The Treaty of Gloucester 15th May 1240

At which Dafydd ap Llywelyn (the son of Llywelyn the Great) was forced to do homage to Henry III.

On the death of Llywelyn on 11th April 1240, his son Dafydd succeeded him.  However Henry III, seeing an opportunity to take advantage of the instability surrounding the succession, moved quickly in summoning Dafydd to Gloucester and forcing him to pay homage.  Henry also forced Dafydd to surrender  most of Llywelyn's territorial gains.  According to Mathew Paris, the claim of Dafydd's half brother, Gruffydd, whom Dafydd had reportedly imprisoned in Criccieth Castle  was used by Henry as a bargaining tool against Dafydd, as he suggests that Gruffydd may have sought royal help in overthrowing Dafydd.

Dafydd did his best to delay the implementation of this treaty, but Henry lost patience and invaded North Wales the following year, forcing Dafydd to surrender and agree to the harsher   Treaty of Gwerneigron on 29 August 1241.  In which, Dafydd agreed to cede large parts of modern-day Flintshire to Henry. The treaty also obliged Dafydd to hand over Gruffydd to Henry, who promptly imprisoned him in the Tower of London.

On 15th May 1689, George Jeffreys ("Hanging Judge Jeffreys") died.

Jeffreys, known as the ‘hanging judge’, was a lawyer notorious for his brutality and corruption. He was born in Wrexham in 1645 and was educated at Westminster School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the bar in 1668.

Jeffreys was leading prosecuting council in several of the trials of suspects involved in an alleged Catholic conspiracy between 1678 and 1681, to kill King Charles II, called the ‘Popish Plot’ and gained a reputation for taking bribes and using suspect evidence.

Then in 1685, Jeffreys presided over the trial known as the ‘Bloody Assizes after the Duke of Monmouth had led an unsuccessful rebellion against King James II.   He tried 1300 men, all of whom he convicted, hanging 320, with the remainder sent for transportation to the colonies as slave labour. He also sentenced Monmouth, to death by beheading by a blunt axe.

When James was deposed in 1688, Jeffreys tried to flee the country by disguising himself as a sailor. He was however captured and held in the Tower of London but died before he could face trial for his actions.

On the 15th May 1973, the Llyn Brianne dam was officially inaugurated by Princess Alexandra.

Llyn Brianne is a man-made reservoir in the headwaters of the River Tywi at Rhandirmwyn, above Llandovery, constructed to provide water for Swansea and it's surrounding area. It is, in essence, a constructed mountain of crushed rock and clay 300 ft high, blocking the valley, it is the tallest dam in the UK and is the world's largest clay core dam.  In 1996 a concrete extension was built, which  increased the capacity of the reservoir  14,200 million gallons, it also has a hydroelectric plant, with three turbines producing 4.3Mw – enough electricity to power a small town.  It is named after a stream, called ‘Nant y Bryniau’, misspelt as Brianne.  

 

Born this day 1892 in Pentwyn Deintyr, Quakers Yard, Treharris.