LEWIS, Thomas III (by 1533-94), of The Van, Glam.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. by 1533, 1st s. of Edward Lewis of The Van by Anne, da. of Sir William Morgan of Pencoed, Mon. m. (1) by 1561, Margaret, da. of Robert Gamage of Coity, Glam., wid. of Miles Mathew of Llandaff, Glam., 3s. inc. George 4da.; (2) Catherine, da. of (Sir) George Mathew of Radyr, Glam. suc. fa. 1573/75.1

Offices Held

J.p. Glam. 1564- d., q. by 1574; commr. piracy 1565, 1577; sheriff 1569-70, 1586-7; dep. lt. 1587; mayor, Cardiff, Glam. in 1577.2

Biography

The Lewis family of Glamorgan was of ancient Welsh lineage. Thomas Lewis’s father had established himself at The Van, near Caerphilly. Because this was in Glamorgan, although belonging to the parish of Bedwas in Monmouthshire, and because most of their property lay in Glamorgan, both Lewis and his father did their administrative work in that county, but there can be little doubt that it was he who sat for Monmouth Boroughs in 1555: the sheriff who returned him, Walter ap Robert, seems to have been on good terms with his father, and his kinship to the Morgans of Pencoed is likely to have helped since both knights of the shire were related to that family. Of his life up to that point the only glimpse is the grant to him in June 1554 of a grange in Llandaff formerly of Margam abbey and then in the tenure of his father. As a Member of the Parliament of 1555 he is not to be found among those who opposed one of the government’s bills.3

His record in county administration from 1564 and his association with the Herberts show that Lewis accommodated himself to the new regime both at the centre and in Wales. He settled in Cardiff, where he built a fine house and served a term as mayor. It was there that he made his will on 7 Sept. 1593. To his wife he left the house at Cardiff, various lands, livestock and cash, while his son George received properties recently purchased from the 2nd Earl of Pembroke and another house at Cardiff. The executor was the eldest son Edward, and the will was proved on 3 Feb. 1595. Lewis died on 2 Nov. 1594 possessed of lands in Glamorgan worth £12 8s.4d. a year and in Monmouthshire worth £2 1s.4d.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: P. S. Edwards

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from first reference. G. T. Clark, Limbus Patrum Morganiae, 38-40; Egerton 2345, f. 41; CPR, 1572-5, p. 438; DWB (Lewis fam. of the Van).
  • 2. CPR, 1563-6, p. 29; APC, vii. 285; ix. 268-9, 298; HMC Foljambe, 26.
  • 3. CPR, 1553-4, pp. 270, 371.
  • 4. Ibid. 1560-3, p. 145; PCC 16 Scott; C142/242/77, 243/62; Clark, 41.