In the latest of Mark Muller's historical features, he takes us through the history of a Pembrokeshire family once based at Bush House.

The names of past great estate owning families in the south of the county that usually come to mind might be the Owens (Orielton), the Campbells (Stackpole), or the Mathiases (Lamphey) but there are others.

One that I wish to familiarise you with is the Meyrick family.

The Pembrokeshire Archives have a fascinating collection of letters dating from the 1840s which describe the complex legal wrangles that Lewis Mathias of Lamphey Court, who was acting as trustee of the Meyrick Estate at the time, was having with, the Crown, the Naval Commissioners, and a host of other interested parties, in respect of building quays, for either trade, or shipbuilding along the Pembroke Dock foreshore.

These letters have the capacity, and are sufficiently interesting, to be shaped into a series of articles.

However, further research into earlier Meyricks, brings to light aspects of their history that are capable of being made into blockbuster movie content, which means that for the moment, the moulding of 19th century legal arguments to fit these pages will have to be postponed.

Although most commonly associated with the Bush Estate, centred on Bush House in Pembroke, Meyricks can be found at several of this country’s most crucial points in history.

As a reward for helping Henry Tudor seize the throne at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, Meyric ap Llewellyn received land in Anglesey. His second son, Rowland Meyrick, entered the church, was educated at Oxford, and performed several minor church functions in various places in England and Wales, one of them being Lampeter Velfry, before becoming Chancellor, one of the four highest offices, at St David’s Cathedral in 1550.

By this point, Robert Ferrar had been appointed Bishop of the diocese, the first Bishop, since the start of the Reformation, to be consecrated using a Protestant form of service.

Ferrar’s attempts at reform, in line with the Reformation, brought him into sharp and bitter conflict with his canons, especially Rowland Meyrick, who Ferrar accused of ‘shameless whoredom’.

Others, Ferrar accused of blatant theft. Accusations were similarly levelled against Ferrar by his canons with the formal submission of 56 articles against him.

These included, abuse of authority, and not speaking sufficiently about godly things. After investigation, Ferrar was imprisoned, but, on the accession of Mary 1, in 1553, he was sentenced to be burned at the stake.

Of the 300 martyrs burned under Mary three were burned in Wales; William Nichol in Haverfordwest (9.4.1558) Rawlings White, a poor fisherman, burned in Cardiff (5.3.1555) and Bishop Robert Ferrar in Carmarthen (30.3.1555).

Before his execution, two of Ferrar’s three main detractors asked for clemency for him, but Rowland Meyrick, who was the third, did not.

Meyrick’s ascendancy within the church did not flourish under Mary, but a year after Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, he was made Bishop of Bangor.

By then he had married Catherine Barret, the daughter of land-owning gentry in Pembrokeshire, whose estates are listed as Gellyswick and Hascard.

So, by this point, the Meyrick family had helped a king gain his throne, and burned a controversial bishop alive. Rowland Meyrick died in Bangor in 1566, but by then he and Catherine had had four sons; Gelly, Francis, Harry and John.

It is Gelly who will be the focus of these pages and at an early age he was sent to be brought up on one of the family’s Pembrokeshire estates at Hascard.

It would seem sensible to view this place as being Hasguard Cross, it being in the same area as the main estate in Gellyswick, after which, Gelly, the eldest son, was named.

History books tell us only that ‘Hascard’ was either, ‘in close proximity to’, or ‘neighbouring’ Lamphey.

The Hasguard that we know is about 10 miles from Lamphey and such a distance would surely fit either description.

Why this continual reference to Lamphey and why does it matter?

Well, it is at this point that another family name enters the frame, along with royal favourites, possible royal romance and large amounts of intrigue. More next week.