Parish records reveal that William Ap Howel lived to the remarkable age of 105, with his faculties and memory remaining sharp throughout a life that was quite ordinary.
William Ap Howel, a man who enjoyed life’s simpler pleasures, found contentment in fishing and tending to his vegetable patch. In his spare time he took pleasure in a bit of fowling and his diet consisted mainly of dairy products.
Parish records reveal he lived to the remarkable age of 105, with his faculties and memory remaining sharp throughout a life that was quite ordinary. As reported by Wales Online, he might have faded into obscurity were it not for one extraordinary distinction – that over the course of 81 years, he became father to 43 children.
This feat brought a certain notoriety to the small parish of Tregaian on Anglesey, in Wales. His legacy endures in the graveyard of the local 14th-century church, which is dedicated to a saint far less documented than its most celebrated resident.
In the late 18th century, when travel writer Thomas Pennant journeyed through Anglesey meticulously documenting the copper mines of Parys Mountain, he felt compelled to mention the island’s most prolific father in his 1778 work A Tour in Wales.
He observed that, contrary to what one might expect, the “great patriarch of Tregaian” was not a towering figure with an enormous appetite, but rather “small of stature, of a cheerful, convivial temper; but spare in his diet, living mostly on milk”. Pennant continued: “He passed his time in rural employments, and at his leisure in fishing and fowling.”
Large families were commonplace when he passed away in March 1581 – but William’s family size was extraordinary even by those standards. The average household size in Wales and England during the 16th century was a modest 4.75 – a figure that remained fairly stable until the First World War.
William embarked on a pattern of fathering a child every two years from the age of 21, a trend he maintained well into his old age. At the time of his death at 105, his youngest offspring was a son, Griffith, aged just two and a half years.
To sustain such a large brood, he depended on five women. His first wife, Elen Williams, bore him 22 children; his second wife, Katherine Richards, added another 10 to the tally.
His third wife, Ellen Williams, seemingly more aware of his habits, contributed a mere four. His three marriages resulted in a total of 36 children. But William wasn’t done yet. He also had two ‘concubines’: Jonet ferch William gave birth to two more, while Lecky Lloyd added another five.
Their collective efforts led to an unprecedented population surge in this rural part of Anglesey. To put it into perspective, during William’s lifetime, the larger parish of Llanfairpwll had a population of around 80.
At the time of his death, 80 of William’s descendants were still residing in Tregaian parish. Furthermore, some seemed intent on perpetuating the family tradition: his eldest daughter Alice, then aged 72, had been married twice and, according to parish records, she “hath numerous offspring” of her own.
The account continued: “At his funeral there was computed to be about 300 persons descended from him. He has children’s children to the fourth generation in abundance.”
Providing for such a large brood may have posed difficulties, although many of his offspring would likely have moved out before the next Ap Howel baby arrived. Despite this, local gossip suggested he used his hunting abilities as a poacher to boost the family’s food supply.
Christenings at the modest medieval St Caian’s church may have presented their own complications. In 1847, clergyman Harry Longueville Jones observed the font was “hardly large enough for immersion”.
Parish records indicate William enjoyed excellent health throughout his life. “The old man was of a middle stature, of good complexion, never troubled with cholick, gout or stones, seldom sick,” they documented. “Of moderate diet, lived by tillage, exercised himself much in fishing and fowling and had his senses perfect to the end.”
