(610) Beynon and Protheroe-Beynon of Trewern

Beynon of Trewern

The Beynon family rose into the landed gentry through the marriage of Thomas Beynon (1717-66), with whom the genealogy below begins, and Mary Thomas (d. 1803), whose grandfather, Owen Thomas (d. 1661) was the first recorded owner of the small Trewern estate at Llanddewi Velfrey in Pembrokeshire. Thomas and Mary were married in 1751, and had two sons and one daughter. Their elder son, John Beynon (1751-1823), seems to have made his home in Cardiganshire until he inherited Trewern from his mother, for he was High Sheriff of that county in 1783-84, but subsequent generations were often landowners in all three south-western counties of Wales and were at least as prominent in Carmarthenshire as in Pembrokeshire. John was late to marry and only his two sons survived to adulthood. The elder, John Thomas Beynon (1807-73) inherited Trewern, while the younger, Rhys (or Rice) Pryce Beynon (1811-89) farmed in Carmarthenshire, where his house was attacked during the Rebecca riots in 1843. Rhys never married, but left a somewhat scandalous reputation as a philanderer. 

Both John Thomas Beynon and his brother attended Shrewsbury School, where they were contemporaries of Charles Darwin, but only J.T. Beynon went on to study at Jesus College, Oxford. He became both a JP and a deputy lieutenant for all three south-western counties of Wales, and after his marriage produced two sons and two daughters. His heir was John Beynon (1829-99), who like his father went to Oxford. Although he did not take a degree and is not known to have had any legal training, he was a prominent member of the Carmarthenshire magistrates' bench and frequently served as chairman of Quarter Sessions for that county. During his life he accumulated property through fortunate inheritances, adding to his 346 acre paternal estate at Trewern his uncle Rhys Pryce Beynon's estate at St Clears (Carms.) in 1889 and the following year the Manoravon estate at Llandeilo (Carms.), including lands in both Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, which came to him on the death of his kinsman, David Pugh MP (1806-90), whose mother had been a Beynon.

Dolwilim, Llanglydwen (Carmarthenshire)

Unfortunately, John Beynon had no children to inherit this enlarged patrimony, and at his death it was divided between two of his nephews, the sons of his sister, Ellen Augusta Cecilia (1833-1904), who had married Surgeon-Major Edward Schaw Protheroe (1824-1906), of Dolwilim (Carms.). The nephews were John Baldwin Brydges Protheroe (1862-1908), who also inherited Dolwilim from his father but died soon afterwards, and Godfrey Evan Schaw Protheroe (1872-1958), who inherited Trewern and took the additional surname Beynon at his uncle's request.

Maj. Godfrey Protheroe-Beynon, as he became, served in the Boer War and the First World War, and was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1907-08. He and his wife had two sons, John Godfrey Protheroe-Beynon (1903-68) and Maj. William Edward Pugh Protheroe-Beynon (1904-89), who pursued a military career, including work for the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War. J.G. Protheroe-Beynon also had an unusual wartime career, combining his role with an insurance company with being a senior commander in the shadowy British resistance movement, which was intended to conduct guerilla operations against the Germans in the event of Britain being invaded, but which happily never had to do more than plan and train. When Major Godfrey Protheroe-Beynon died in 1958, the Trewern estate passed to his elder son, but it was sold soon afterwards.

Trewern, Llandewi Velfrey, Pembrokeshire

The house stands on a hillside overlooking the River Taf, which here forms the county boundary between Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. It is a three-storey double pile house with a rather awkward solid parapet. The entrance front has five widely-spaced bays but the garden front has nine bays that incorporate full-height curved bows at either end, making it one of the grander small country houses in the county. 

Trewern: entrance front.

Trewern: garden front. Image: National Library of Wales.

The entrance side has a single-storey Doric porch, formerly balustraded, and one wonders if the parapet of the house was originally treated in the same way. The garden side has a tall round-headed staircase window in the centre. The lost balustrading and the bows are reminiscent of the work of William Owen (1791-1879) of Haverfordwest, but derive ultimately from the work of Anthony Keck at Slebech and elsewhere. The house is usually said to date from c.1824 (though it incorporates some earlier work), which is a bit too early for Owen, and would be during the minority of J.T. Beynon, so it probably dates either from before John Beynon died in 1823 or after J.T. Beynon came of age and was married in 1829. It was altered in the later 19th century, when some of the glazing bars were removed from the sash windows to accommodate plate glass. Inside, a large entrance hall leads to a cantilevered open-well staircase with nosed treads and scrolly ironwork handrail, set in a rectangular well with apsidal ends. The principal rooms have simple cornices, ceiling roses, elliptical arches on brackets and six-panel doors in moulded architraves, and the drawing room has a fine white marble chimneypiece, probably imported from London.

Descent: John Beynon (d. 1823); to son, John Thomas Beynon (d. 1873); to son, John Beynon (1829-99); to nephew, Godfrey Evan Schaw Protheroe (later Protheroe-Beynon) (1872-1958); to son, John Godfrey Prothero-Beynon (1903-68), who sold c.1960 to Maj. Anthony James Robertson Moon (1924-2009) of Amroth Castle (Pembs.)... for sale, 2023.

Beynon and Protheroe-Beynon family of Trewern

Beynon, Thomas (1717-66). Son of Rees Beynon of Cethin Farm (Carms.) and his wife Mary Pryce of Rhydarbenne, Llangeler (Carms.), born 1717. He married 1st, 1744, Anne Williams of Nantyreglwys, Llanboidy (Carms.), and 2nd, 1750, Mary (d. 1803), daughter and heiress of John Thomas (d. 1730) of Trewern, and had issue:

(2.1) John Beynon (1751-1823) (q.v.);

(2.2) William Beynon (1761-1845?), baptised at Llanddewi Velfrey, 17 January 1761; married, 31 December 1783 at St Peter, Carmarthen, Mary Davies, and had issue; possibly the man of this name buried at Newport (Pembs.), 6 February 1845;

(2.3) Anne Beynon, baptised at Llanddewi Velfrey as an adult, 4 February 1765.

He inherited Cethin Farm, St Clears (Carms.) from his father and Trewern in right of his wife.

He was buried at Llanddewi Velfrey, 9 October 1766. His widow was buried at Llanddewi Velfrey, 28 October 1803.

Beynon, John (1751-1823). Elder son of Thomas Beynon (1717-66) and his wife Mary Thomas, baptised at Llanddewi Velfrey (Pembs), 24 October 1751. JP for Cardiganshire; High Sheriff of Cardiganshire, 1783-84. He married, 21 July 1806, Mary (d. 1818), only daughter of John Thomas of Beaumaris (Anglesey), and had issue:

(1) John Thomas Beynon (1807-73) (q.v.);

(2) Rhys alias Rice Pryce Beynon (1811-89), born 27 April and baptised at Llandewi Velfrey (Pembs), 11 May 1811; educated at Shrewsbury School, where he was a contemporary of Charles Darwin; an officer in the Royal Carmarthen Fusilier Militia (Lt., 1839; Capt. by 1855); lived at St Clears (Carms.), where his home was attacked during the Rebecca riots in 1843, and later at Pentowen, Mydrim (Carms.); JP for Carmarthenshire; he had a reputation as a philanderer, but died unmarried, 20 May 1889, when his estate passed to his nephew, John Beynon (1829-99); he was buried at Llanddewi Velfrey and his will proved 17 July 1889 (effects £553);

(3) Mary Matilda Beynon (1813-15), baptised at Llandewi Velfrey, 8 April 1813; died in infancy, 22 March, and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 24 March 1815;

(4) Emma Anne Beynon (1814-15), baptised at Llandewi Velfrey, 14 October 1814; died in infancy, 12 March, and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 16 March 1815.

He inherited Trewern on the death of his mother in 1803.

He died 8 March 1823; his will was proved 3 April 1823. His wife died about July 1818.

Beynon, John Thomas (1807-73). Elder son of John Beynon (1751-1823) and his wife Mary, only daughter of John Thomas of Beaumaris (Anglesey), born in February, and baptised at Llandewi Velfrey (Pembs), 11 May 1807. Educated at Shrewsbury School and Jesus College, Oxford (matriculated 1825). JP and DL for Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire. He married, 7 April 1829 at St Mary, Haverfordwest (Pembs), Catherine Sophia (d. 1853), second daughter of Charles Allen Phillips of St Bride's Hill, Pembroke, and had issue:

(1) John Beynon (1829-99) (q.v.);

(2) Catherine Marianna Beynon (1831-98), baptised at Llandewi Velfrey (Pembs), 10 March 1831; married, 31 August 1867 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Surgeon-Maj. Owen William George (1825-90) of Plas Crwn, Llandewi Velfrey, son of Evan George of Llandewi Velfrey; died in Bath, 27 October, and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 1 November 1898; will proved 19 December 1898 (effects £2,707);

(3) Ellen Augusta Cecilia Beynon (1833-1904) (q.v.).

(4) Rhys Beynon (1835-72), baptised at Llandewi Velfrey, 31 July 1835; educated at Lucton School (Herefs) and Jesus College, Oxford (matriculated 1853); lived at Barnes (Surrey); married, 7 July 1861 at St George, Gravesend (Kent), Charlotte Jane Blanchard (1834-93), daughter of Charles Isaacs, and had issue one son (Rhys Charles Beynon (1865-94)); died 26 October, and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 31 October 1872; will proved 17 January 1873 (effects under £12,000).

He inherited Trewern from his father in 1823, and came of age in 1828.

He died 26 October and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 31 October 1873. His wife died 7 January and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 13 January 1853.

Beynon, John (1829-99). Elder son of John Thomas Beynon (1807-73) and his wife Catherine Sophia, second daughter of Charles Allen Phillips of St Bride's Hill, Pembroke, born 16 December 1829 and baptised at Llandewi Velfrey (Pembs), 19 January 1830. Educated at Worcester College, Oxford (matriculated 1847). JP and DL for Carmarthenshire, and was occasionally Chairman of Quarter Sessions; High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire, 1878-79; JP for Pembrokeshire; Chairman of the Carmarthen Board of Conservators. A Conservative in politics. He was a keen sportsman throughout his life and enjoyed hunting, shooting and fishing. He married, 24 September 1863 at St Martin, Haverfordwest (Pembs), Elizabeth (1827-1906), second daughter of Charles Prust of Haverfordwest, but had no issue.

He inherited Trewern from his father in 1873, property at St Clears (Carms) from his uncle in 1889, and Manoravon (Carms) from his kinsman, David Pugh MP, in 1890. At his death he bequeathed Manoravon to his nephew, John Baldwin Brydges Protheroe (1862-1908), and Trewern to his widow if she wished to occupy it and then to his nephew Godfrey Evan Schaw Protheroe (1872-1958). His widow lived latterly at Tenby (Pembs).

He died 7 March, and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 11 March 1899; his will was proved 29 May 1899 (estate £85,354). His widow died 16 January and was buried at Llandewi Velfrey, 20 May 1906; her will was proved 2 March 1906 (estate £2,432).

Beynon, Ellen Augusta Cecilia (1833-1904). Second daughter of John Thomas Beynon (1807-73) and his wife Catherine Sophia, second daughter of Charles Allen Phillips of St Bride's Hill, Pembroke, baptised at Llandewi Velfrey (Pembs), 26 July 1833. She married, 2 July 1859 at Llandewi Velfrey, Surgeon-Maj. Edward Schaw Protheroe (sometimes Schaw-Protheroe) (1824-1906) of Dolwilim, Llanglydwen (Carmarthenshire), of the Royal Artillery and later Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, and had issue:

(1) John Baldwin Brydges Protheroe (1862-1908), of Dolwilim, born at sea, 16 August 1862 and baptised at Llanglydwen (Carms.), 15 January 1863; JP for Carmarthenshire; married, 20 June 1906 at Henllan-Amgoed (Carms), Agnes (1876-1936), daughter of George Thomas of Parke, but had no issue; died 9 February and was buried at Llanglydwen (Carms), 13 February 1908; will proved 4 January 1909 (estate £4,496);

(2) Samuel B. Protheroe (b. c.1863), born about 1863; living in 1871, but no further record found, so he probably died young;

(3) Francis Frederick Lewis Schaw Protheroe (1864-1901), born in London, 2 March, and baptised at St James, Paddington (Middx), 1 April 1864; served as private soldier in 82nd Regiment; died at Springfontein (South Africa), 26 May 1901; will proved 22 June 1901 (estate £7,847); 

(4) Eva Cecilia Prothero (1865-67), born at Haslar Naval Base, Gosport (Hants), 21 December 1865; died in infancy and was buried at Haslar in the parish of Alverstoke (Hants), 13 March 1867;

(5) David Garrick Protheroe (1868-1954), of Dolwilim, born 21 September and baptised at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich (Kent), 30 October 1868; JP and DL for Carmarthenshire; an officer in the Pembrokeshire Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1888; Lt., 1889; retired 1892; returned to service as Capt., 1914); died unmarried, 15 October 1954; will proved 31 October 1955 and 27 November 1959 (estate £31,523);

(6) Edward Schaw Prothero (1870-1922), of Glyntaf, Hebron (Carms.), born 19 June and baptised at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, 31 July 1870; died unmarried, 16 March and was buried at Llanglydwen, 20 March 1922; administration of goods granted 14 July 1922 (estate £16,964);

(7) Godfrey Evan Schaw Protheroe (later Protheroe-Beynon) (1872-1958) (q.v.);

(8) Muriel Katherine Protheroe (1876-1945), baptised at Llanglydwen, 18 April 1876; died unmarried, 14 February, and was buried at Llanglydwen, 19 February 1945; administration of goods granted 17 October 1945 (estate £8,636).

She and her husband lived at Dolwilim.

She died 15 April 1904; her will was proved 17 June 1904 (estate £2,222). Her widower died in 1906.

Protheroe-Beynon, Maj. Godfrey Evan Schaw (1872-1958). Third and youngest son of Surgeon-Maj. Edward Schaw Protheroe (1824-1906) of Dolwilim (Carms.) and his wife Ellen Augusta Cecilia, second daughter of John Thomas Beynon (d. 1873) of Trewern (Pembs.), born 4 April and baptised at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich (Kent), 3 May 1872. JP (from 1899) and DL (from 1929) for Carmarthenshire; High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire, 1907-08. An officer in the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1901; Capt., 1906; retired 1913; return to service as Maj., 1914), who served in the Boer War and in the First World War. He took the additional name of Beynon by royal licence, 1899. He married, 17 April 1902 at Llangeler (Carms.), Emily Williama MBE (1873-1957), elder daughter of Col. William Price Llewellyn Lewes of Llysnewydd (Carms.), and had issue:

(1) John Godfrey Protheroe-Beynon (b. 1903) (q.v.);

(2) Maj. William Edward Pugh Protheroe-Beynon (1904-89), born 21 November and baptised at Llandewi Velfrey (Pembs), 28 December 1904; educated at Shrewsbury School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1925; Lt., 1927; retired 1928; served with the Special Operations Executive in Second World War; returned to service as Capt., 1949; retired as Maj., 1958); secretary of the Notts and Derbys Cttee of National Fitness Council, 1937; on staff of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1948; recruiting officer for the army in west Wales, 1954; married, 16 June 1941, Rosemary Georgina Denham Jermy (1921-2014), only daughter of Capt. John Mounteney Jephson (later Norreys) of Clifton (Glos), and had issue two daughters; died Apr-Jun 1989.

He inherited Trewern from his maternal uncle in 1899.

He died 10 November 1958; his will was proved 18 November 1959 (estate £7,761). His wife died 24 November 1957; her will was proved 22 April 1958 (estate £7,656).

Protheroe-Beynon, John Godfrey (1903-68). Elder son of Godfrey Evan Schaw Protheroe-Beynon (1872-1958) and his wife Emily Williama, elder daughter of Col. William Price Llewellyn Lewes of Llysnewydd (Carms.), born 11 January and baptised at Lampeter Velfrey (Pembs), 4 March 1903. Educated at Malvern College. Secretary of the London and Lancaster Insurance Co. During the Second World War he served as an Area and Group Commander in the Auxiliary Units (British Resistance), 1942-44. JP for Carmarthenshire; High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire, 1960-61. A Conservative in politics, he was Chairman of the Carmarthenshire Conservative Association, and was appointed OBE for public and political service, 1961. He was a keen cricket and tennis player. He married 1st, 28 December 1940 at Llanboidy (Carms.) (div. 1949 on grounds of her desertion), Wilma Julia Blanche (1911-2003), second daughter of Julian Wilmot Morris Vaughan (1874-1956) of Maesgwynne, Whitland (Pembs), and 2nd, 4 March 1950, Hilda (b. 1910), daughter of Percy Rees of Llanelly (Carms.) and widow of H. Michael Godfrey-Vaughan, and had issue:

(1.1) Mary June Protheroe-Beynon (b. 1942), born June 1942; married, Oct-Dec 1968, Douglas William Bulpin Taylor (1944-2006), farmer, of Gillingham (Dorset);

(1.2) Peter W. Protheroe-Beynon (b. & d. 1944), born Jan-Mar 1944; died in infancy, Jan-Mar 1944.

He lived at Hurst House, Laugharne. He inherited Trewern from his father in 1958, but sold it soon afterwards.

He died 23 November 1968. His first wife lived latterly at Gillingham (Dorset) and died aged 91 in Jan-Mar 2003. His second wife married 3rd, 23 March 1972 at the Wayside Chapel, Sydney (Australia), Owen Fenner-Clayton of Sydney (Australia); her date of death is unknown.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p.176; C.C. Jones (ed.), Historic Pembrokeshire homes and their families, 2001, pp. 313-14; T. Lloyd, J. Orbach & R. Scourfield, The buildings of Wales: Pembrokeshire, 2004, p. 247.

Location of archives

Beynon and Protheroe-Beynon of Trewern: deeds and papers, 1695-1919 [National Library of Wales]; estate and family papers, including political and business records, 19th-20th cents [Carmarthenshire Archives, Acc. 7908]

Coat of arms

Or, a lion rampant sable between eight roses gules.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 27 August 2025.