Davies family, Maesmawr Hall

Family

Davies family, Maesmawr Hall

[17th cent.]-

Maesmawr Hall, Caersws, Powys is a half-timbered hall house and estate thought to have its origins in the medieval period, although the exact date of the original building is unclear. It was recorded as the seat of Griffith Lloyd, High Sheriff of Montgomery in 1571 and was possibly the seat of the Sheriff as early as 1470.

The pedigree rolls of the Davies family of Marshe, Salop, and of Maesmawr Hall, co. Montgomery, trace their ancestry back to Aleth, 11th-century king of Dyfed, and his wife Nest ferch Llywelyn ap Gwrgan, and cover some fifteen generations up to Reginald Davies of the Marshe, co. Salop (d.1615); but their association with Maesmawr Hall began with Reginald’s son Edward Davies of Vennington, Westbury, co. Salop (c.1583-1670), who married Frances (1589-1661) daughter of Robert Charlton of Terne in 1615. Maesmawr Hall had suffered a serious fire during the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651) when it was used by Parliamentary Sheriffs and was rebuilt as the present building now stands c.1663; shortly after this in c.1664 Edward Davies left Vennington and moved to the new property at Maesmawr, where he remained until his death in 1669/1670. The property at Vennington passed to the eldest of Edward’s four children, Robert Davies (b. c.1626) following his move to Maesmawr.

Robert Davies married Dorothy daughter of Edward Sontley (or Sonlli), Denbighshire in 1653 and they had eight children, the eldest being Edward Davies (b.1659). Robert inherited Maesmawr upon his father’s death and moved there around 1669, staying there until his death in 1699. Edward Davies succeeded his father Robert and married Jane daughter of Thomas Morris, Clun, co. Salop, in 1701. They had thirteen children of whom seven survived, four sons and three daughters, of which very little is known. It is thought that Edward died in 1733. He was succeeded by his eldest son Robert Davies (b.1704), who married Elizabeth (b.1706), daughter of Richard Pryce, Trewylan at Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain in 1729. They had two sons, Pryce Davies (b.1731) and Edward (b.1736). Robert lived at Maesmawr until his death in 1759.

Pryce Davies (1731-1813) inherited Maesmawr after his father’s death in 1759 and is known to have significantly increased the property of the estate. He became High Sheriff of Montgomery in 1763 and in 1778 he obtained a faculty from the Vicar-General of Bangor entitling him and successive owners of Maesmawr to erect a family pew at Llandinam church. He married Ann (1738-1814), daughter of John Rowland of Ymlwch in 1768, whose wife Margaret was said to be a great-granddaughter of the Welsh antiquary Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt (?1592-1667). They had two sons and two daughters, Margareta Maria (1774-1787); Elizabeth (1772-1833); John (b.1770); and Edward (1769-1841). Upon Pryce’s death although Edward as the eldest son inherited Maesmawr, all of the rest of Pryce’s property and possessions went to his younger son John, causing resentment and consequently litigation and estrangement between them. Pryce’s daughter Elizabeth married Richard Whitmore of Birmingham (d.1830). They had three children, Thomas Whitmore (1810-1811); Mary Ann Whitmore (b.1812); and William Richard Whitmore (1814-1862).

Edward Davies trained in Law and practised as a county attorney. In 1799 he eloped to Gretna Green to marry eighteen-year-old Harriott Morris (1781-1859), daughter of William Morris, Argoed, co. Montgomery. The elopement caused Harriott to be disinherited from her father’s estate until 1808. Following William’s death in 1810 an Evan Morris, claiming to be Harriott’s brother contested the succession of the estate and entered into a legal battle with Harriott and Edward that dragged on for twenty years; they eventually won the case in 1830, but they both lost their fortunes to legal costs. Due to this, in around 1833/1834 Edward was forced to sell his property including Maesmawr, which was purchased by his brother Rev. John Davies.

Edward and Harriott had five sons and six daughters: Harriott Anne (b.1800); William Edward (b.1801); John (b.1803); Elizabeth (b.1804, d. 1804); Edward (b.1806); Pryce (1808-1887); Mary (b.1809, m. Cassimer Hoppolite Tiesset); Jane (b.1811); Thomas Morris (b.1812); Elizabeth (b.1813, m. David Humphreys); and Maria (b.1819, m. Henry Keate of Shrewsbury). Edward, the eldest son, married Clara Jones (c.1810-1838) in 1826. They had six children: Harriett (baptised 1827); John Edward (baptised 1828); Mary (baptised 1830); Pryce (baptised 1834); Edward Charles (c.1831-1865), who served with 1st Royal Dragoons in the Crimean War and fought at the Battle of Balaclava; and Robert George (1836-1891). Robert George enlisted into the service of the Honourable East India Company in 1854 and spent the majority of his career in India, eventually being promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant (1875), Captain (1880), and then Major (1887), and retired to Ilfracombe before his death in 1891. He married Isabella Crabbe, orphaned daughter of Elijah Crabbe, in Sanawar in 1861, and they had twelve children of whom five survived: Clara (1863-1950), who worked with Dr Barnardo’s Orphanage and spent her later years in Harlech with her sister Annie (1872-1950); Harry (b.1873), who emigrated to Canada and worked as a prospector; Percy Leoline Charlton (1876-1959), who died in Vancouver; and Herbert (1871-1945), the eldest son.

Rev. Herbert Davies was born in Meean-Meer and brought to England in 1880, cared for by his sister Clara. He was confirmed at Dunstable Church in 1889, studied at St David’s College, Lampeter in 1891-1894 and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1895, and was ordained deacon in 1898. In the same year he inherited the Maesmawr Estate via his first cousin twice removed Jane Anne Devereux Pryce (1816-1898), daughter of Rev. John Davies who had purchased Maesmawr from his brother Edward in c.1833/1834. Herbert had never lived at Maesmawr for any length of time, although it is thought that his sisters Clara and Annie lived there for a time prior to its sale. Difficulties with Jane’s will had put the estate into chancery, following which the estate was sold to Edward Jones, a former High Sheriff of Montgomery who had been a tenant of Maesmawr for some years, in around 1919/1920. Herbert married Gladys Constance Allanson (b.1883) in 1915 and had three children, all born in Glastonbury where Herbert was a curate: Robert Sontley Pryce (b.1916); Cecil Helen (b.1918); and Edward Harry Charlton (b.1921). It was Robert Sontley Pryce Davies who deposited the Maesmawr Hall Estate Records at NLW in 1969 and 1971, with a further deposit being made by Major Edward Harry Charlton Davies in 1972, a great deal of the history of the family having been gleaned from his aunt, Clara Davies.

A letter sent from Gunley Hall, Cherbury, dated 1940 suggests that Maesmawr Hall was used as a convalescent hospital during the Second World War (Powis Castle 1982 Deposit, box 213). The Hall later became a hotel which it remains up to the present day.