<p>Denbighshire was one of the four new shires in Wales created in 1536, being formed by a fusion of the lordships of Denbigh and Ruthin in Gwynedd with those of Bromfield-and-Yale and Chirk in Powys. Under the Act of Union it was laid down that meetings of the county court should alternate between Denbigh, the ‘head and shire town’ in the west, and Wrexham in the east. The Salusbury family of Lleweni more or less controlled the county until the accession of Elizabeth.

<p>After the conquest of Wales the castle at Denbigh was rebuilt by Henry, 3rd Earl of Lincoln, on the orders of Edward I. The earl established the borough by charter in 1283, modifying its privileges seven years later: with each burgage went property in Lleweni. The lordship passed by marriage to Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, and after his fall it formed part, successively, of the earldoms of Winchester, March and Salisbury, coming to the crown in the mid 15th century.

<p>The castle and borough of Cardigan, situated in the south-west of the county, belonged to the crown. A document of 1199, sometimes said to be a borough charter, was a release from various dues for four years: this was renewed in 1230. The first extant charter, that of 1284, was confirmed and amplified throughout the middle ages and again in 1527. By the 16th century authority was vested in a mayor and two bailiffs assisted by a common council and several municipal officers: the coroner for the town was appointed by the chamberlain of South Wales.

<p>The county of Carmarthen was consolidated and enlarged by the Act of Union. It was further enlarged in 1543 by a proviso in the Act (34 and 35 Hen. VIII, c.26) transferring the lordships of Laugharne and Llanstephan from Pembrokeshire. Although the Act of Union did not name Carmarthen as the meeting place of the county court, the town was the traditional venue and all the elections for the knights of Carmarthenshire took place there save in the autumn of 1553 when the court met at Llandovery in the north-east of the county.

<p>The status of Carmarthen, as the administrative centre for South Wales was confirmed at the Union. The Norman borough of New Carmarthen, with charters dating from the 13th century and administered by a mayor, lay beside the royal castle. The original settlement known as Old Carmarthen, with the parish church of St. Peter, belonged to the priory of St. John until the Dissolution, when efforts by the 3rd Lord Ferrers as steward of New Carmarthen to exercise the privileges of the priory in the suburb led to violence.

<p>The castle, town and borough of Caernarvon were founded by Edward I following the destruction of the residence there of the princes of Gwynedd at the conquest of Wales. The constable of the castle was <em>ex officio</em> mayor, and as constable from 1523 until his death in 1551 John Puleston more or less controlled the town.

<p>Cardiganshire was enlarged and consolidated at the Union. <a href="/landingpage/51357" title="Thomas Phaer" class="link">Thomas Phaer</a> described it as ‘very bare ... and mountainous, all along the coast no trade of merchandise but all full of rocks and dangers’. The few roads were unmetalled and travellers were vexed by bandits who the president of the council in the marches thought had the support of the local gentry.

<p>Breconshire was one of the four new counties set up at the Union. On the attainder of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham in 1521 the old lordship of Brecon had escheated to the crown. Several parcels of the lordship of Brecon were sold or let by the crown, the most important being the lordship of Builth granted to the 1st Earl of Pembroke in 1550. In 1540 the King made Sir William Vaughan of Porthaml chancellor and receiver of the lordship of Brecon, and on Vaughan’s surrendering his patent in 1546 he was succeeded by his son Roger who held the appointment until his death.

<p>Situated at the confluence of the rivers Honddu and Usk, Brecon was a prosperous market town with five craft guilds or companies, the administrative centre for the region and after the Union the county town of Breconshire. Although burgesses are mentioned in a deed of 1100, the first recorded charter dates from 1276. This was confirmed and modified throughout the middle ages and again in 1517 by the 3rd Duke of Buckingham as owner of the lordship. On Buckingham’s fall the borough and castle escheated with the lordship to the crown.

<p>The leading families in Caernarvonshire lived mainly along the north coast or in the east of the county, the Gruffydds at Penrhyn, the Pulestons at Caernarvon and the Wynns at Gwydir; among the knights of the shire only John Wyn ap Hugh and David Lloyd ap Thomas came from the poorer and more remote peninsula of Llyn.