Research Notes:

Before the middle of the 15th cent. a branch of the [Puleston] family had settled at Berse, near Wrexham, and by the end of that century Hafod-y-wern , in the same area, had come into possession of the Pulestons through the marriage of JOHN PULESTON of Plas-ym-mers, a grandson of ... Robert and Lowry, ... and Alswn, daughter and heiress of Hywel ap Ieuan ap Gruffydd of Hafod-y-wern. ¹

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John Puleston of Bers. He married Alson, daughter of Howel ab Ieuan ab Gruffydd ab Ednyfed Goch of Bers (ermine, a lion statant gardant, gules); and Alson, his second wife, daughter and heiress of Howel ab Goronwy of Hafod y Wern (sable, three lions passant, in pale argent). ²

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Siôn ap Madog Puleston of Hafod-y-wern, fl. c.1450–65.

Guto composed an elegy for Siôn ap Madog Puleston (poem 72), and so did both Hywel Cilan and Gutun Owain (GHC poem XXII; GO poem LI). There are elegies for his wife, Alswn Fechan daughter of Hywel, and her mother, Alswn daughter of Hywel, by Gutun Owain (ibid. poems XLV and XLVI). Gutun also composed an elegy for Alswn Fechan’s grandfather, Hywel ap Gronwy, as did Lewys Glyn Cothi (ibid. poem XLIV; GLGC poem 217). There are poems of praise by both Hywel Cilan and Ieuan ap Tudur Penllyn for Siôn’s brother, Edward ap Madog Puleston (GHC poem XXIII; GTP poem 42).

Siôn was related to most of the leading patrons of north Wales. He was a cousin of Rhosier ap Siôn Puleston of Emral and a nephew of Angharad, wife of Edward ap Dafydd of Bryncunallt. His aunt Elen was one of Guto’s patrons and another aunt, Annes, was the wife of Tudur Fychan, half-brother of Wiliam Fychan of Penrhyn. His son, Siôn, married Alis daughter of Huw Lewys of Prysaeddfed.

His family and career
Along with the Salbris, the Conwys and the Hanmers, the Pulestons were notable patrons of poets in north-east Wales. They were descended from Sir Roger de Puleston, a native of Puleston in Shropshire who was given land in Emral in Maelor Saesneg by Edward I, where he settled before 1283 (Charles 1972–3: 3, 22). Siôn ap Madog Puleston’s grandfather, Robert Puleston, married Lowri daughter of Gruffudd Fychan of Glyndyfrdwy, Owain Glyndwr’s sister. Robert fought in the national revolt on Owain’s side.

According to Bartrum’s genealogies, Siôn ap Madog Puleston was of the generation born around 1400. He lived initially in Plas-ym-Mers by Wrexham, where a branch of the family was established in the first half of the fifteenth century, and later, by his marriage to Alswn daughter and heir of Hywel ab Ieuan of Hafod-y-wern in the same locality, he added that place to his possessions. It may be this Siôn who is referred to in connection with Abbot Siôn ap Rhisiart of Valle Crucis in 1455 (Williams 2001: 142; 1970–2: 203; Bowen 1995: 154). Furthermore, it is Siôn, in all likelihood, who is named as one of the king’s attorneys in the lordship of Chirk in July 1461, when he received a commission together with six other men who were also Guto’s patrons, namely Abbot Siôn ap Rhisiart, Dafydd Cyffin, Rhosier ap Siôn Puleston, Siôn Hanmer, Siôn Trefor and Robert ap Hywel (45.49–51n). The date of his dea.)h is unknown, although it is possible that he was still alive c.1465... ³