From the age of 21, William embarked on a pattern of fathering a child every two years, a trend he maintained well into his old age, having a significant impact on the local populationAndrew Forgrave Countryside and tourism editor and Robert Harries Senior Reporter
10:39, 03 Jan 2026
The medieval church of St Caian’s in Tregaian, north Wales(Image: Chris Andrews/Wiki)
William Ap Howel was a man who enjoyed life’s simpler pleasures. He found contentment in fishing and tending to his vegetable patch. His diet consisted mainly of dairy products, and in his spare time he took pleasure in a bit of fowling.
Parish records reveal he lived to the remarkable age of 105, his faculties and memory remaining sharp throughout a life that was, by most measures, quite ordinary. He might have faded into obscurity were it not for one extraordinary distinction: over the course of 81 years, he became father to 43 children.
This feat, if one can call it that, brought a certain notoriety to the small parish of Tregaian on Anglesey. His legacy endures in the graveyard of the local 14th-century church, which is dedicated to a saint far less documented than its most celebrated resident.
When travel writer Thomas Pennant journeyed through Anglesey in the late 18th century, meticulously documenting the copper mines of Parys Mountain, he felt compelled to mention the island’s most prolific father in his 1778 work A Tour in Wales.
He observed that, contrary to what one might expect, the “great patriarch of Tregaian” was not a towering figure with an enormous appetite, but rather “small of stature, of a cheerful, convivial temper; but spare in his diet, living mostly on milk”. Pennant continued: “He passed his time in rural employments, and at his leisure in fishing and fowling.”
A memorial plaque to William ap Howel at St Caian’s Church(Image: Stephen Elwyn Roddick/Wiki)
Large families were commonplace when he passed away in March 1581. However, William’s family size was extraordinary even by those standards: the average household size in Wales and England during the 16th century was a modest 4.75 – a figure that remained fairly stable until the First World War.
From the age of 21, William embarked on a pattern of fathering a child every two years, a trend he maintained well into his old age. At the time of his death at 105, his youngest offspring was a son, Griffith, aged just two and a half years.
To sustain such a large brood, he depended on five women. His first wife, Elen Williams, bore him 22 children; his second wife, Katherine Richards, added another 10 to the tally.
His third wife, Ellen Williams, seemingly more aware of his habits, contributed a mere four. His three marriages resulted in a total of 36 children. But William wasn’t done yet. He also had two ‘concubines’: Jonet ferch William gave birth to two more, while Lecky Lloyd added another five.
Their collective efforts led to an unprecedented population surge in this rural part of Anglesey. To put it into perspective, during William’s lifetime, the larger parish of Llanfairpwll had a population of around 80.
At the time of his death, 80 of William’s descendants were still residing in Tregaian parish. Furthermore, some seemed intent on perpetuating the family tradition: his eldest daughter Alice, then aged 72, had been married twice and, according to parish records, she “hath numerous offspring” of her own.
The account continued: “At his funeral there was computed to be about 300 persons descended from him. He has children’s children to the fourth generation in abundance.”
Providing for such a large brood may have posed difficulties, although many of his offspring would likely have moved out before the next Ap Howel baby arrived. Despite this, local gossip suggested he used his hunting abilities as a poacher to boost the family’s food supply.
Christenings at the modest medieval St Caian’s church may have presented their own complications. In 1847, clergyman Harry Longueville Jones observed the font was “hardly large enough for immersion”.
Parish records indicate William enjoyed excellent health throughout his life. “The old man was of a midle stature, of good complexion, never troubled with cholick, gout or stones, seldom sick,” they documented. “Of moderate diet, lived by tillage, exercised himself much in fishing and fowling and had his senses perfect to the end.”
William’s remarkable total of 43 children was extraordinary by any measure. However, in the annals of human reproduction, he remains merely a minor entry.
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif, an 18th century Moroccan ruler, would have scoffed at such numbers. With a harem comprising 500 women, he reportedly fathered 525 sons and 342 daughters. Indeed, Guinness World Records estimated a total of 1,042 offspring.
Morocco monarch Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif is said to have fathered between 1,042 and 1,171 children
Researchers at Vienna University went even further, proposing 1,171. Setting aside sperm donors (Viennese physiologist Bertold Paul Wiesner is believed to have fathered as many as 1,000 children through artificial insemination), royalty have historically been the most prolific.
Notable examples include 18th century Polish King Augustus II the Strong (approximately 370 offspring), and 20th century Swazi King Sobhuza II, who reportedly had 70 wives and 210 children.
Additional examples featured Sultan Ibrahim Njoya, Cameroon’s King of Bamum (approximately 600 wives, 177 children), Emperor Minh Mạng (142) and Saudi Arabia’s King Saud (approximately 110).
Mohammed Bello Abubakar, who passed away in 2017, was another candidate, having wed 86 women in Nigeria and fathered 170 children. In 2008, he faced arrest for polygamy after exceeding the four-wife limit.
Even within Wales, William ap Gruffydd might not hold the record. That distinction allegedly belongs to Augustus John, whose artistic acclaim was rivalled by his notorious promiscuity.
He’s said to have fathered “up to 100 children”, predominantly outside wedlock – although some suggest this number is vastly overstated.
Currently, William’s achievements are commemorated through a modest plaque and an engraved slate at the Grade II*-listed St Caian’s Church. These confirm his death on March 11, 1581, having “begat 43 children”.
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