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Glamorgan Marriage Index pre-1837 Transcription
First Name Edward
Last Name Mordecai
Country Wales
Record set Glamorgan Marriage Index pre-1837
Month Jan.
County Glamorganshire
Bride First Gwenllian
Year 1766
Bride Last Name Jenkins
Groom First Name Edward
Groom Last Name Mordecai
Notes Witnesses named, after banns
Year Of Birth -
Year 1766
Place Llangiwg
Bride Parish Llangiwg
Groom Parish Cadoxton Nth
Day 10
Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers)
Record collection Marriages & divorces
Collections from United Kingdom
Gwenllian Jenkins Marriage to Edward Mordecai
1766 10 Jan Age: 21
Llangwig, Glamorgan, Wales
St Ciwg Church, Llangiwg, Glamorgan, Wales
Glamorgan Marriage Index pre-1837 Glamorgan Family History Society
Re: Mordecai in Glamorgan Wales
tatonca74
Posted: 5 Mar 2013 3:05PM
Classification: Query
Surnames: Mordecai
Last names in Wales didn't become formal till much later than the rest of the UK. Typically they were Patronyms, meaning the took the first name of their Father as their last name. So, John's son Owen would be Owen Johns, which becomes Owen Jones, and Mordecai's son Rhys becomes Rhys Mordecai. Sometimes they would even take first and last name of their father for themselves. Different families fixed last names at different times.
The earliest I have found Mordecai as a persistent last name is 1650, in around North Eastern wales, in a place called Llanfrothen. John Mordecai and his brother Lewis John Mordecai were weavers in the area. There name structure would heavily suggest that their Father was John Mordecai, and thier Grandfather may have been Mordecai LNU (last name unknown). John Mordecai's sons took Mordecai as their last name, and Lewis John Mordecai's sons took Lewis as their last name. Lewis is an interesting name for a Welshman, as it is French / Norman from Louis, which might attest to a continental connection, though that is really conjecture.
Mordecai then, as a First name, comes from the bible, in the Book of Esther. It was popular in wales I think, because of the character of the man described therein - a man that saved his people from prosecution through his vigilance and intelligence. Much like the popularity of the name Gwenllian for girls in the same time period, herself a princess and leader of rebellion in Wales, there is an affinity for strong heroic names like Owain/Owen, and Llewellyn along side the typical names of kings (Richard, Edward, William ) This was the height of the religious reformation, and the wars that were fought around it, with the poor in Wales caught up in the middle, once again besieged as it was in the old times. Heroic names, especially from the bible would be very popular indeed.
As for your particular connection, my own family is from Llangan, and goes back to 1750s for sure, with many an Edward Mordecai. You are welcome to look at my tree, though I do not have anyone that matches your dates exactly - though it is possible that I haven't yet built it out far enough in the cousins and uncles to find a connection.
Based on a family letter from Mirrium Mordecai, previous to her death
in 1942 in Ystradowen, Wales, to Trevor Popkin Mordecai in America, it
is supposed that this William Mordecai and Gwenlian Jane Popkin are the
ancestors of this line of Mordecai's from Llangan, Glamorganshire,
Wales. At this time there is no hard evidence. Until there is more
discovery, these two will stand as the parents of the shown
descendents. (M.C. Mordecai- 2005)
The only marriage record I was able to locate was for an Edward Mordecai and Gwenllian John (aka Jenkins or 'John's Kin'). I believe this to be the actual Edward & Gwenllian, ancestors of Trevor Popkin Mordecai. I also believe this line of Mort/Mordecai's originated with a Hopkin Mordecai, b. abt. 1710. I think this is how the name "Popkin" in this line came about. It makes sense to me that a son in this line would be named "ap Hopkin", thus eventually becoming "Popkin".
I have yet to document connection for this Edward to the Hopkin Mordecai, but I have no doubt at this point that this is the case. (M.C. Mordecai - 2014)
National Burial Index for England & Wales Transcription
First Name EDWARD
Last Name MORT
Burial Day 7
Burial Month 2
Burial Year 1782
Age -
Place LLANGAN
County Glamorganshire
Country Wales
Extended Information -
Church Denomination Anglican
Church Description St. Canna
Record set National Burial Index for England & Wales
Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers)
Record collection Deaths & burials
Collections from United Kingdom
From The History and Antiquities of Glamorganshire and Its Families by Thomas Nicholas (sent to me by Sheri Mordecai Ritchlin January 2009)
Popkin of Ynys-Tawe and Forest.
There were Popkins of Ynys-Tawe and Forest, both of the same lineage, the former the senior line, and both now extinct. They claimed descent from Rhodri Mawr, King of Wales, through his eldest son, Prince Anarawd ( (succ. AD 877. Gruffydd Gethin, the first named in the pedigrees as a Ynys-Tawe, ninth in descent, had a son Hopkin ap Gruffydd, and he a son David ap Hopkin of Ynys-Tawe, who m. Eva, dau. of Jenkin ap Leyson of Avan, of the race of Idxtyn ap Gwrgant. Hopkin ap David ap Hopkin followed, and had a son David ap Hopkin, whose son, Hopkin David of Ynys-Tawe, had an elder son, ---.
David Popkin, who finally fixed the patronymic as a surname. He m. Jennet, dau. of Robert William, Esq.. of Court Rhyd-hir, and with other children, had a son and successor, John (sc., son of) David Popkin of Ynys-Tawe, who adhering to the favourite family name, called his eldest son Hopkin (sc., son of) John David Popkin who was also of Ynys-Tawe. By his wife Luce, dau. of Harry Rees ap Gruffydd, he left an elder son, his successor, David Popkin who married Jane, daughter of Thomas Morgan Cadwgan, Esq., and was succeeded by his son, Hopkin David Popkin, living 1678 whose wife was a dau. of John David Rosser of Trewyddfa. The account of this elder branch here ceases in our MSS.
The Forrest Junior line begins with Hopkin, second son of the above Hopkin David of Ynys-Tawe, and continues at Forest, near Neath, for ten generations. This line seems to have held a higher position in the county than the senior . Thomas Popkin of Forest was Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1718, and his son Thomas held the same office in 1755. They intermarried with the families of Dawkins of Ynystawlog, Evans of Peterwell, Card.; and the last mentioned Thomas m. Justina Maria, dau. of Sir John Stepney of Llanelly. The last male representative was Bennet Popkin, Esq., of Forest, "who went to reside at Kittlehill in pursuance of a limitation in the will of his aunt, Mrs. Bennet." He m. Mary, dau. and co-h. of David White, Esq., of Miskin, and d.s.p. (See Bath of Ffynone.)
The arms of the Popkin's were --- Or, a stag passant gu., attired and hoofed sa.; a bordure engrailed gu.
(This would have been where the idea of "Miskin Manor" came from).
Source: tatonca74 Note on Names:
In wales at the time, they were still in flux on last names - go into any graveyard and you will see this. Up to the 1800s people were still listed as Ap or Firch and their Father's name, if there be any last name at all... A Marriage record for Edward and Gwenllian Jenkins exists and I have linked it. Jenkins is essential "Jon's Kin" or relative of Jon - So Gwenllian John and Gwenllian Jenkins is essentially the same name. Another thing - many Church Clergy were English - which created a kind of Ellis Island effect on last names in registries in Wales in the 17th and 18th century. Lastly - why Llangan? - well being that Edward was likely a weaver, the weaving trade was becoming eclipsed at this time by industrialization. Llanblethian was becoming an industrialized weaving center of South Wales. (see Llanblethian Buildings and People) Edward's and Gwen's sons would become involved with the factories there in following generations. It may be that they moved to capitalize on the industry that was being built in the area.
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