Thomas ap Rice

Thomas ap Rice, son of John ap Rice and Katherine Perrot, was born c.1570 and died at the end of March 1650 at the age of eighty. He married Margaret Mercer in 1598 and they had at least eight known children.

Thomas ap Rice, "being of great years", made his will at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of 27 March 1650. He died shortly afterwards, and his widow proved the will at Carmarthen on 22 April following..A further probate was granted in PCC in 1656. Thomas was succeeded by his grandson James ap Rice, his son Perrot ap Rice having predeceased him.

Thomas appointed his “son-in -law” Thomas Lloyd as one of the overseers of his will, which led Francis Jones to assume that Thomas Lloyd was married to an unknown daughter of Thomas ap Rice, whereas Thomas Lloyd was actually his stepson.

Coat of Arms

The Tenby church book describes the arms of Thomas ap Rice:

"The Scotsborough monument is very rich in heraldry. On the upper part is a shield, on which are marshalled the coats of Ap Rees and Mercer, baron and femme, the former with its eight quarterings; below, on the dexter side, Ap Rees, and on the sinister Mercer. The quarterings of Ap Rees are as follow [references are to an accompanying pedigree]:

1. Ap Rees—Argent, a chevron between three ravens sable, within a border componey azure and or. He inherited the ravens from his grandfather, David, who was a natural son of Sir Rhys ap Thomas.

2. Martin of Cemmaes—Or, two bars gules. Thomas's great grandmother was Alsonde, daughter of Arnold Martin, of Richardston.

3. Marles of Marloes—Or, six martlets gules, three in chief, three in base. Arnold Martin's mother was daughter of Richard Marles.

4. Batman of Honeyborough—Sable, a chevron between three escallop shells or. Thomas's grandmother was Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Batman.

5. Perrot of Scotsborough—Gules, three pears pendant or, on a chief argent, a lion issuant sable. Catherine Perrot, Thomas's mother, was representative of the Scotsborough branch of the Perrot family.

6. Verney (?)—Quarterly, azure and gules on a cross or five ermine spots (?). Catherine Perrot was fifth in descent from Isabel Verney. See monument No. III.

7. Levelance (?)—Gules, on a chief indented sable three martlets or. Isabel Verney's mother was Elinor, daughter of William Levelance.

8. Roch—Gules, three fishes naiant in pale or. Elinor's mother was Lucy, daughter of Thomas le Roch.

Sources

• Edward Laws & Emily Hewlett Edwards, Church Book of St. Mary the Virgin, Tenby. (1907), 78-79.
• (Major) Francis Jones (Wales Herald Extraordinary), "Rickeston and Scotsborough : a study in family history" in The Pembrokeshire Historian (1966), 19-47.