Salusbury family

The Salusbury family was an Anglo-Welsh family notable for their social prominence, wealth, literary contributions and philanthropy. They were patrons of the arts and were featured in William Shakespeare's The Phoenix and the Turtle and other works. The family mostly rose in power by supporting the rising Tudor dynasty.

John Williams, in Ancient and Modern Denbigh, traces back the family to Adam de Salzburg, a Bavarian knight from Salzburg who claimed descent from Charlemagne and who came over with William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest, when he states that the toponymic surname Salzburg was anglicised into Salusbury.

Hester Lynch Piozzi (1740-1821) recalls visiting a Benedictine convent in Salzburg where she was shown records of a "young Prince Adam" who came over with William the Conqueror. Prince Adam was supposedly granted a large estate in Richmondshire, where he built a residence called Salzburg Court.

Furthermore, Williams traces the family's arrival in Denbighshire to the reign of Henry II, when Adam de Saltzburg is recorded as Captain of the Garrison of Denbigh.

The Salusburys may have been present in the Vale of Clwyd as early as 1089, as a John Salusbury is recorded as residing in the area. This John was father of Syr Harri Ddu (or Sir Harry the Black), the namesake of the North Welsh traditional virtuoso fantasia arranged for harps. Sir Harry the Black is also regarded as the founder of Lleweni Hall, or at the very least, the family that would reside there.

Sir Thomas Salusbury was a crusader, and may have been involved in the Siege of Acre. His son Sir John (d. 1289) also may have been a crusader. Sir John founded the Carmelite Priory in Denbigh. He was buried in the chapel; the inscription on his tomb is as follows:

"Orate pro a’i’a Joh’is Salusburie Armigeri, qui quidem Joh’es Salusburie obiit ii die Mensis Martii A.D. 1289, cujus a’i’e p’picietur Deus." (page 24)

In 1416 John Salusbury was elected to represent Leominster in the House of Commons.