The "county or shire of Monmouth" was formed from parts of the Welsh Marches in 1535. At this time, Monmouth was designated as the "Head and Shire town of the said county of Shire of Monmouth." The eastern part of the county is mainly agricultural, with rich mineral resources in western valleys. Coal mining and iron working were significant employers from the 18th to 20th Century. Between the 5th and 10th centuries, the Welsh Kingdom of Gwent covered a variable area roughly contiguous with Monmouthshire.<\/span><\/span>","A family seat,<\/strong> or simply a seat,<\/strong> was the principal manor of a medieval lord, often an elegant country mansion. It denoted the family held political and economic influences. ","Wales,<\/strong> or Cymru<\/strong> a region of rugged mountains, Moors and forests, is noted for its large coal deposits. Its people are known for their strong Celtic heritage and renowned choral groups. This region was originally populated by an Iberian people, who were overrun by the Celts in the 6th century BC.","Most Welsh surnames<\/strong> are patronymic; that is, they are derived from a personal name of an ancestor. In the Middle Ages, the prefixes ap, ab (son of) and ferch (daughter of) were commonly found in Welsh surnames.","Founded in 1788, New South Wales<\/strong> (NSW) was the first penal colony for England. British explorer, Captain James Cook, first discovered the east coast of Australia while attempting to examine the planet Venus in order to determine the\u00A0distance from the Earth to the Sun\u00A0in 1770, he first named it New Wales, then later New South Wales.","From its founding until the last prison ship set sail in 1868, Van Diemen's Land<\/strong> was the primary penal colony in Australia and over 75,000 convicts were transported there.","The First Fleet<\/strong> departed from Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, on May 13, 1787 and sailed for around 250 days. The fleet was comprised of eleven ships - six prison ships, three equipment ships, and two navy ships, Sirius and Supply. After an extremely long journey, the First Fleet finally arrived at Botany Bay, located in Sydney, New South Wales, between January 18 and 20, 1788.","Wiltshire (Wilts.)<\/strong> is located in the South West of England bordered by Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Known for its pre-roman archeology, the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied and built settlements on the hills and the downland. Stonehenge and Avebury are one of the largest tourist attractions for this reason. Rich history in the area covers many centuries with local nicknames and records in the Domesday Survey.","Dutch navigator Willem Jansz<\/strong> aboard the Duyfken was the first European to land in waht is now known as Australia<\/strong> in 1606. He charted much of the Gulf of Carpentaria, located on the northern coast of Australia. In 1616, another Dutch captain, Dirk Hartog, landed on the west coast of Australia near Shark Bay.","England<\/strong> is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It occupies more than half of the land of the area. It shares its borders with Wales to the West and Scotland the to its north. Laced by great rivers and small streams, England is a fertile land which has supported a thriving agricultural economy for millenia.","In America, those who took up arms for the Crown and fought for a United Empire longed to see the English people united under a common flag and sovereign. These largely forgotten U. E. Loyalists (United Empire Loyalists<\/strong>) who resolved not to live under any flag but the British flag were often driven out of the United States.","Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness.",null],"lnksHoverSummaryImgURL":[null,"\/cdn\/webp\/i\/kb\/200w\/books2.webp?pos=floatRight","\/cdn\/webp\/i\/kb\/200w\/books.webp?pos=floatRight","\/cdn\/webp\/i\/kb\/200w\/wales_monmouthshire.webp?pos=floatRight","\/cdn\/webp\/i\/kb\/200w\/castle1.webp","","","","","\/cdn\/webp\/i\/kb\/200w\/first_fleet_ship.webp?pos=floatRight","\/cdn\/webp\/i\/kb\/200w\/Wiltshire England.webp?pos=floatRight","","","","",null],"mode":"f","s":"Phelps","sU":"PHELPS","oC":"WA","o":"Welsh","o2":null,"cOk":true,"c":"\/dpreview\/PHELPS\/WA\/Phelps\/family-crest-coat-of-arms.png","c2":"\/dpreview\/ANDERSON\/SC\/Anderson\/family-crest-coat-of-arms.png","v":"1","sections":["","SettlersUS","SettlersCA","SettlersAU","SettlersNZ","SettlersZA","SettlersWI","Settlers","ContemporaryNotable","ContemporaryNotables","HistoricEvents","RelatedStories","Motto","SuggestedReading","Citations",""]}
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