The Herberts of Wales by Beth Uiterwyk, Richmond,
Va.
From a modest Welsh family, William ap Thomas [Herbert] rose to wealth and importance as steward of royal lordships in South Wales and as a professional soldier in the French Wars. William was the fifth son of Thomas ap Gwilym ap Jankyn, a minor Monmouthshire landowner and his his wife Maud. In 1406, William ap Thomas married Elizabeth Bloet, widow of Sir James Berkeley. Elizabeth Bloet was the only daughter & heiress of Sir John Bloet whose family had held Raglan Castle since 1174. Elizabeth & William ap Thomas lived in the Bloet manor at Raglan until her death in 1420. William retained Raglan as a tenant of his stepson, James Lord Berkeley; in 1425, Lord Berkeley agreed ap Thomas could hold Raglan the rest of his life.
William ap Thomas married a second time another heiress, Gwladus, the daughter of Sir Dafydd Gam, widow of Sir Roger Vaughn. All three men were part of the Welsh army which fought at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In 1426, ap Thomas was knighted by Henry VI becoming known as Y marchog glas o Went, the Blue Knight of Gwent. By this means ap Thomas established himself as a person of consequence in south Wales. As early as 1421 he was steward of the lordship of Abergavenny; in 1442, he became chief steward of the duke of York's estates in Wales. Other positions included appointment in 1435 as sheriff of Cardiganshire & Carmarthenshire, and in 1440, sheriff of Glamorgan. By 1432, ap Thomas purchased the manor of Raglan from the Berkeleys for 1000 marks and began building Raglan Castle. Sir William ap Thomas died in London in 1445. His body was returned to Wales to be buried in the priory church at Abergavenny. Gwladus, Y seren o Efenni, Star of Abergavenny, died in 1454. Legend has it she was so beloved by her people that 3000 knights, nobles and weeping peasantry followed her body from Coldbrook House to the Herbert Chapel of St. Mary's Priory Church where she was buried.
Richard Herbert was third son of Sir William ap Thomas & Gwladus Gam. His elder brother, William Herbert, succeeded their father as lord of Raglan Castle; but Richard continued to reside at the castle. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Griffith Nicholas, and had four sons. When the Lancastrian insurrection [War of Roses] broke out in 1469, Edward IV commissioned the brothers, Sir Richard Herbert, Knight of Coldbrook, and Sir William Herbert, Knight, Earl of Pembroke, to command an army of 18,000 Welshmen against the rebels. In July of 1469, the army was defeated at the Battle of Edgecote. The Herberts were captured by Richard, earl of Warwick and beheaded the next day in Northamptonshire. Sir Richard's body was brought to Abergavenny. He was buried in the priory chapel on July 27, 1469, beneath the arch which separates the Herbert Chapel & the choir in St. Mary's Priory Church, the place which had been chosen by his brother William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, for internment.
Alabaster tomb of Sir William ap Thomas and his wife Gwladus in Herbert Chapel, St. Mary's Priory Church, Abergavenny, Gwent, Wales
Photo (left) Alabaster tomb of Sir Richard of Coldbrook & his wife Margaret in Herbert Chapel, Abergavenny, Wales.
Photo (right) : Elizabethan canopied tomb of Richard Herbert, Esq., of Llysmawr & Magdalen, south transept Llysmawr Chancel, Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Montgomery,
Below: Recumbent effigies of Richard & Margaret Herbert, he in full armor, she in embroidered dress, behind is kneeling figures of their ten children, underneath is figure of Richard Herbert in winding sheet.
