Sir Roger de Pulesdon (otherwise 'Pyvelesdon' / Puleston etc) from Puleston in Shropshire, was the son of Sir Roger de Pyvelesdon, who was commemorated by his son and namesake with a Market Cross ('the Puleston Cross') in Newport, near the family's home. He is found recorded as Sheriff of Staffordshire and Salop in 1285.
Sir Roger (the son) was appointed by Edward I as the first High Sheriff of Anglesey following the defeat, occupation and dismemberment of the Kingdom of Gwynedd in 1284. His tenure came to an end at the height of the rising of Madoc ap Llywelyn in 1295. The hated sheriff was seized and hanged by the Anglesey Welshmen during a sudden raid on the borough of Caernarvon.
Footnotes
- Calendar of Charter Rolls, Volume II, Henry III - Edward I. A.D. 1257-1300 (HM Stationery Office, Pub. by mackie & Co, Fleet St, 1906), p.294-5. June 7, 1285 at Westminster, Membrane 25, confirmation of a charter of Henry III: ...before Roger de Pyvelesdon, sheriff of Salop and Stafford
- The Welsh wars of Edward I, p. 242-243
- Archaeologia Cambrensis (Cambrian Archaeological Society, 1888) p.33: In the Hist. of Wales, by Caradoc of Llancarvan, under date 1293-4, it is said:.... "But not being satisfied with vilifying the King's command, they took their own Captain, Roger de Puelesdon, who was appointed collector of the said subsidy, and hanged him, together with diverse others who abetted the collecting of the tax;" and on page 307: "the King being acquainted with these insurrections, and desirous to quell the stubbornness of the Welch, but most of all to revenge the death of his great favourite, Roger de Puelesdon, recalled his brother Edmund, Earl of Lancaster," etc. and p.295: In 12 Edward I, Roger de Pyvelesdon, Knt., Sheriff of Anglesey, and very active in collecting the King's subsidies, is hanged by the Welshmen (British Library, Harley MS 1971).
- A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (Volume 2), Samuel Lewis p.437: Sir Roger de Puleston, a great favourite of that monarch, who, after his conquest of Wales, appointed him collector of the taxes which he had imposed on the Welsh, for carrying on the war against France, and also made him sheriff and keeper of the county of Anglesey for life. The Welsh, exasperated by the levying of taxes which they had not previously been accustomed to pay, seized Sir Roger at Caernarvon, and hanged him on the spot. Edward, incensed at the violence committed on his lieutenant, severely punished the insurgents, and also chose his son, Richard de Puleston, sheriff of the county;
References
- The Welsh wars of Edward I By John Edward Morris, Published by Clarendon Press, 1901