13th century Irish nobleman living in Gwynedd, Wales
Coat of arms of Osborne Fitzgerald also named Osbern Wyddel[1][2]
Osborn Wyddel the Irishman (Welsh:Osbwrn Ystiwart Edwart)[3] (fl. 1280), also known asOsborne Fitzgerald, was the founder of the FitzgeraldHouse of Corsygedol, Wynne of Ynys maengwyn, Wynne of Maes y neuadd, and other important families inMerionethshire.[1] One of its cadet branches is theHouse of Yale.[1]
John was the grandson ofMaurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan, and the great-grandson of lordGerald de Windsor, and princessNest.[5] The circumstances of Osborn's settlement inArdudwy (North-west Merionethshire) are unknown, though it may be conjectured that he was driven to seek a home inWales by the temporary overthrow of the Geraldine influence in Desmond which followed theBattle of Callan (1261). A spot called Berllys (or Byrllysg), a little to the north ofCors y gedol, is pointed out as the site of Osborn's first residence.
Plas Cors y Gedol, Wales, right side frontage, residence of Osborn
He married thereafter the heiress ofCorsygedol in westMerioneth, and had a son named 'Kenric Ab Osbwrn', who became the ancestor of some of the locallanded gentry such as theWynne family of Glyncywarch, Wynne family of Peniarth andVaughans of Corsygedol.[9][5][4] He was assessed in the parish of Llanaber for the fifteenth levied in 1293 or 1294 upon holders of land in Wales, and was probably responsible for the building ofLlanaber church.[5] The Corsygedol estate would stay in the same family for over 600 years, being inherited by theHouse of Vaughan, then theHouse of Mostyn, until it was sold in 1858 to theHouse of Corbet.[10]
Genealogists have noted with certainty that Osborn's ancestry was to have descended through numerous Irish Fitz families ofNorman-Irish descent; starting with magnateRoger de Montgomery a Norman Knight who fought in theBattle of Hastings, himself a descendant of Danish and Swedish royalty. Then it's speculated that Roger's descendant,Walter FitzOther married Gladys ap Conwym the daughter of a Welsh Prince.[11]
^abDavies, W. Ll., (1959).OSBWRN WYDDEL (' Osborn the Irishman '), living in 1293 Irish nobleman and ancestor of landed families in Merioneth. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 8 Mar 2024
^Cors-y-Gedol Hall, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Welsh Government, Cadw listed buildings database, RCAHMW, 2009.
^Rev. E. Barry,Records of the Barrys of County Cork from the earliest to the present time., Cork, 1902, p.3; Vivian, p.133: "Robert of Easton (sic), co. Bucks, quotingThe Life of Sir Peter Carew, of Mohun Ottery, co. Devon., byJohn Hooker (c. 1527–1601), edited bySir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (1792-1872), published 1840 inArchaeologia, the journal of the Society of Antiquaries of London
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: "Osborn Wyddel".Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.