 As his parents were unmarried, his birth certificate describes him as a bastard; he was baptised in the parish of Denbigh on 19 February 1841, the register recording that he had been born on 28 January of that year.The entry states that he was the bastard son of John Rowland of Llys Llanrhaidr and Elizabeth Parry of Castle.The stigma of illegitimacy weighed heavily upon him all his life.