomeryshire. He served as Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in the year 1590 but unusually seems not to have served in any other public office in the county. His son and grandson were both to hold the office in later years.
[W.V. Lloyd - the sheriffs of Montgomeryshire]
[W.V. Lloyd - the sheriffs of Montgomeryshire]
Meredith, William (fl.1703)
Listed as "baker" of St.Giles-without-Cripplegate, London, he was appointed Sheriff of Montgomeryshire for 1703. Little is known about him or his family but he may be the William Meredith who owned property in Trewern parish and over the border in Shropshire.
[MC 66]
[MC 66]
Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny Railway Company
See under Railways.
Midland Railway Company
See under Railways.
Mid-Wales Police Authority (1948-1968)
The MWPA was established in 1948 with the amalgamation of the police forces of Breconshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire. It had three Chief Constables: Captain H.C. Lloyd (1948-58), R.E.G. Benbow (1958-63) and R.B. Thomas (1963-68). The MWPA ceased in 1968 when it was amalgamated with other police authorities to form the Dyfed-Powys Police.
[P/CON/1-2]
[P/CON/1-2]
Mid Wales Railway Company
See under Railways.
Mochnant
A manor comprised of two commotes divided – as the names suggest – by the river Rhaeadr: Mochnant Uwch Rhaeadr in the lordship of Powys (later in Montgomeryshire) and Mochnant Is Mynydd in Cynllaith (later Denbighshire).
Mochnant Is Rhaeadr includes the parishes of Llanarmon Mynydd Mawr, Llangedwyn and part of the parish of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant.
Mochnant Uwch Rhaeadr includes the parishes of Hirnant, Llangynog, Pennant, Llanwddyn and the rest of the parish of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant.
[Richards]
Mochnant Is Rhaeadr includes the parishes of Llanarmon Mynydd Mawr, Llangedwyn and part of the parish of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant.
Mochnant Uwch Rhaeadr includes the parishes of Hirnant, Llangynog, Pennant, Llanwddyn and the rest of the parish of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant.
[Richards]
Moeran, Ernest John (1894-1950)
Composer. Born 31 December 1894 at Isleworth, Middx. His mother was from Norfolk, his father was an Irish Protestant clergyman. He was educated at Uppingham school, then Royal College of Music in 1913. With the outbreak of the First World War in September 1914 Moeran enrolled as a motorcycle despatch rider and was commissioned in 1915, serving as an officer in the Norfolk Regiment. He was severely wounded in the head in 1917, and was discharged in 1919. He returned to the Royal College of Music, where he studied under John Ireland till 1923. His parents retired to the house called Gravel Hill in Kington, Herefordshire, and Moeran used to visit them there. His main inspiration was derived from three particular remote landscapes: County Kerry in Ireland, Norfolk, and the Welsh borderland between Kington and New Radnor (he claimed that the inspiration for his Sinfonietta came from walking above Hergest Ridge). He married the cellist Peers Coetmore in 1945, though the marriage was not particularly happy. Towards the end of his life he spent more time in Ireland, where he died on 1 December 1950. [G.R.]
[RT61]
[RT61]
Montgomery: Battle of (1644)
The battle took place on 18 September 1644 after the parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Myddleton had gained possession of the castle on 4 September and stored there 36 barrels of gunpowder captured from the royalists at Newtown the day before. Within three days the royalists counter-attacked. Sir Michael Ernley arrived with troops from Shropshire and caught the garrison unawares while out foraging. The parliamentary infantry under Colonel Mytton retreated to the castle and Myddleton took the cavalry off to get reinforcements. The royalists were joined in their siege by Sir Michael Woodhouse and Lord Byron, making up a force of 4,000-5,000 men. On 17 September Myddleton returned with 3,000 men under the command of the Scottish general Sir John Meldrum. There were 500 men in the castle.
The battle took place next day to the north-north-east of the town (near where the River Camlad is crossed by the road to Wrexham), the royalists taking advantage of a foraging expedition by the parliamentary cavalry to attack. At first they had the advantage, but the parliamentary forces held their ground, re-grouped and counter-attacked: the result was a total victory for the parliament side. This was the largest battle in Wales during the civil war. The parliamentarians lost 40 men, including Sir William Fairfax, cousin of the great Sir Thomas Faifax. The royalists lost 500 men and had 1,500 taken prisoner. [G.R.]
[CADW: A Nation Under Siege; An Attempted Conquest of Powys by R.N. Dore, MC 57]
The battle took place next day to the north-north-east of the town (near where the River Camlad is crossed by the road to Wrexham), the royalists taking advantage of a foraging expedition by the parliamentary cavalry to attack. At first they had the advantage, but the parliamentary forces held their ground, re-grouped and counter-attacked: the result was a total victory for the parliament side. This was the largest battle in Wales during the civil war. The parliamentarians lost 40 men, including Sir William Fairfax, cousin of the great Sir Thomas Faifax. The royalists lost 500 men and had 1,500 taken prisoner. [G.R.]
[CADW: A Nation Under Siege; An Attempted Conquest of Powys by R.N. Dore, MC 57]
Montgomery: Castle
The castle of Montgomery (seen right in a detail from a map by John Speed in 1611) was established by Roger of Montgomery earl of Shrewsbury (fl.1071-1094) and named after his ancestral home in Normandy. Montgomery belonged to the palatine earls of Shrewsbury in spite of being captured by the Welsh in the revolt of 1094-98, until the revolt and flight of Robert de Bellême in 1102. The castlery then went to Baldwin de Bollers I, a confidant of Henry I. (The Welsh name for Montgomery, Trefaldwyn, "Baldwin's town" is named after him.) When the last of Baldwin's direct descendants died c.1207 the barony escheated to the English Crown. (See entry on Hen Domen below)
In June 1207 King John granted it to William de Courtenay, a prominent land-holder in Shropshire and a descendant of Baldwin I. Courtenay died before 18 January 1215. John now granted the honour to Thomas de Erdington but retained the castle to the Crown with Erdington as its keeper. The barony and the castle were henceforth divided.
It is reported that Llywelyn ab Iorwerth destroyed Montgomery castle in 1215. When Gwenwynwyn deserted Llywelyn and went over to the royal side John granted him the land of Montgomery on 28 January 1216. But after Gwenwynwyn died his lands, including Montgomery, were granted to Llywelyn (for the duration of the minority of Gwenwynwyn's heirs) by Henry III in 1218 as part of a general settlement. There is no evidence that Llywelyn rebuilt the castle during this period of occupation which lasted until 1223.
That year saw one of Henry's most significant campaigns in Wales. The drive from Hereford to Montgomery lasted less than three weeks, but by the end of it the Crown had secured the important foothold of Montgomery. Henry III understood the strategic importance of Montgomery and decided that it was too important to be held by the ruler of southern Powys. It was accordingly taken over by the Crown and converted to a top-rank border fortress in 1223 with the construction of a new castle about a mile south of Old Montgomery (which was still retained as a sort of outpost). In 1227 Henry established a free borough and ecclesiastical parish at New Montgomery and on 27 April 1228 he appointed Hubert de Burgh, his justiciar, as custodian of the new castle. "Montgomery stood as an outpost of England as the Welsh sea lapped around it".
In 1228 there came another royal campaign, but this one was a disaster when Hubert de Burgh tried to annexe Ceri to Montgomery castle and failed completely. War broke out again between Llywelyn and the English in 1231. This time the cause was said to be the execution of certain prisoners by the garrison of Montgomery, probably just the latest in a long list of offences by Hubert. Llywelyn burned the new settlement at Montgomery and other castles while the royal forces concentrated on rebuilding Painscastle in stone.
Montgomery was attacked again in 1244-45 after Llywelyn's death in the campaign launched by his son Dafydd. There was a rare English victory near Montgomery when 300 Welshmen were said to have been slain in an ambush. In 1254 Prince Edward, son of Henry III, was invested with all Crown possessions in Wales, including the castles of Montgomery and Builth. In 1257 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd invaded the Severn valley as far as Welshpool which he burned.
By the end of March 1257 Montgomery had also been attacked and sacked, though it seems to have remained in the hands of the Crown. A decade later in September 1267 Montgomery was the venue for the treaty between the Crown and Llywelyn, which saw the latter at the height of his success.
The construction of a castle at Dolforwyn in Cedewain by Llywelyn aroused the displeasure of Edward I in the early 1270s, as it posed a direct threat to Montgomery (as well as to the southern Powys stronghold of Welshpool). During the campaign of 1277 which so reduced the power of Llywelyn one of the three armies involved advanced from Montgomery into southern Powys and down as far as Builth. Montgomery remained a Crown possession, though it was frequently leased to the Mortimers. During the English Civil War the castle was important to the royalists to control the gateway into the upper Severn Valley and Mid Wales. To the parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Myddleton it was therefore a major objective. It was held by Lord Herbert of Chirbury, old and in poor health, with his personal retinue, nominally royalist but in effect neutral. On 3 September 1644 Myddleton arrived at the castle with a quantity of captured powder. His troops overwhelmed the gatehouse to the middle ward and fixed petards. Herbert, thus pressured, surrendered the castle, on the condition that his valuable library should come to no harm. (It was when the royalists came to win the castle back that the battle of Montgomery took place on 18 September, see above)
After the battle the castle was given over to the local M.P., Sir John Price of Newtown, a former royalist who now declared for parliament. However, royalist success in early 1645 caused him to return to his former allegiance and on 16 May 1645 he handed it over to royalist forces, just in time for the king's cause to suffer destruction at the battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire. [G.R.]
[R.R. Davies, Lloyd, Walker; CADW: A Nation Under Siege; An Attempted Conquest of Powys by R.N. Dore, MC 57]
In June 1207 King John granted it to William de Courtenay, a prominent land-holder in Shropshire and a descendant of Baldwin I. Courtenay died before 18 January 1215. John now granted the honour to Thomas de Erdington but retained the castle to the Crown with Erdington as its keeper. The barony and the castle were henceforth divided.
It is reported that Llywelyn ab Iorwerth destroyed Montgomery castle in 1215. When Gwenwynwyn deserted Llywelyn and went over to the royal side John granted him the land of Montgomery on 28 January 1216. But after Gwenwynwyn died his lands, including Montgomery, were granted to Llywelyn (for the duration of the minority of Gwenwynwyn's heirs) by Henry III in 1218 as part of a general settlement. There is no evidence that Llywelyn rebuilt the castle during this period of occupation which lasted until 1223.
That year saw one of Henry's most significant campaigns in Wales. The drive from Hereford to Montgomery lasted less than three weeks, but by the end of it the Crown had secured the important foothold of Montgomery. Henry III understood the strategic importance of Montgomery and decided that it was too important to be held by the ruler of southern Powys. It was accordingly taken over by the Crown and converted to a top-rank border fortress in 1223 with the construction of a new castle about a mile south of Old Montgomery (which was still retained as a sort of outpost). In 1227 Henry established a free borough and ecclesiastical parish at New Montgomery and on 27 April 1228 he appointed Hubert de Burgh, his justiciar, as custodian of the new castle. "Montgomery stood as an outpost of England as the Welsh sea lapped around it".
In 1228 there came another royal campaign, but this one was a disaster when Hubert de Burgh tried to annexe Ceri to Montgomery castle and failed completely. War broke out again between Llywelyn and the English in 1231. This time the cause was said to be the execution of certain prisoners by the garrison of Montgomery, probably just the latest in a long list of offences by Hubert. Llywelyn burned the new settlement at Montgomery and other castles while the royal forces concentrated on rebuilding Painscastle in stone.
Montgomery was attacked again in 1244-45 after Llywelyn's death in the campaign launched by his son Dafydd. There was a rare English victory near Montgomery when 300 Welshmen were said to have been slain in an ambush. In 1254 Prince Edward, son of Henry III, was invested with all Crown possessions in Wales, including the castles of Montgomery and Builth. In 1257 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd invaded the Severn valley as far as Welshpool which he burned.
By the end of March 1257 Montgomery had also been attacked and sacked, though it seems to have remained in the hands of the Crown. A decade later in September 1267 Montgomery was the venue for the treaty between the Crown and Llywelyn, which saw the latter at the height of his success.
The construction of a castle at Dolforwyn in Cedewain by Llywelyn aroused the displeasure of Edward I in the early 1270s, as it posed a direct threat to Montgomery (as well as to the southern Powys stronghold of Welshpool). During the campaign of 1277 which so reduced the power of Llywelyn one of the three armies involved advanced from Montgomery into southern Powys and down as far as Builth. Montgomery remained a Crown possession, though it was frequently leased to the Mortimers. During the English Civil War the castle was important to the royalists to control the gateway into the upper Severn Valley and Mid Wales. To the parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Myddleton it was therefore a major objective. It was held by Lord Herbert of Chirbury, old and in poor health, with his personal retinue, nominally royalist but in effect neutral. On 3 September 1644 Myddleton arrived at the castle with a quantity of captured powder. His troops overwhelmed the gatehouse to the middle ward and fixed petards. Herbert, thus pressured, surrendered the castle, on the condition that his valuable library should come to no harm. (It was when the royalists came to win the castle back that the battle of Montgomery took place on 18 September, see above)
After the battle the castle was given over to the local M.P., Sir John Price of Newtown, a former royalist who now declared for parliament. However, royalist success in early 1645 caused him to return to his former allegiance and on 16 May 1645 he handed it over to royalist forces, just in time for the king's cause to suffer destruction at the battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire. [G.R.]
[R.R. Davies, Lloyd, Walker; CADW: A Nation Under Siege; An Attempted Conquest of Powys by R.N. Dore, MC 57]