Griffith Rice

This article is about the Welsh nobleman Griffith Rice. For his descendants, the British politician Griffith Rice, see Griffith Rice (Politician)

Griffith Rice , actually Gruffydd from Rhys (* 1526 or around 1530; † 1584 ) was a Welsh nobleman.

origin

Rice came from the Welsh Rhys family and was the only son of Rhys ap Gruffydd FitzUrien and Katherine Howard , daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk . His great-grandfather Rhys ap Thomas was the most powerful Welsh nobleman in the early 16th century, but his father was expropriated and executed as a traitor in 1531. Part of his father's possessions fell to the Crown, the majority were given to the Devereux families , to his relative Thomas Jones and later to John Perrot . His mother Katherine was second married to Henry Daubeney, 1st Earl of Bridgewater .

Life

The young Griffith probably grew up in Bishop Auckland in north east England as the ward of Cuthbert Tunstall , Bishop of Durham, and Anglicized his Welsh name to Griffith Rice . He achieved that he was through the first parliament under King Edward VI. was rehabilitated and later entered the service of Queen Maria , who returned part of his father's expropriated lands to him. However, when he was accused of the murder of Mathew Walshe in County Durham in 1557 , he was again expropriated.

Queen Elizabeth pardoned him in 1559 and gave him possessions in Pembrokeshire and Newton House in Carmarthenshire in 1561 , and in 1563 in Cardiganshire . He was Justice of the Peace of Carmarthenshire, sheriff of the county from 1567 to 1583, and held other offices. In 1581 a dispute between him and John Perrot had to be settled by the Privy Council .

Family and offspring

He married Elinor, a daughter of Sir Thomas Jones from Abermarlais . He had several children, including

• Walter
• Mary ∞ Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove

His son Walter became his heir.

Web links

• Glyn Roberts: Rice family (Welsh Biography Online)
• AHD: RICE, Walter (c.1560-? 1611), of Newton, Llandefaison, Carm. (History of Parliament online)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Archives Wales: Carmarthenshire Archive Service. Dynevor Additional. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 8, 2015 ; accessed on February 6, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ AHD: VAUGHAN, Walter (d.1598), of Golden Grove, Carm. (History of Parliament online). Retrieved February 3, 2015 .