Family Justice, 1456
In 1456 there was ongoing conflict among England, Wales, and the Welsh Marches which was an area that bordered England and Wales. The Welsh Marches were created earlier by King William. He granted Marcher Lordships which allowed the lords to rule as they chose and not be accountable to the king. This encouraged a state of independence that the English did not appreciate. The conflict that resulted from this often resulted in violence. These were indeed tumultuous times.
On Easter Day, 1456, Watkin Vaughn was shot through the heart by an arrow at Bredwardine Castle.
Welsh laws traditionally proclaimed that that it was the “duty of kinsmen to respond to the death of one of their own.” (https://vilgage.blogs.bristol.ac.uk) In keeping with this tradition, William Herbert (half-brother of Watkin) and Walter Devereux avenged the murder of Watkin. They found the six culprits and convinced the local citizens to conduct a trial and convict them of the murder. Family justice was achieved when these men were hanged.
In a twist, the wife of one of the men who was hanged sued because she thought her husband was innocent (after all, he pleaded not guilty) and wanted members of the Herbert, Devereux, and Vaughn families prosecuted for his death. John Glover was from Kent, England. He married Agnes Southwyn in 1435. The lawsuit was unsuccessful. In fact there was great local support for the family and friends of Watkin Vaughn.
“Watkin Vaughn was commemorated by praise poets and avenged with impunity.” (Judging a Hereford Hanging by Professor Gwen Seabourne) Watkin was famously memorialized in an elegy “a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead” by Hywel Swrdwal.
Our line runs through John Watkins of Court Robert, son of Richard Watkins and Jane Edmunds Watkins (located in the center of the pedigree). On the pedigree it shows that John was married to Anne, daughter of Sir Charles Jones. However, our line goes through John’s first wife, Agnes and their only son, John.