David Hanmer, SL (fl. 1370 – 1387) was an English judge who lived in Wales,[1] and is best-known as the father-in-law of Owain Glyndŵr.
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Although its roots were English, the Hanmer family was just as much Welsh. This was quite common for border families of such standing and David Hanmer had strong Welsh connections. His father Philip Hanmer had married the daughter of a Welshman from Maelor Saesneg (the English-speaking Maelor) who rejoiced in the striking Welsh name of Dafydd ap Rhirid ab Ynyr ap Jonas of Llanerch Banna. She became David Hanmer’s mother.
Hanmer himself had married into another prominent Welsh family when he had taken as his bride Angharad, a daughter of Llywelyn Ddu ap Gruffudd ab Iorwerth Foel, one of the most prominent Welshmen in nearby Chirkland.
Angharad bore David at least four children: a daughter, Marged (who married Owain Glyndŵr), and three sons, Gruffudd, Philip and John. Gruffudd was the eldest son. He became the acting legal attorney to the Principality of North Wales. John held important posts in the government of Flintshire. Philip was also probably a lawyer. All four children were probably Welsh-speaking, bilingual and well versed in English and Welsh law, as naturally bilingual as their father and certainly their mother.
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Phylip Hanmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sir David Hanmer Cefnogi OGD d. 1387 |
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Angharad daughter of Llywelyn Ddu |
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Owain Glyndŵr Prince of Wales |
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Margaret Hanmer Princess of Wales 1370 – 1420) |
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John Supported Glyndŵr |
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Phylip Supported Glyndŵr |
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Gruffudd Supported Glyndŵr |
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| Gruffudd d. 1411 |
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Maredudd Still alive in 1417 |
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Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr d. 1413 |
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Edmund Mortimer Supported Glyndŵr d. 1409 |
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Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March d. 1398 |
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In 1377, Hanmer was appointed serjeant-at-law and as such attended the Parliament of England at Gloucester in 1378 and that at Northampton two years later at which he was also a member of the Commons for Herefordshire.
In February 1383, he was made a Justice of the King’s Bench, appointed under King Richard II. This was a hugely important position and one of the highest to which a lawyer could aspire. It entailed his sitting in judgment on cases brought before the King. He was knighted by King Richard in 1387, surely the pinnacle of his career. His greatest claim to fame today, however, is that his daughter Marged or Margaret married Owain Glyndŵr, probably in 1383.
Sir David Hanmer died in late 1387 unaware of the conflict that was to befall his family.