KEMEYS, Edward (d.1623), of Kemeys and Bertholdy, Llantrisant, Mon.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

1st s. of George Kemeys of Kemeys by his 1st w. Blanche, da. of Edward Lewis of The Van, Bedwas, Glam. and of Mon. m. Joan, da. of William Lewis of St. Pierre, Mon., 4s. 4da.

Offices Held

Escheator, Mon. 1586-7, j.p. from c.1591, sheriff 1600-1.

Biography

The Kemeys family was of Norman origin, descended from one of the adventurers who overran Gwent in 1091. The manor house was reconstructed during the sixteenth century and has been little altered since. A junior branch, settled at Cefn Mably, near the Glamorgan border, had its main field of activity in that county. An Edward Kemeys of this junior branch, who was at the Middle Temple, and who served as magistrate for both shires and was thrice sheriff of Glamorgan, is often confused with the 1593 MP. The latter was occupied mainly in extending his estates; he purchased the manor of Redwick, some five miles southeast of Kemeys, where he lived in his later years, and several smaller properties. Although not mentioned by name in the parliamentary journals for 1593, he may have attended committees concerned with the subsidy (26 Feb.) and a legal matter (9 Mar.) to both of which all the knights of the shire were appointed. By his will, dated 19 Jan. 1622 and proved 3 Mar. 1623, he distributed his property among his four sons, and also left money for the repair of Llandaff cathedral.

Bradney, Mon. iii. 176-7; iv. 182; D’Ewes, 474, 496; Flenley, Cal. Reg. Council, Marches of Wales, 212.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: M.A.P.

Notes