Welsh pedigrees

[ElizabethHerts]

Welsh pedigrees in the Golden Grove book of pedigrees

http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/search/

I haven't navigated around it much, but I was directed to the correct pages for the Bassett family.

I was given this summary:
Summary: This is the second of four volumes which together form the Golden Grove book of pedigrees. It was compiled around 1765 and is a copy, and continuation, of pedigrees drawn up in the seventeenth century. The Welsh have always had a deep interest in genealogy and heraldry, and evidence of this can be found in manuscripts dating as far back as the middle ages. Although the accuracy of some of the information provided in them is dubious, it is certain that pedigrees such as the Golden Grove throw important light on many aspects of Welsh life such as the devolution of properties and the stability of population. The later entries are often the most accurate; these can often help to fill in gaps in parish registers and other local records. The first part of this volume, named D, contains the pedigrees of six important individuals - Brychan Brycheiniog, Llewelyn ap Gwrgant, the Duke of Normandy, Ideo Wyllt, Gwynfardd Dyfed and Cadifor Fawr. The second part, named G, contains the pedigrees of families from Glamorganshire, Breconshire, Monmouthshire, Radnorshire,Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. The third part, named I, contains the pedigrees of families from Denbighshire, Caernarfonshire, Anglesey and Merionethshire. According to the antiquarian, Francis Jones, the Golden Grove is a faithful copy of the books of William Lewes of Llwynderw. He was a passionate genealogist and had access to many of the most important manuscripts. The transcriber of the Golden Grove expanded on a number of the trees included in these earlier manuscripts, and brought them down as far as 1765, which was about the time the Golden Grove copy was made. The identity of the Golden Grove's transcriber is not known although the initials 'E.E.', written on the first page of the first volume, has led some scholars to guess at his identity. It is also not known why the Golden Grove book of pedigrees was created, although some have argued that the manuscripts were copied at the request of John Vaughan of Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire. The Golden Grove volumes aroused great curiosity among historians and was used by Theopilus Jones, when compiling his history of Brecon. The volumes contain additions in his hand. The four volumes eventually came into the possession of Earl Cawdor of Golden Grove who deposited them in the Public Record Office in 1870. They were later returned to their home county and are now located at Carmarthenshire Archives Service. Source: Major Francis Jones, 'An Approach to Welsh Genealogy', Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (1948), 303-466. .