of Clynfyw, Pembrokeshire
Two Pembrokeshire families, Lewis and Bowen, joined by marriage in 1776 and later by name. Their crests survive side by side on a gold signet ring handed down through the family.
When the Lewis and Bowen families joined by marriage in 1776 and later took the combined name, their crests came together on one seal. On this seal the Lewis horse stands on the left and the Bowen lion on the right, each on its own wreath.
Lewis of Clynfyw
Crest: a nag’s head couped, bridled proper. Motto: Be wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove.
A bridled horse in its natural colours. The Lewis shield behind it is red, with three silver serpents knotted in a triangle inside a gold border.
As recorded in Burke’s General Armory for Lewis of Clynfiew. The seal shows the horse with more of its body than Burke’s “head” describes.
Bowen of Pembrokeshire
Crest: a lion rampant, holding in the paws a Bowen knot. Motto: Audaces fortuna juvat.
An upright lion holding the looped Bowen knot. The knot takes its name from James Bowen of Llwyngwair, near Nevern, who died in 1629.
The form recorded for the Bowens of Llwyngwair. The motto means “Fortune favours the bold”.
The horse takes the senior place, on the wearer’s right, matching the order of the name Lewis-Bowen.
The Clynfyw estate lies near Boncath in north Pembrokeshire, below the Preseli hills. View Clynfyw on Google Maps
The estate papers at the National Library of Wales trace how it came to the family.
David Lloyd of Clements Inn, London, sells Clynfyw to David Llewelin of Penalltcych.
Owen Davies, David Llewelin’s grandson, sells the estate to Thomas Lewis of Llwyngrawys.
William Lewis marries Margaret Bowen, bringing the Bowen estate of Pantyderi into the Lewis family.
Their daughter Elizabeth is born. She later marries Thomas Lewis of Clynfyw (1768–1845), joining the family estates again.
Thomas Lewis’s trustees buy the Clydau estate.
Thomas Edward Lewis-Bowen, son of James William Bowen, sells almost 1,300 acres of the estate.
Colonel J. W. Lewis-Bowen deposits the family papers with the National Library of Wales.