Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1463-1943 / (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
0.058 cubic metres (2 boxes), 29 manuscripts
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Edward Owen (1853-1943), journalist, barrister and antiquarian, was born at Menai Bridge, Anglesey, the only son of Edward and Sarah Owen. He was the first Welshman to enter the Civil Service by public examination, and was appointed to the India Office in c. 1873. He contributed regularly to the Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (which published his Catalogue of the Manuscripts Relating to Wales in the British Museum) and Archaeologia Cambrensis. In 1896, his work on changes in land tenure in medieval Wales appeared as an Appendix to the Royal Commission's Report on Land in Wales, followed by the publication of Ancient tenures of land in North Wales and the Marches, with Alfred Neobard Palmer of Wrexham, in 1910. When the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments of Wales was established in 1908, he was appointed as the first secretary and editor of its volumes and inventories. He was Reader in Welsh Medieval Antiquities at the University of Liverpool, 1921-1943. He died 8th November 1943 and was buried in St Seirol's Churchyard, Holyhead.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Bequeathed by Edward Owen, Menai Bridge, [1943].
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Manuscripts comprising drafts of the hitherto-unpublished portions of Edward Owen's Catalogue of manuscripts relating to Wales in the British Museum, with draft indexes; reports prepared by Edward Owen on Liverpool Town Dues and related papers, 1931; essays written by him for the London Eisteddfod, 1887, and the National Eisteddfod at Caernarfon, 1894; notes, pedigrees, transcripts and letters relating to Welsh history, antiquities, county history, families and individuals such as John Edwards of Chirk, and historical figures including Owain Glyndwr [some items published 1893-1935]; transcripts and extracts relating to the history of Wales taken from public records by Edward Owen, E.A. Lewis and others, including several land surveys, at least one of which was used as evidence before the Royal Commission on Land in Wales, 1895; transcripts of papers by or relating to Alfred Neobard Palmer, Wrexham, 1885-1922; facsimiles and original documents including Privy Purse Accounts of Queen Anne, 1702-1710, and a holograph letter from Queen Anne to Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, 1710; letters mainly addressed to William Edwards of Chirk Hall, 1675-1677; autograph letters, mostly addressed to Edward Owen, 1886-1943; and deeds, 1463-1769, the majority of which relate to the estates of the families of Edwards of Plas Newydd and Puleston of Emrall in cos. Denbigh and Flint.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Action: All records bequeathed to the National Library of Wales have been retained..
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
Arranged into manuscripts (NLW MSS 17974-18093); correspondence, subdivided into Chirk Hall correspondence and letters addressed to Edward Owen (NLW MSS 18094-18102); and deeds and documents arranged chronologically.
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 regulations apply.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Welsh, Latin, French.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
A hard copy of the catalogue is available at the National Library of Wales. The catalogue can be accessed online.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title compiled from content of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Project identifier
Access points
Subject access points
- Citation of public records -- Wales.
- Royal households -- Great Britain -- Accounting.
- Municipal corporations -- Taxation -- England -- Liverpool.
- Manuscripts -- Catalogs -- Wales.
- Surveys -- Wales.
- Chirk (Wales).
- Wales.
- Denbighshire (Wales)
- Flintshire (Wales).
- Plas Newydd (Chirk, Wales).
- Wales -- Antiquities.
- Liverpool (England)
Place access points
Name access points
- Emral Estate (Wales). (Subject)
- Edwards family, of Plas Newydd, Chirk -- Archives. (Subject)
- Owen, Edward, 1853-1943 -- Archives. (Subject)
- Anne, Queen of Great Britain, 1665-1714 -- Correspondence. (Subject)
- Puleston family, of Emral -- Archives (Subject)
- Palmer, Alfred Neobard -- Archives. (Subject)
- Marlborough, Sarah Jennings Churchill, Duchess of, 1660-1744. (Subject)
- Lewis, E. A. (Edward Arthur), 1880-1942 (Subject)
- Edwards, William, of Plas Newydd, Chirk. (Subject)
- Edwards, John, of Plas Newydd, d. 1625. (Subject)
- Anne, Queen of Great Britain, 1665-1714. (Subject)
- Palmer, Alfred Neobard (Subject)
- Glendower, Owen, approximately 1354-1416 (Subject)
- Edwards family, of Plas Newydd, Chirk. (Subject)
- Puleston family, of Emral (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows ANW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.;AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
March 2003
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Compiled by Seri Crawley for the ANW Project. The following sources were used for the preparation of the description: NLW, Schedule of the Edward Owen Bequest, Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959).