Fonds GB 0210 EDWORD - Edwinsford Estate Records

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0210 EDWORD

Title

Edwinsford Estate Records

Date(s)

  • 1411-1863 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

0.667 cubic metres (23 boxes, 1 roll, 1 bundle)

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

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.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Deposited by Sir James Hamlyn Williams Williams-Drummond in 1946.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Records of the Edwinsford estate of the Williams, later Williams-Drummond, family in Carmarthenshire, including deeds, 1411-1860; manorial records, 1500-1744, including records of the manor of Talley, 1551-1744, and Caio, 1500-1734; estate correspondence, 1580-1863, (mainly post 1700), estate and household accounts, 1654, 1670-1903, and rentals, 1707-1843; deeds relating to the Llether Cadfan estate, 1474-1760, and Court Derllys estate, 1563-1805, both in Carmarthenshire.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

All records deposited at NLW have been retained.

Accruals

Accruals are not expected

System of arrangement

Arranged chronologically into the following sections: manuscript volumes, deeds which are arranged by locality, probate records, appointments, commissions and related documents, miscellaneous documents, correspondence, miscellaneous documents relating to the Drummond family, and printed material.

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

Further details relating to manorial records within the archive can be accessed on-line from The National Archives Manorial Documents Register.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Further papers relating to the Edwinsford estate are Carmarthenshire Archive Service.

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Title based on contents of fonds.

Alternative identifier(s)

Virtua system control number

vtls004250253

GEAC system control number

(WlAbNL)0000250253

Access points

Place access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

May 2002.

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Baker-Jones, D.L., 'Edwinsford: A Country House and its Families', The Carmarthenshire Historian, 5 (1968); James, Brian, 'The Great Landowners of Wales in 1873', National Library of Wales Journal, XIV (1965-66); Williams-Drummond, Francis Dudley, Annals of Edwinsford, Clovelly and Hawthornden, (Rhydedwyn, 1924); Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, (London, 1959)

Archivist's note

Compiled by Mair James.

Accession area