Showing 1957 results

David Evans bought the land and built the first house at Peterwell near Lampeter, Cardiganshire, in Charles I's reign. The Evans family were originally from Llechwedd Deri. Subsequently the Peterwell and Llechwedd Deri estates passed to the Lloyd family when Mary, widow of Daniel Evans, married secondly John Lloyd of Bwchllaethwen, Llangwynne, who came to reside at Peterwell. His daughter, Eleanor, married Sir Thomas Stepney and their daughter, Elizabeth, married Walter Lloyd (d. 1747) a lawyer from Foelallt, Llanfairclydogau, Carmarthenshire, and they settled in Peterwell, which with Llechwedd Deri had come to Elizabeth as co-heiress.
John Lloyd (1718-1755), their eldest son, succeeded to the estates, but he died without issue and the estates passed to his brother, Herbert Lloyd (1720-1769), who was created a baronet in 1763. Due to his large debts he shot himself in August 1769. The estate then passed to his nephew, John Adams of Whitland, MP for Carmarthen Borough 1774-1780, the son of Sir Herbert's sister, Elizabeth. He amassed more debts and attempted to sell the estate. Eventually, Albany Wallis, a London attorney, who held the original mortgage, bought the Peterwell estate in 1776. On his death he left the bulk of his fortune to Lady Bailey of Pall Mall for life, with remainder to her son Colonel Bailey Wallis. He sold the estate to Richard Hart-Davies, a partner in Harford Bank, Bristol.
The Harford family of Blaise Castle, Gloucestershire, purchased Peterwell from Richard Hart-Davis in 1820 after he had lost his money in 1819. The estate remained in the hands of the Harford family until 1949. The Harfords chose not to live at Peterwell and erected instead a new mansion at Falcondale about a mile away, which they had acquired at the beginning of the 19th century.
According to the 1873 return of owners of land, John Battersby-Harford of Falcondale owned an estimated 8,399 acres in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire with an estimated rental of £5,660. Their Falcondale estate was sold to the County Council in 1951.

William Jones (1649-1728) of Plas Gwyn, Anglesey, was the grandfather of Jane, who married Paul Panton of Bagillt, Flintshire. William's brother John Jones (1650-1727) was dean of Bangor and pioneer of Welsh charity-schools which he founded and endowed in the parishes with which he was connected. William's son, William Jones (1687-1755) married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Price of Derwen, Denbighshire. It is their daughter, Jane (c. 1725-1764), sole heiress of Plas Gwyn and Derwen who married Paul Panton (1727-1797).

Paul Panton (1727-1797) of Bagillt, Flintshire, and Plas Gwyn, Anglesey, was a descendant of the Panton family of Coleshill, Flintshire. He was a barrister, antiquary, and industrialist, who developed lead and coal mines, mainly in the Holywell area. He married, Jane Jones, heiress of the Plas Gwyn estate in 1756. His son and heir was Paul Panton (1758-1822) junior. On his death unmarried, much of the estate passed to his brother Jones Panton, and subsequently to his nephew, Jones Panton the younger, whose eldest daughter and heiress Mary married Charles, 2nd Baron Vivian, in 1841.

The Mostyn family of Talacre, Flintshire, were descended from Pyrs (born [c.1500?]) who was the third son of Richard ap Hywel of Mostyn, Flintshire. From him was descended Sir Edward Mostyn, created a baronet in 1670.

David (alive 1436), third son of Jevan or John, third son of John ap Jevan Kemeys, married Cecil, daughter and heir of Llewelyn ap Evan ap Llewelyn ap Cynfrig of Cefnmabli. The Kemeys family of Cefnmabli descended from Lewis, their eldest son, while the Kemeys family of Faendre in Monmouthshire descended from Jenkin, the younger son. The Cefnmabli estate remained in the hands of the Kemeys family until the death, unmarried, of Charles Kemeys in 1735.
He was succeeded by his sister Jane who married the Rev. John Tynte (d. 1710), 2nd baronet, of Halswell in Somerset, and rector of Goathurst. They were succeeded in turn by their three sons, Halswell Tynte (1705-30), 3rd baronet, of Halswell and Cefnmabli, whose two daughters died young, Rev. John Tynte (1707-1740, d. unm.), 4th baronet and rector of Goathurst, and Charles Kemeys Tynte (1710-1785, dsp.), 5th baronet.
Charles was succeeded by his niece Jane Hassell (1738-1824), only surviving child of Charles's sister Jane Tynte (1708-41) and her husband (m. 1737) Ruishe Hassell (d. 1749), a major in the Royal Horse Guards. Jane Hassell married Col. John Johnson of Glaiston in Rutland and Burhill, Surrey, in 1765. On his wife's succession in 1785 he changed his name to John Johnson Kemeys-Tynte (d. 1795). They were succeeded by their son Colonel Charles Kemeys Kemeys-Tynte (b. 1788) of Halswell and Cefnmabli, who was succeeded by his son Charles John Kemeys-Tynte (b. 1800), Lieutenant-Colonel of the Glamorgan militia and MP for West Somerset 1832-1837 and Bridgwater 1847-1865. He married Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Thomas Swinnerton of Butterton Hall, Staffordshire, in 1822, and was succeeded by his son Charles Kemeys-Tynte (b. 1822), colonel of the Somerset militia.
Cefn Mabli remained in the hands of the Kemeys Tynte family until 1923.

The Lloyd family of Glansevin in the parish of Llangadog, Carmarthenshire, claimed descent from Ideo Gwyllt, earl of Desmond, who received the lordship of Llywel from Rhys ap Tewdwr (d. 1093) for his service against Bernard Newmarch. The surname Lloyd derives from Morgan Llwyd ap Cadwgan (fl. late 15-early 16 cent.). His great-grandson Gruffydd ap John is the first to be described as of 'Lan Sefin'. Glansevin was already a large dwelling in 1670, assessed for eight hearths.
It appears that the Lloyd family acquired other, smaller estates through marriage, or at least acquired some of the papers relating to these estates. Thus, Morgan Lloyd married Bridget, daughter of David Lloyd of Wern, Llanarth, Cardiganshire, and his wife Mary, daughter of Edward Pryse of Ystrad-ffin, Carmarthenshire. The Lloyds of Wern Newydd also owned the Mandinam estate, Llangadog, Carmarthenshire. Morgan Pryse Lloyd (c. 1758-1810) married Catherine only daughter of Pryse Jones of Glanhafren, Montgomeryshire. In 1826 Caroline Martha Lloyd (1788-1863), one of the daughters of Morgan Pryse Lloyd of Glansevin, married David Lloyd Harries (c. 1786-c1856) of Llandingat House, Llandovery, solicitor, heir to Maes Llydan in the parish of Llandingad and Pistyll Gwyn in the parish of Llansawel. He purchased Derry-odyn from Jane Edwards of the same, widow, in 1830.
Most of the Glansevin estate was sold after World War One, although the Lloyd family retained the house until World War Two. By 1985 Plas Glansevin had passed into new hands and become an hotel.

John Vivian of Truro had an interest in the Cornish copper industry. His second son, John Henry, extended the family copper interests from Cornwall to the Swansea area of Glamorganshire, where he opened a copper smelting works near local coal sources. John Vivian's eldest son, Richard Hussey, had a distinguished army career and was eventually elevated to the peerage as 1st Baron Vivian of Truro, but the youngest son, Thomas, died at the early age of 21. John Henry Vivian expanded his business interests in Swansea, and extended them further afield to Liverpool, Birmingham and London from 1810 until his death in 1855. During the last fifteen years of his life he was assisted in his work by his eldest son Henry Hussey Vivian. Like his father, Henry Hussey Vivian became an MP and divided his time between the family copper business and the House of Commons. He was raised to the peerage in 1893, taking his seat in the House of Lords as 1st Baron Swansea. He died in 1894. He married three times. His first wife, Jesse Dalrymple Goddard, whom he married in 1847, died in 1848 shortly after the birth of their son Ernest. He later married Caroline E. Cholmeley in 1853 but she died in 1868 after being an invalid for many years. He lastly married Averil Beaumont in 1870.
H. H. Vivian was succeeded by his eldest son, Ernest, of whom there is little or no mention in this archive. He died in 1922 leaving no direct heir and was succeeded by his step-brother Odo Vivian. The latter inherited a declining family business which he had run since his father's death in 1894. Ernest Vivian had shown little or no interest in the company's affairs.

The Williams family of Edwinsford, also known as Rhydodin, claimed descent from Hywel Dda and Rhodri Mawr, and through Ellen, wife of Llewelyn ap Phylip, from Henry I of England. In common with many other Welsh landed gentry, the family married into other leading Welsh houses, such as the Morgans of Tredegar and the Vaughans of Golden Grove. Through such a marriage in 1600 the family acquired the Llether Cadfan estate in Carmarthenshire.
The estate then descended in direct male line until the death without issue of Nicholas Williams in 1745: the estate then passed to his brother, Thomas Williams. He married firstly, Arabella, daughter and co-heiress of John Vaughan of Court Derllys, Carmarthenshire. Arabella died without issue and Thomas married secondly, Anne, daughter of William Singleton of London. Their eldest daughter Bridget married Robert Bankes Hodgkinson of Overton and also of Edwinsford in right of his wife. They died without issue and the estate passed to Thomas's second daughter, Arabella, who had married Sir James Hamlyn, 1st Bart., of Clovelly Court, Devon, therefore uniting the estates of Edwinsford and Clovelly.
Sir James died in 1811 and was succeeded by his only surviving son, James, who took on the arms and surname of Williams after the death of his mother in 1797. On his death in 1829 the estate passed to his eldest son, Sir James Hamlyn Williams (1790-1861). He left no male heir and with his death the baronetcy became extinct. By Sir James's will, his daughter, Mary Eleanor, inherited the Edwinsford estate, Clovelly passing to her sister, Christine. Mary married Sir James Drummond (1814-1866), 3rd Bart., of Hawthornden, Midlothian. He took on the additional surname of Williams in pursuant of his father-in-law's will. On his death in 1866, the estate passed to his eldest son, Sir James H. W. Williams-Drummond (1857-1913) and then upon his only child, Sir James Hamlyn Williams Williams-Drummond (b. 1891).
According to the 1873 return of owners of land, Sir James Hamlyn Williams-Drummond of Edwinsford owned an estimated 9,282 acres in Wales (all in Carmarthenshire) with an estimated rental of £6,358.

The Dolforgan estate was originally extremely modest (two capital messuages and six messuages and pasture in 1678). In 1772, John Herbert of Dolforgan married Avarina Brunetta Owen. Through this marriage John Herbert acquired the Llynlleoedd estate centred on Machynlleth. He also purchased lands from the 1780s onwards.
The 1772 marriage settlement created a charge of £10,000 to provide for the younger children of the marriage, and the estate was mortgaged in 1809 to raise this sum when the younger children came of age. Over-generous marriage settlements added to the estate's debts, which totalled £51,000 in 1865.
John and Averina's eldest son, John Owen Herbert, married Harriet Johnson of Southstoke, Somerset, in 1823. The only child of this marriage, Harriet Averina Brunetta Herbert, married Walter Long of Rood Ashton, Wiltshire, in 1846, but died the following year. Her husband died soon afterwards, having devised the estate to his father, Walter Long the elder. In 1867, following the death of Walter Long the elder, the estate was inherited by his second son, Richard Penruddocke Long. He was finally forced to sell most of the estate in 1870, for £76,500 to James Walton of Cwmllecoediog. The remainder of the estate was sold, again to Walton, between 1871 and 1874. The return of owners of land, 1873, credited James Walton with an estate with an estimated acreage of 5,562 acres with an estimated rental of £3,078. In 1894, Walton sold the estate to John William Willans, a distinguished engineer.

The Pryses of Gogerddan traced their lineage back to Gwaethfod, Lord of Cardigan (c. 1057). They settled at Gogerddan in the first half of the fourteenth century. The mansion was originally built in the latter half of the fifteenth century. The first member of the family to live there was probably Rhys ap Dafydd. His son Rhisiart was apparently the first to use the surname Pryse.. John Pryse was the first member of the Gogerddan family to become a Member of .Parliament (1553-1555). Richard Pryse (d. 1623), eldest son and heir of John, married Gwenllian, daughter and heiress of Thomas ap Rhys ap Morris ap Owen of Aberbechan, Montgomeryshire. He was succeeded by his son, Sir John Pryse (d. 1621), referred to as ‘of Aberbechan’, Montgomeryshire. His son, Richard Pryse (d. 1651), succeeded to the estates and bought himself a baronetcy in 1641. Richard's eldest son, Sir Richard Pryse, 2nd Bart., was a supporter of Cromwell and held various offices during his administration. Sir Richard died without issue in 1675 and was succeeded by his brother, Sir Thomas Pryse, 3rd Bart. who died unmarried in 1682. Sir Carbery Pryse, 4th Bart., a nephew, then succeeded to Gogerddan and became M.P. for Cardigan 1690-1694. In 1690 lead was discovered on the estate at Bwlch yr Esgair Hir and Sir Carbery formed a company to mine these deposits. When he died unmarried in 1694 the baronetcy expired. The estates passed to Edward Pryse who sold his interest in the mines to Sir Humphrey Mackworth for £16,000. After Edward Pryse’e death in 1699, the estate passed to Lewis Pryse, who became M.P. for Cardiganshire in 1701, when only 18 years old. Lewis married Ann, daughter and heiress of John Lloyd, of Aberllefenni, Merionethshire. Lewis Pryse died without male issue in 1720 and the estate devolved to his cousin, Thomas. Thomas Pryse married Maria, daughter and heiress of Rowland Pughe of Mathafarn, Montgomeryshire [c. 1738]. Their son, John Pugh Pryse died unmarried in 1774 and the estate passed to his cousin, Lewis Pryse (1716-1779). Lewis married Margaret, heiress of Edward Ryves of New Woodstock, Oxfordshire. In addition to Gogerddan, he also inherited the estates which his father, Walter Pryse of Painswick, had gained by his marriage to Elizabeth Lewes, comprising Llan-gors, Breconshire, lands in Pembrokeshire once belonging to Nicholas Lewes of Hean Castle and the Abernantbychan estate in South Cardiganshire..His son, also called, Lewis, pre-deceased himr and died unmarried in 1776., leaving his daughter Margaret as sole heiress. Margaret had married Edward Loveden Loveden of Buscot Park, Berkshire in 1773 and her husband took an active interest in the management of the Welsh estates. By this period the estate comprised some 30,000 acres in Cardiganshire alone, with other land in Pembrokeshire, Merionethshire and Breconshire. It was Edward and Margaret's son, Pryse Loveden (1774-1849) who inherited Gogerddan and Buscot. He took the surname Pryse by royal licence in 1798. Pryse was M.P. for Cardigan Borough 1818-1835, 1837-1849. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Pryse Pryse (d. 1855) who reverted to the surname and arms of Loveden. His son and heir, Pryse (1838-1906) took the Loveden surname by royal licence in 1855. He then re-took the surname and arms of Pryse in 1863. and became Sir Pryse Pryse, 1st Baronet of the second creation in 1866. Sir Pryse Pryse sold the Buscot estate of 3,548 acres in 1860. According to the return of owners of land, he owned an estimated 32,359 acres in Wales (in Cardiganshire, Montgomeryshire and Pembrokeshire) with an estimated rental of £11,325. However, he was forced to sell parts of the estate, begining in 1875, when management of the estate passed to his son, Pryse Pryse Pryse, who pre-deceased his father in 1900, and land to the value of £186,552 was sold up to 1895. The estate was inherited by Sir Pryse Pryse's second son, Sir Edward John Webley-Parry-Pryse, 2nd Bart. In 1892 he had taken on the additional surname and arms of Webley-Parry by royal licence following his marriage to Nina Catherine Angharad, only daughter of David Kedgwin William Henry Webley-Parry of Noyadd Trefawr. Sir Edward died without issue in 1918 and was succeeded by his brothers, Sir Lewes Thomas Loveden Pryse (1864-1946), 3rd Bart., and George Rice-Pryse-Saunders (1870-1948), 4th Bart. The latter had taken on the additional surname of Saunders when his wife, Geraldine Mabel Saunders (b. 1872), inherited the Glanrhydw estate. in Carmarthenshire. George's son, Sir Pryse Loveden Pryse-Saunders-Pryse (d. 1962) of Glanrhydw became the 5th and last baronet. Gogerddan had been the home of the Pryse family for 600 years before it was eventually sold Over 7,000 acres were sold in 1930 to the Forestry Commission. The remaining 3.700 acres were sold, and the mansion and home farm were acquired by the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, between 1948 and 1950..

The Burchinshaw family was settled at Arllwyd in the parish of Llansannan, Denbighshire, by 1655. Other members of the family were settled at Plas Issa, 1668-1750, Chwibren, 1691-c. 1730, Ty Ucha, 1741, and Foel, 1785-1836, all in the parish of Llansannan, and in the parish of Eglwys-fach 1757-1781, all in Denbighshire.

The Owen family, lords of Cemais, descended from Martin de Tours, a Norman who conquered the cantref of Cemais c.1094 and founder of the marcher baronry of Cemais. By the 1870s, the barony of Cemais was the last surviving Lord Marcher title to exercise any authority, that of appointing the mayors of Newport, Pembrokeshire.

The estate descended to William Owen (d. 1574) of Henllys, the first of the family to adopt a surname, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Herbert of Swansea. Their son, the antiquarian George Owen (1552-1613) of Henllys, lord of Cemais, married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of William Phillipps of Picton. George Owen was succeeded by his son, Alban Owen, who married Joan, daughter of William Bradshaw of St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire. Alban was succeeded by his son, David Owen of Henllys, who married Anne, daughter of Robert Corbet of Ynysymaengwyn, Merionethshire, and left a son, William Owen (d. 1721), whose issue terminated in a son William (dsp) and a daughter and heir Anne.

Anne Owen married Thomas Lloyd of Penpedwast in Pembrokeshire, who became lord of Cemais in right of his wife, and was succeeded by their son William Lloyd of Henllys and Penpedwast. William's daughter and heir, Anne, married Thomas Lloyd of Bronwydd, who became lord of Cemais in right of his wife. The family abandoned Henllys as a residence in the 18th century, after which it was occupied by tenants.

The Rev. Thomas Lloyd, son of David ap Rhys ap Howel ap Rhys of Crynfryn, and rector of Llangynllo and vicar of Penbryn, was the first of the Lloyd family to live at Bronwydd, in the parish of Llangynllo, Cardiganshire, having bought the estate from his father-in-law, George Bryne of Pant Dafydd in the parish of Llanfair Treflygen, the father of his wife, Sage. In 1614, the Rev. Thomas Lloyd's estate comprised the capital messuage of Bronwydd and 31 other properties in the parishes of Llangynllo, Nancwnlle, Llangeitho, Caron, Betws Bledrws, Llangybi, Llanfair Clydogau, Llandysul, Llanfair Orllwyn and Llanddewibrefi. Rhys Lloyd (d. 1646), sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1632, succeeded to most of his father's estates, and was succeeded by his son Thomas Lloyd (d. 1663), who, in 1642, married Magdalen, daughter of William Robinson of Gwersyllt, Denbighshire. They were succeeded by their eldest son Thomas Lloyd- 'patriotic Thomas Lloyd of Bronwydd'-as Carlisle described him. Thomas Lloyd was succeeded by his son, also named Thomas Lloyd (1679-c.1737), who sold Bronwydd to his uncle, John Lloyd of Cilrhiwe.

Thomas Lloyd (1703-1775), a barrister and sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1733, succeeded to Bronwydd in 1730, and through his marriage with Anne Lloyd acquired the Henllys and Penpedwast estates, and Monkton Hadley in Essex. In 1750 he bought a moiety of the barony of Cemais from John Laugharne of Llanrheithan, and henceforth called himself the Marcher Lord of Cemais.

Thomas was succeeded by his son, Thomas Lloyd (1736-1807), a captain in the 11th Regiment of Foot, and colonel of the Fishguard & Newport Volunteers in 1797. He in turn was succeeded by his son Thomas Lloyd (1788-1845) who was succeeded by his son Thomas Davies Lloyd (1820-1877) who was created a baronet in 1863.

According to the 1873 return of owners of land, Sir Thomas Davies Lloyd of Bronwydd owned an estimated 7,913 acres of land in Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, with an estimated rental of £5,361. By 1881, the estate had grown to 7,964 acres, with a rental of £6,597.

Sir Marteine Owen Lloyd (1851-1933), 2nd baronet, was sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1881 and a captain in the Pembrokeshire Yeoman Cavalry. His only son, Marteine Kemes Arundel Lloyd (1890-1916), a captain in the Grenadier Guards Special Reserves, was killed in France during the First World War. The male line failed and the baronetcy became extinct with the 2nd baronet's death in 1933. He left four daughters, Nesta Constance Muriel (1879-1943), Peverel de Lormet (1887-1953, dsp), Joan Henllys (1897-1973) and Elizabeth Joan (b. 1926).

Nesta, wife of Frederick Edward Withington of Bicester, succeeded to the lordship of Cemais in 1933. In 1937 the Bronwydd estate of 2,072 acres was advertised for sale by auction in 98 lots. The mansion was bought by a contractor who stripped it of its doors, windows and fittings and left it to decay. By 1983 the house was a complete ruin, the roof and floors having fallen in.

Nesta left an only daughter, Morfa Audley Withington (1920-1958, dsp), who succeeded her mother in 1943, married Captain Peter Winser in 1956, and died without issue in 1958. Peverel, wife (m. 1914) of Roger Edward John Lloyd of Plas Tregayan, Anglesey, had already died without issue in 1953. Morfa was succeeded by her aunt Joan, wife (m. 1921) of Philip Saxon Gregson Ellis of Plas Clough, co. Denb. When Joan died in 1973 she was succeeded by her elder daughter Hyacinthe, wife (m. 1943) of John Stanley Hawkesworth. Their son, John Philip Cemaes Hawkesworth (b. 1947), was succeded by his son Alexander.

The Llwyn estate was owned by the Humffreys family of Llanfyllin from at least the late seventeenth century. It remained in the family's possession until around 1852 when it was purchased by John Dugdale (I) (d. Dovecot near Liverpool, 1855). He left the Irwell Bank estate, Pendleton, to his son John Dugdale (II), who sold it to his cousin, another John Dugdale, who died there in Dec. 1881. John II married a daughter of Mr C. L. Ringrose of Tranby near Hessle, at Kirk Ella in Jan. 1851. John II's son, John Marshall Dugdale (1855-1918) m. Isabella ('Isa') Hargreaves at Tarporley, co. Ches., 20 July 1876. John II's other sons, Walter m. Flora Priestley at Paddington St James, 5 Dec. 1885, and Charles Tertius m. Adela Day, also at Paddington St James, 14 July 1886. There were also two daughters, Clara and, probably, Mary. John Marshall Dugdale was succeeded by John Eldon Marshall Dugdale (fl. 1929-1954).

The Dugdale family still owned the estate or at least parts of it in the 1940s, when Llwyn mansion was sold to Montgomeryshire Education Authority. The house was demolished and is now the site of Ysgol Uwchradd Llanfyllin.

David Davies (1745-1804) of Machynlleth, Montgomeryshire, and later Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, skinner, had two sons: David Davies (1774-1824), banker, and Robert Davies (1789-1841). David Davies the younger married twice, firstly to Mabella Jones, and had a son, also called David Davies (1802-1836), and secondly to Blanche Maria Rogers (d 1846) of Carnachen-wen, Mathry, Pembrokeshire, which then became the family home. David Davies III appears to have lived at Carnachen-wen until about 1833, when he acquired Castle Green, Cardigan, Cardiganshire, where he died, in 1836, without issue. Robert Davies married Eliza Charles (1798-1876) of Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, and had several children, including the Rev. David Charles Davies (1826-1891) and Robert Joseph Davies (1839-1892), who acquired Cwrtmawr, Llangeitho, Cardiganshire. He in turn married Frances Humphreys, descended from the Rev. Peter Williams. Their children included John Humphreys Davies (1871-1926), Walter Ernest Llewellyn Davies (1874-1941), and Annie Jane Davies (1873-1942), who married T. E. Ellis, MP (1859-1899) and had a son, Dr Thomas Iorwerth Ellis (1899-1970), teacher and lecturer, who lived in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire.