John Prise

The Honourable Sir
John Prise
Welsh: Syr Siôn ap Rhys
Bornc. 1501–1502
Brecon
Died15 October 1555(1555-10-15) (aged 52–53)
St Guthlac's Priory, Hereford
Resting placeHereford Cathedral
52°03′15″N 2°42′58″W / 52.0542°N 2.716°W / 52.0542; -2.716
Education
Occupations
  • Administrator
  • scholar
Notable workYny lhyvyr hwnn
Spouse
Joan Williamson
​
(m. 1534)​
Children
  • Elizabeth Prise
with Joan:
  • Gregory Prise
  • Richard Prise
  • John Prise
  • William Prise
  • Bartholomew Prise
  • Eleanor Prise
  • Joan Prise
  • Jane Prise
  • Mary Prise
  • Ursula Prise
Parents
  • Rhys ap Gwilym ap Llywelyn (father)
  • Gwenllian ferch Hywel Madog (mother)

Sir John Prise (also Prys, Price; Welsh: Syr Siôn ap Rhys) (1501/2 – 15 October 1555) of Brecon and Hereford, was a Welsh public notary, who acted as a royal agent and visitor of the monasteries. He was also a scholar, associated with the first Welsh printed publication Yn y lhyvyr hwnn. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Breconshire in 1547; Hereford October 1553; Ludlow April 1554; and Ludgershall November 1554.[1][2]

Life

John was the son of Rhys ab Gwilym by Gwenllian, daughter of Howel Madoc,[3] born between 12 October 1501 and 11 October 1502,[1] in Brecon.[4] He was educated at Oxford, practiced in the Court of Arches and subsequently graduated BCL at Cambridge in 1535/6.[1][2][5] By 1530 he was a servant of Thomas Cromwell, to whom he would later be related by marriage.[2]

In May 1532, when the Earl of Westmorland and the Earl of Cumberland and Sir Thomas Clifford searched Cuthbert Tunstall's house at Bishop Auckland, Price looked into the manuscripts, and made a report to Cromwell. In June 1533 he was one of the "servitors at the dresser", responsible for managing the "dresser" (a table or sideboard) where food was prepared and arranged before being served at the coronation of Anne Boleyn.[2]

Family

On 11 October 1534 at Thomas Cromwell's house at Islington, he married the minister's niece, Joan (b. c. 1515/6), daughter of John Williamson of Southwark, by whom he had eleven children:[2][3]
six sons, including:[2]

five daughters:[2]

  • Eleanor Prise, married Thomas Walwin (d. 1580) of Longford.[6]
  • Joan Prise (b. 14 November 1542), married 1. Thomas Williams of Estradfyn, Cardigan;[6] 2. Sir George Devereux of Lamphey Court, Pembrokeshire;[7][10] 3. Thomas Jones (c.1530–1609) of Fountain Gate, alias Twm Siôn Cati.[7][11]
  • Jane Prise[5]
  • Mary Prise, married Thomas Morgan of Lanver, Monmouthshire.[6]
  • Ursula Prise[6]

The first four children were born in London, and their names indicate their father's connections in the city: the eldest son was named after Thomas Cromwell's son, Gregory, the second surviving son after Cromwell's nephew, Richard, and the eldest daughter, Eleanor, after the wife of Christopher Barker, Garter King of Arms.[1] From 8 June 1540 he had the lease, and from 13 November 1542 the grant in fee, of the priory of St Guthlac at Hereford, which he made his principal residence, and where his fifth and subsequent children were born. He was also granted Brecon Priory in 1542.[1]

This may not have been Prise's first marriage, as his will refers to a married daughter, Elizabeth, who was older than any of the children he had with Joan.[1]

In December 1534 Prise was granted the registrarship of the bishopric of Salisbury.[2] In April 1535 he took part in the proceedings against the Carthusians as to the royal supremacy. He officiated in the same way at the trial of John Fisher and Thomas More. He took part in the major visitation of the monasteries of 1535, alongside Sir Thomas Legh and penned one of the summaries of the visit (cf. Compendium Compertorum). When the Pilgrimage of Grace was quelled, he assisted in trying the rebels. For his services he received in 1537–38 a joint lease of Carmarthen rectory, and a lease of Brecon Priory and rectory. He also bought St Guthlac's Priory in Hereford.[12] In a petition of 1538 he asked for the manor of West Dereham. A letter from Rowland Lee to Thomas Cromwell indicates that Prise had been some time in the service of the Earl of Arundel as constable of Clun Castle.[13]

In April 1535 he took part in the proceedings against the Carthusians as to the royal supremacy. He officiated in the same way at the trial of John Fisher and Thomas More. He took part in the major visitation of the monasteries of 1535, alongside Sir Thomas Legh and penned one of the summaries of the visit (cf. Compendium Compertorum). He was a public notary by 1536.[2]

When the Pilgrimage of Grace was quelled, he assisted in trying the rebels. For his services he received in 1537–38 a joint lease of Carmarthen rectory, and a lease of Brecon Priory and rectory. He also bought St Guthlac's Priory in Hereford. In a petition of 1538 he asked for the manor of West Dereham.

He took part in public affairs, for example in the union of England and Wales, drafting or suggesting the petition on which the statutes were framed. He was Sheriff of Breconshire in 1541, and lived chiefly at Brecon Priory. He served as a justice of the peace (JP) for Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Shropshire, Welsh counties in 1543 and for Cheshire, Glouctershire and Worcestershire from 1545 to 1547. He was knighted on 22 February 1547, two days after the coronation of Edward VI.[14] He was elected knight of the shire for Breconshire in the same year, and became secretary of the council for the Welsh marches in 1551.[2]

During the reign of Mary I he was elected MP for the seat of Hereford in October 1553, for Ludlow in April 1554, and for Ludgershall in November 1554.[2]

Death

He died on 15 October 1555 at St Guthlac's Priory, survived by his widow and ten of their children.[1] In his will, dated 6 October 1555, he bequeathed his soul to God, to ″owre blessede ladie Sainte Marye And to all the blessed cumpanie of heavin″ and requested prayers on its behalf. He made numerous bequests, including sums of money for his daughters′ marriages, and asked to be buried in Hereford Cathedral.[1][2]

Works

Prise was encouraged as a scholar by the patronage of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and became a collector of manuscripts.[12][15] He wrote:

  • Historiae Britannicae Defensio, composed about 1553, published by his son Richard in 1573, and dedicated to Lord Burghley; in part a protest against Polydore Vergil. It defended the traditional historical accounts of Brutus of Troy and King Arthur in early British history.[16]
  • Description of Cambria, translated and enlarged by Humphrey Lhuyd, and published as part of The Historie of Cambria, Now Called Wales by David Powel, 1584; other editions 1697, 1702, 1774, and 1812.[5][12]
  • Fides Historian Britannicae, a correction of Polydore Vergil (Brit. Mus. Cotton MS. Titus, F. iii. 17).[5][12]
  • A tract on the restitution of the coinage, written in 1553; dedicated to Queen Mary (MS. New Coll. Oxon. Arch. MS. 317, iii.); in this tract he refers to a larger treatise on the same subject, which is not extant.[5][12]

He is also said to have translated and published the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments in Welsh, for the first time, in Yn y lhyvyr hwnn (1546).[1][17]

Modern editions

  • Davies, Ceri, ed. (2015). John Price: Historiae Britannicae defensio: A defence of the British history. Studies and texts. Vol. 195. Toronto, Ontario, Canada / Oxford: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies / The Bodleian Library. ISBN 978-0-88844-195-9. OCLC 901996317.

Arms

Coat of arms of John Prise
Crest
A cock Gules, combed and legged Or, charged on the neck with two bars of the second, holding in the beak a heartsease.[18]
Escutcheon
Sable, on a chevron between three leopards' heads Argent as many spear-heads of the field, on a chief of the second as many cocks Gules.[18]
Motto
Sine flore in originali
(Latin for "Without flower in the original")[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pryce, Huw (January 2026) [2004]. "Prise, Sir John [Syr Siôn ap Rhys] (1501/2–1555)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22752. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Edwards, P. S. (1982). "Price, Sir John (1501/2-55), of Brecon and Hereford". In Bindoff, S. T. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558 – via History of Parliament Online.
  3. ^ a b Jones, Evan David (1959). "Price (or Prys), Sir John (1502? - 1555), Notary Public, the King's Principal Registrar in Causes Ecclesiastical, and Secretary of the Council in Wales and the Marches". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  4. ^ Fulton, Helen (1 June 2022). "Sir John Prise and his books: Manuscript culture in the March of Wales". The Welsh History Review. 31 (1): 55–78. doi:10.16922/whr.31.1.3. ISSN 0083-792X.
  5. ^ a b c d e Wood, Anthony A.; Bliss, Philip (1813). Athenæ Oxonienses: An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops Who Have Had Their Education in the University of Oxford: To Which Are Added the Fasti, or Annals of the Said University. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). London: Printed for F.C. and J. Rivington ... [and 11 others]. pp. 216–218. OCLC 847943279.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cooke, Robert (1886). Weaver, Frederic William (ed.). The Visitation of Herefordshire Made by Robert Cooke, Clarencieux, in 1569. Exeter: Privately printed for the Editor by William Pollard. p. 58. OCLC 714188697.
  7. ^ a b c d Jones, Theophilus; Bailey, Joseph Russell (1909). A History of the County of Brecknock. Enlarged by the Notes Collected by Sir Joseph Russell Bailey, Bart., First Baron Glanusk (Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire). Vol. 2. Brecon: Blissett, Davies & Co. p. 139. OCLC 558065705.
  8. ^ Edwards, P. S. (1982). "Price, Gregory (1535-1600), of Hereford". In Bindoff, S.T. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025 – via History of Parliament Online.
  9. ^ A.H.D. (1981). "PRICE, Richard I (c.1538-c.87), of The Priory, Brecon". In Hasler, P. W. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-160. Archived from the original on 16 December 2024 – via History of Parliament Online. The tradition that Richard Price was himself a man of letters and an associate of Shakespeare lacks foundation.
  10. ^ A.H.D. (1981). "Devereux, George, of Lamphey Court, Pemb. and Llwyn y Brain, Carm". In Hasler, P. W. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024 – via History of Parliament Online.
  11. ^ Jenkins, A. David Fraser (1959). "Jones, Thomas ('Twm Shôn Catti'; 1532 - 1609), Landowner, Antiquary, Genealogist, and Bard". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  12. ^ a b c d e Archbold, William Arthur Jobson (1896). "Price, John (d.1573?)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 46. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 329–330.
  13. ^ Gairdner, James, ed. (1892). "Henry VIII: April 1538, 10-15". Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 13 Part 1, January-July 1538. London: H.M.S.O. no. 768 – via British History Online.
  14. ^ Shaw, W.A.; Burtchaell, B.D. (1906). The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of Knights Bachelors, Incorporating a Complete List of Knights Bachelors Dubbed in Ireland. Vol. II. Incorporating a complete list of Knights Bachelors dubbed in Ireland, compiled by G. D. Burtchaell. London: Printed and published for the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, Sherratt and Hughes. pp. 59–60. Knights of the Carpet dubbed by the King on Tuesday after the Coronation, being Shrove Tuesday.
  15. ^ "Beyond the Work of One: Oxford College Libraries and their Benefactors: An exhibition at the Bodleian Library, 24 May – 1 November 2008: The 13th – 16th Centuries". Bodleian Libraries. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  16. ^ French, Peter J. (1987). John Dee: the world of an Elizabethan magus. London: Ark. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7448-0079-1.
  17. ^ Gruffydd, R. Geraint (May 1969). "Yny Lhyvyr Hwnn (1546): The Earliest Welsh Printed Book". The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies. 22 (2): 105–116. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  18. ^ a b c Metcalfe, Walter C. (1885). A Book of Knights Banneret, Knights of the Bath, and Knights Bachelor, Made between the Fourth Year of King Henry VI and the Restoration of King Charles II and Knights Made in Ireland, between the Years 1566 and 1698, Together with an Index of Names. London: Mitchell and Hughes. p. 94. OCLC 5319383.

Attribution

Further reading

  • Davies, Ceri (2005). "Two Welsh Renaissance Latinists: Sir John Prise of Brecon and Dr John Davies of Mallwyd". In Burnett, Charles; Mann, Nicholas (eds.). Britannia latina: Latin in the culture of Great Britain from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Warburg institute colloquia. London: Warburg Institute. ISBN 978-0-85481-137-3.
  • Ker, Neil R. (1955). "Sir John Prise". The Library. 5th ser. 10 (1): 1–24. doi:10.1093/library/s5-X.1.1. ISSN 0024-2160.
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