File FD1/2 - Cases concerning the Flintshire (Cwyber) estate

The file comprises legal papers recording the claims of creditors and disputes over title of the Cwyber estate in Rhuddlan, parts of which were mortgaged by John Griffith (1) of Garn in 1680, 1682 and 1685. He died still indebted in 1685, leaving his estate, including the Flintshire lands, to trustees for payment of debts and portioning his younger children. The will was apparently not proved, and his creditors brought a bill in Chancery, 1687, against John Morgans, the surviving trustee of his will, his eldest son, Edward Griffith and widow, Mary Griffith. It was decreed that the Flintshire estate should be sold to relieve debt, but the trustees managed to avoid that. The original mortgagees had died and part of the mortgage was assigned to Lewis Atkinson. In 1724, John Griffith (2) exhibited a bill in Chancery against L.A., his son and representatives of an earlier trustee, Sir John Conway, to discover their title to premises, after which he was let into possession. A further dispute arose around 1742 after the death of L.A., when his administrator, Foulk Lloyd, made an unsuccessful attempt to possess the remaining mortgaged property, justifying his claim by virtue of the marriage settlement of his cousin, Thomas Foulkes, dated 1704. Chancery decreed that Foulk Lloyd should be paid £400 in satisfaction of all claims and that he should assign the title back to J.G. (2), which was finally achieved in 1749. The papers include a pedigree of Foulkes of Vaenol and a copy of the will of Margaret Foulkes of Ereifiad, 1678.