Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1370-1941 / (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
0.551 cubic metres(19 boxes)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Both Baker and Gabb were old Catholic families from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. The Baker family claimed descent from Sir Roger Vaughan of Bredwardine, Herefordshire, and had held large estates in Monmouthshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. The earliest deed relating to a member of the Baker family of Abergavenny is dated 1590. The family believed (probably wrongly) that David Lewis otherwise Charles Baker (1616-1679), a Jesuit priest and 'pretended bishop of Llandaff', was a member of the family. The Gabb family also owned property in the Abergavenny area. The earliest Gabb deed (of Grosmont, Monmouthshire) appears to be that dated 1660. The families were joined by the marriage of John Gabb (d. 1690) of Goytre, Grosmont, to Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry Baker of Bailey Baker, Abergavenny.
Thomas Gabb founded a solicitor's practice in Abergavenny in 1760. The firm of Gabb & Co. still practices out of the same offices in Abergavenny. Thomas Gabb practised on his own until 1781, when he was joined by Baker Gabb the elder (d. 1821), and in 1808 by his son, Baker Gabb the younger (d. 1858). There was a member of the Gabb family in the firm from 1760 until 1921.
From the 1850s, most family members seem to have either used Baker as a last christian name, or used a hyphonated Baker-Gabb surname.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited by Blanche Baker-Gabb in 1942, per Messrs Gabb, Price & Fisher, solicitors of Abergavenny, and by Messrs Gabb & Co. Nov. 1969.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Family papers and estate records, 1370-1941, of the Baker-Gabb family of The Chain, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, and their antecedents, mainly deeds and documents relating to lands in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire, mainly from the second half of the sixteenth century, when the Bakers first appear as stewards of the lordship of Abergavenny, including deeds relating to the town and castle of Abergavenny, the Priory of Abergavenny, and the Priory of Llanthony Prima; records of the following Monmouthshire manors: Cwmyoy, Llanthony, Stanton, Redcastle, Oldcastle, Triley, Abergavenny, Ewyas Lacy, Crickhowell, Hothneslade, and Newton or St Margaret's from 1632 onwards, including court books, perambulations and rentals; a breviary in the English style of the fourteenth-fifteenth century (NLW MS 16147A); papers relating to David Lewis, Catholic bishop of Llandaf, including his speech at the place of his execution, 1679; and diaries etc. of John Baker Gabb, private chamberlain to Pope Leo XIII, 1859-1892; a poll of burgesses of Monmouth, Newport and Usk, 1715, and material on the genealogy of the Baker Gabb family. -- Many of the letters and deeds belong to the solicitor's practice established by Thomas Gabb in 1760.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Action: All records deposited at NLW have been retained.
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged into seven sections: correspondence, deeds and documents, maps, portraits, miscellaneous prints, sale catalogue received from Blanche Baker-Gabb, and supplementary deeds and documents received from Messrs Gabb, Price & Fisher.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- English
- Latin
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Latin.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Hard copies of the 1942 catalogue are available at NLW and HMC; the 1969 deposit remains uncatalogued.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Baker-Gabb, R. A Memoir of the families of Baker of Bailey Baker and Baker-Gabb, Abergavenny (Aberystwyth, 1903).
Notes area
Note
Title supplied from contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Chain Estate (Wales) -- Archives. (Subject)
- Llanthony Prima Priory (Wales) (Subject)
- Abergavenny Priory (Wales) (Subject)
- Gabb & Co. (Subject)
- Abergavenny Castle (Wales) (Subject)
- Chain Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Baker-Gabb, Thomas -- Diaries. (Subject)
- Gabb, John Baker, 1826-1893. (Subject)
- Baker-Gabb family, of The Chain -- Archives. (Subject)
- Gabb family, of Abergavenny -- Archives. (Subject)
- Baker family, of Abergavenny. (Subject)
- Gabb family, of Abergavenny. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
This description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) Second Edition; AACR2; and LCSH.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
April 2001.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Compiled by Stephen Benham.
Archivist's note
The following source was used in the compilation of this description: Baker-Gabb, R., A Memoir of the families of Baker of Bailey Baker and Baker-Gabb, Abergavenny (Aberystwyth, 1903);