Clement-Jones family 12/22 - Person Sheet
Clement-Jones family 12/22 - Person Sheet
NameSir Thomas MOSTYN Kt , 7042
Birth1535
Death1618
FatherWiliam MOSTYN , 7043 (-1576)
MotherMargaret POWEL , 16391
Spouses
FatherWilliam GOODMAN , 14431
ChildrenRoger , 16398 (1567-1642)
 Katherine , 14433
Notes for Sir Thomas MOSTYN Kt
From Welsh Biography online

His eldest son by his first wife ( Margaret , daughter of Robert Powel of Whittington ) was THOMAS MOSTYN ( 1535? - 1618 ), afterwards Sir Thomas Mostyn . He was appointed to the shrievalty of Anglesey (twice), Flintshire (twice), and Caernarvonshire (once); he was also Custos Rotulorum of Caernarvonshire . For further details of his career (he was, e.g., a member of the Council of the Marches , 1603-18 ) see the History … and Calendar of Wynn (of Gwydir) Papers , etc. He is thought to have made extensive additions to Gloddaeth ; it is known that he collected a large library .


From the Mostyn Estates website

As a Justice of the Peace during the reign of Elizabeth I, Sir Thomas Mostyn (c. 1542 – 1618) was expected to enforce the religious changes of the time, securing the transformation from a Catholic to a Protestant state. In Flintshire he was responsible for dealing with the persistent problem of St. Winifred’s Well in Holywell, the most prominent focus for Catholic resistance in the whole of Wales and north-west England. This survived as a site of pilgrimage throughout the Reformation period. Coincidently, the area around the Gloddaith estate was also a hotbed of Catholicism with much recusant activity focused around the figure of Robert Pue of Penrhyn. In 1587 he and a group of fellow Catholics, including the priest William Davies from Llandrillo-yn-Rhos, were discovered in a cave situated on the Little Orme. Reports suggest that Sir Thomas Mostyn was informed of their activities and went to investigate but would not dare enter the cave, its entrance apparently being too narrow. Instead, he left a watch of twenty loyal men there overnight. By the next morning all the Catholic group had mysteriously disappeared from the cave without the watchmen moving a muscle.

In the cave was discovered panelled walls, an elaborate alter, various weapons and other provisions. The cave had evidently been utilised as a secret chapel. More importantly though, scattered throughout the cave and surrounding area were the remnants of printing tools and script. The printing of Catholic material was illegal and indeed treasonable. The group, it was discovered, had been printing and disseminating a devotional tract called Y Drych Cristianogawl – The Christian Mirror – probably the first book ever printed on Welsh soil. Sir Thomas Mostyn was contemporarily described as ‘a man not very rigid against Catholics
Last Modified 2 Nov 2020Created 4 Mar 2023 using Reunion for Macintosh