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The Lewis family can be traced back to Harpton Court to the mid 16th century when a Thomas Lewis, sheriff of Radnorshire in 1555 was living there. Towards the close of the ensuing century another Thomas Lewis owned the estate. He was succeeded by yet another Thomas Lewis (b. 1690) who represented Radnorshire boroughs in Parliament from 1715 to 1768. He was succeeded by his nephew John Lewis whose second wife was Anne, daughter of Admiral Sir Thomas Frankland.

Their heir was Thomas Frankland Lewis, 1780-1855, who married Harriett, daughter of Sir George Cornewall of Moccas Court, Herefordshire, and sister of Caroline who married Sir William Duff Gordon. Thomas Frankland Lewis was MP for Beaumaris in 1812 and MP for Radnor 1847-1855. He served as Chairman of the Poor Law Commission, 1834-1839, and, in 1843, he also chaired the enquiry into the Rebecca riots. He was made a baronet in 1846.

He was succeeded by Sir George Cornewall Lewis, 2nd baronet, who was MP for Herefordshire, 1847-1852 and Radnor boroughs, 1855-1863. He served as Poor Law Commissioner from 1839 until its abolition in 1847, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1855-1858, Home Secretary 1859-1861, and Secretary of State for War, 1861-1863. He was also editor of the Edinburgh Review, 1852-1855.

On his death in 1863, the estate passed to his brother, the Rev. Sir Gilbert Frankland Lewis, 3rd baronet (b. 1819). He was canon of Worcester 1856, rector of Gladestry in Radnorshire 1832-1860, and of Monnington-on-Wye in Herefordshire, 1832-1864. His heir was Herbert Edmund Frankland (b. 1846). Sir Henry William Duff Gordon, 6th baronet, is noted as residing in Harpton Court in 1951.

The Brecknockshire family of Maybery originally came from Worcestershire, where they were engaged in the iron industry. In 1753, Thomas Maybery acquired the Brecon furnace and Pipton forge for his son, John Maybery, who leased mineral properties in Hirwaun, Brecknockshire, in 1757 and the Tredegar forge, Glamorgan, in 1764, and was one of the earliest pioneers of the South Wales iron industry. John Maybery married a daughter of John Wilkins, the deputy prothonotary of the Brecon circuit of the Court of Great Sessions, who became associated with his son-in-law in the Hirwaun enterprise. John Maybery died in 1784; his descendants pursued legal careers. Thomas Maybery, John's eldest son (d. 1829), succeeded his uncle, William Wilkins, as prothonotary of the Brecon circuit, and his eldest son, Walter Maybery (1800-1862), was the last to hold that office. His second son, Henry Maybery, who was treasurer of the county of Brecon and deputy-registrar of the Brecon Consistory Court, became the head of the firm of Maybery, Williams, and Cobb, who were themselves the successors of the firm of solicitors Walter and John Powell, later Powell, Jones, and Powell. They were the chief legal advisers to the great ironmasters and were responsible for drawing up most of the early mineral leases. The family invested in many industrial enterprises in the 19th century, including ironworks, collieries, the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal, the Brecon Boat Co. and the Brecon Turnpike Trust.

John Williams (d. 1898), of Dowlais, Glamorgan, moved to Acre House, Acrefair, Denbighshire, in 1864, when he became manager of the New British Iron Company at Ruabon, Denbighshire, having previously been employed at various ironworks in south Wales. His wife, Maria (d. 1906), was the daughter of the Rev. Ebenezer Pugh, a Calvinistic Methodist minister, and sister of the Rev. John Pugh, Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire, later of Holywell, Flintshire, the author of several books. John and Maria Williams had five daughters and a son. Four of the daughters died unmarried: Margaret J. (d. 1926); Elinor (d. 1937); Ida Jane (d. 1893), a teacher at the Llandderfel Board School, Meirionethshire, 1886-1889; and Annie (d. 1941), educated at Shrewsbury, 1872, and a governess in the New Quay area of Cardiganshire, 1882-1883 and 1888-1890. The other daughter, Mary, was educated at Shrewsbury, and at the Training College, Swansea, 1875, and married Owen Pritchard of Oswestry, but died without issue in 1890. The son, the Rev. Ebenezer John Williams (1851-1938), was educated at the Holt Academy, 1864-1868, and the Theological College, Bala, 1878-1882, having been employed, 1868-1877, at the office of the ironworks in Ruabon. He served as minister at the Calvinistic Methodist chapels in Llanwddyn, Montgomeryshire, 1882-1889, during which time the Liverpool Corporation Water Works was constructed in the area, Llandrillo, Merionethshire, 1889-1897, Ruthin, 1897-1906, and Froncysyllte, Denbighshire, 1907-1929. He and retired from the ministry in 1929. As well as the ironworks, and Calvinistic Methodism, the family's chief interestes were the Temperance Movement, the Liberal Party and its election campaigns, and (for personal reasons in 1893-1894) Marriage Law Reform.

The ancestry of the Glynnes of Hawarden can be traced back, through the Glynnes of Glynllifon, Caernarfonshire, to Cilmin Droed-ddu, the founder of the fourth noble tribe of Gwynedd.

Sir John Glynne (1602-66), second son of Sir William Glynne of Glynllifon, who succeeded his brother Thomas to the Glynllifon estate, purchased the castle and manor of Hawarden, together with the estate in 1654. Like his brother he was a parliamentarian during the Civil war. He became recorder of London and afterwards Lord Chief Justice. He was succeeded by Sir William Glynne, bart (d. 1689), who had represented Caernarfonshire in Richard Cromwell's parliament. The estate and title then passed to Sir William Glynne, 2nd bart (d. 1721), eldest son of Sir William Glynne; to his brother Sir Stephen Glynne, 3rd bart (d. 1729); and to his eldest son, Sir Stephen Glynne, 4th bart (d. 1729). He died soon afterwards and the title and estate passed to his brother, Sir William Glynne, 5th bart (1709-30), who died unmarried.

He was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Glynne, 6th bart (1713-1777), who married Honora Conway, daughter and heiress of Henry Conway of Broadlane House, granddaughter of Thomas Ravencourt. This marriage doubled the size of the Hawarden estate. It was on the site of Broadlane House that Sir John built the residential castle of Hawarden in 1752, which was extended in 1809. Sir John Glynne served as M.P. for Flintshire 1741-1747, and for Flint 1753-1777. He was succeeded by his third son, the Rev. Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 7th bart (d. 1780), rector of Hawarden. His heir was Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 8th bart (1780-1815) who was only a month old when his father died.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 9th bart. (1807-1874). who served as Liberal M.P. for Flint boroughs, 1832-1837, and for Flintshire 1837-1847. He died without issue and the title therefore became extinct and the estate passed by arrangement to his nephew, William Henry Gladstone, eldest son of William Ewart Gladstone, who had married Catherine, daughter of Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 8th bart. Sir Stephen's second son, the Rev. Henry Glynne (d. 1872), rector of Hawarden, married Lavina, daughter of William Henry, 3rd Lord Lyttelton, while his second daughter, Mary, married George William, Lord Lyttelton.

The estate, all of which was situated in Flintshire, measured 4,773 acres in 1873 and carried a rental of #12,636.