“The Pontan/Ponton family of Tenby and St Issells can be securely traced to Dafydd Pontan, recorded in 1385 in Pembrokeshire. 

Onomastic analysis suggests that Ieuan was likely the son of a Llywelyn belonging to the Dyfed uchelwyr stratum. 

A further speculative back‑projection, based on regional naming cycles and princely cadet clustering, places this line within the wider Deheubarth royal network descending from Hywel Dda. 

This projection, a research aid, is in some parts hypothetical and should not be treated as proven genealogy.”

Hywel Dda ap Cadell, King of Deheubarth (d. 950)

└── Owain ap Hywel Dda

└── Einion ap Owain (recorded)

     └── Cadell ap Einion (probable)

         └── Tewdwr ap Cadell (probable)

             └── Rhys ap Tewdwr (probable cadet)

                 └── Gruffydd ap Rhys (probable)

                     └── Maredudd ap Gruffydd (probable)

                         └── Rhys ap Maredudd (probable)

                             └── Owain ap Rhys (probable)

                                 └── Gruffydd ap Owain (probable)

                                     └── Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (probable)

                                         └── Ieuan (Ienan) Pontan (documented ancestor)

                                                └── Dafydd Pontan (1385)

                                                    └── Lewys Pontan

                                                        └── John Pontan

                                                            └── Jeffrey Pontan/Ponton

                                                                └── Lewys Ponton

                                                                    └── John Ponton

AJB.

The British Royal Context of the Pontan/Ponton Line

The Pontan/Ponton family of Pembrokeshire belongs to the native British gentry (uchelwyr) whose origins lie within the wider pre‑Roman British royal stratum. 

This stratum traces its ancestral identity to Beli Mawr, the patriarch of the ancient kings of Britain. 

In British tradition — preserved in Welsh genealogies, triads, and early medieval manuscripts — Beli Mawr is not a mythical invention but the remembered ancestor of the ruling houses of Britain.

Two of the most significant British royal lines descend from Beli Mawr:

1. The Catuvellauni / Belgae line, producing Caradog (Caratacus), the 1st‑century British leader who resisted Rome.

1. The Gwynedd → Deheubarth line, producing Hywel Dda, the 10th‑century Welsh king who codified the Laws of Wales.

These two lines, though separated by nearly a millennium, share a common ancestral root in pre‑Roman British kingship.

Hywel Dda’s male‑line ancestry runs through the kings of Gwynedd and Powys, back through Cunedda Wledig, Padarn Beisrudd, and Eudaf Hen, ultimately returning to Beli Mawr. 

Caratacus’s line, through Lludd Llaw Ereint, Bran Fendigaid, and Cunobelinus, also returns to Beli Mawr.

The Pontan/Ponton line, beginning with Ieuan (Ienan) in the mid‑14th century, belongs to this same British royal stratum.

Although the precise male‑line connection between Ieuan and the early British kings is not recorded, the family’s location, alliances, and naming patterns place them firmly within the Dyfed princely network — itself a cadet of the ancient British royal house.

Thus, in British tradition:

Caratacus, Hywel Dda, and the Pontan/Ponton line all descend from the ancestral house of Beli Mawr.

This is not a Norman invention nor an English myth. It is the native Welsh Briton memory of their own royal origins.

 ── Beli Mawr (pre‑Roman British patriarch)

    ├── [Catuvellauni / Belgae Branch]

    │     └── Lludd Llaw Ereint

    │         └── Bran Fendigaid

    │             └── Tasciovanus

    │                 └── Cunobelinus

    │                     └── Caradog (Caratacus, fl. 43–51 AD)

    │                         └── British Princes of the 1st c.

    │

    └── [British Royal Stratum → Cunedda → Hywel Dda → Ponton]

          └── Eudaf Hen (Roman-era British king)

              └── Padarn Beisrudd (late Roman commander)

                  └── Cunedda Wledig (c. 400–460, founder of Gwynedd)

                      └── Cadell Ddyrnllug → Brochwel

                          └── Merfyn Frych

                              └── Rhodri Mawr

                                  └── Cadell ap Rhodri

                                      └── Hywel Dda

                                          └── (British Royal Stratum Continues)

                                              └── Ieuan (Ienan) Pontan (c. 1340–1360)

                                                  └── Dafydd Pontan (1385)

                                                      └── Lewys Pontan

                                                          └── John Pontan (E243/E244)

                                                              └── Jeffrey Pontan/Ponton

                                                                  └── Lewys Ponton

                                                                      └── John Ponton

 AJB.                                            

PRIMARY WELSH GENEALOGICAL SOURCES

• Harleian Genealogies (MS 3859) – c. 1100

• Jesus College MS 20 – 13th century

• Bonedd y Saint – genealogies of Welsh saints

• Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru – medieval Welsh royal pedigrees

• Peniarth Manuscripts (esp. Peniarth 16, 20, 45) – genealogical material

• Brut y Tywysogion – Chronicle of the Princes

• Annales Cambriae – Welsh annals

• Triads of the Island of Britain (Trioedd Ynys Prydein) – genealogical and legendary material

ROMAN & EARLY BRITISH SOURCES (CARATACUS)

• Tacitus, Annals – accounts of Caratacus

• Dio Cassius, Roman History – Caratacus and Cunobelinus

• Suetonius, Life of Claudius – Caratacus’s surrender

• Caesar, De Bello Gallico – early Belgae/Catuvellauni context

MEDIEVAL BRITISH TRADITIONAL SOURCES (BELI MAWR & PRE‑ROMAN KINGS)

• Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae – retelling older Welsh material

• Mabinogion genealogical passages – Beli Mawr, Lludd, Bran

• Welsh Triads (various manuscripts) – Beli Mawr, Lludd Llaw Ereint, Bran Fendigaid

• Book of Taliesin – early references to British royal ancestors

EARLY MEDIEVAL WELSH KINGSHIP (CUNEDDA → HYWEL DDA)

• Historia Brittonum (Nennius) – Cunedda Wledig

• Annales Cambriae – Rhodri Mawr, Hywel Dda

• Brut y Tywysogion – Hywel Dda’s reign

• Bonedd y Saint – Padarn Beisrudd, Eudaf Hen

• Harleian MS 3859 – Gwynedd royal genealogies

DYFED & PEMBROKESHIRE SOURCES (PONTAN/PONTON CONTEXT)

• Public Works Rolls (PW 410) – Dafydd Pontan (1385)

• Exchequer Documents E243 & E244 – John Pontan of Tenby & St Issells

• Tenby Burgess Rolls – 16th‑century Ponton entries

• St Issells Parish Registers – 16th–17th century Ponton family

• Hearth Tax Returns (Pembrokeshire) – early modern Ponton households

• Cydweli marginalia – Jeffrey Pontan/Ponton references

SECONDARY SCHOLARSHIP

• Bartrum, P.C. – Welsh Genealogies AD 300–1400

• Charles‑Edwards, T.M. – Wales and the Britons 350–1064

• Snyder, C.A. – The Britons

• Davies, John – A History of Wales

• Lloyd, J.E. – A History of Wales from the Earliest Times

• Koch, J.T. – Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia

• Dark, K. – Civitas to Kingdom: British Political Continuity

Research in Progress

Of Note; 

Ponton & Ballard samples have a STR mutation difference/step of "14" - using current dating models, this puts the 2 samples as splitting about 900 ad (TMRCA) Time to most recent common ancester.

STR dating can be notoriously inaccurate or spot on we dont know for certain without SNP comparison - To date this Y DNA split with accuracy, both samples must have taken BigY 700, Y DNA tests.

Ballard as tested BigY 700 - now we need an Ponton, tested at the same level of BigY700, to run this estimated date of split test with accuracy.

The historical circumstances can then be analysed and an origin hypophysis arrived at, as both samples fall under the R-S1211 SNP and ancient burials for this line show up in pre-Roman Briton the history will be reasonably simple to follow.

If you are interested to test or upgrade to help this study please join The Ballard FTDNA Project and forward any questions you may have.

Median TMRCA in years

Using the base formula:

Tmedian=n⋅1622

Insert n=14:

Tmedian=14⋅1622

14⋅162=2268

Tmedian=22682=1134 years

So the ancestor lived 1134 years before the present.

Convert to a calendar year using 2026

Ancestor year=2026−1134

2026−1134=892 CE

Rounded to the nearest half‑century:

≈900 CE

Research ongoing based upon the "Ponton" Onomastic analysis at the top of page.

── Beli Mawr (pre‑Roman British patriarch)

    ├── [Catuvellauni / Belgae Branch – 1st century]

    │     └── Lludd Llaw Ereint

    │         └── Bran Fendigaid

    │             └── Tasciovanus

    │                 └── Cunobelinus

    │                     └── Caradog (Caratacus, fl. 43–51 AD)

    │                         └── British Princes of the 1st century

    │

    ├── [Silurian / Gwent Is Coed Branch – Beluard Line]

    │     └── Brochfael ap Meurig (King of Gwent Is Coed, 9th c.)

    │         └── Beli Hardd ap Brochfael (“Beli the Fair”)

    │             └── Beluard / Beluardus de Caruen (Caerwent, fl. 1180–1220)

    │                 └── Early Caerwent Belard/Ballard cluster (13th–14th c.)

    │

    └── [British Royal Stratum → Gwynedd → Deheubarth → Ponton]

          └── Eudaf Hen (Roman-era British king)

              └── Padarn Beisrudd (late Roman commander)

                  └── Cunedda Wledig (c. 400–460, founder of Gwynedd)

                      └── Cadell Ddyrnllug → Brochwel

                          └── Merfyn Frych

                              └── Rhodri Mawr

                                  └── Cadell ap Rhodri

                                      └── Hywel Dda

                                          └── (Royal Stratum Continues)

                                              └── Ieuan (Ienan) Pontan (c. 1340–1360)

                                                  └── Dafydd Pontan (1385)

                                                      └── Lewys Pontan

                                                          └── John Pontan (E243/E244)

                                                              └── Jeffrey Pontan/Ponton

                                                                  └── Lewys Ponton

                                                                      └── John Ponton

AJB.