Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1634-1928 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
0.876 cubic metres (31 boxes)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Henry Rumsey Williams (1774-1841), solicitor, was born in Crickhowell, Brecknockshire. By 1793 he was a clerk to the recorder of the borough of Caernarfon, where he became a qualified attorney in 1795. He married Anne Bettiss in the late 1790s, and they had at least ten children. Williams became legal representative of landed families in Caernarfonshire, especially the Conservative landowners, including the Assheton Smiths of Faenol, the Newboroughs of Glynllifon and the Pennants of Penrhyn, as well as many gentry families in both Anglesey and Caernarfonshire, and also leading members of the burgeoning middle class in Caernarfon. He undertook electioneering for the Tory party in Caernarfon, particularly after the reformation of the Caernarfon corporation in 1835. By his death in 1841, Williams owned properties in Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire and Caernarfonshire. After his death, there followed a series of legal disputes concerning his estate, of which his son, Edward Rumsey Williams, was executor.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated by Miss Eva Rumsey-Williams and Mrs Bell, London, descendants of Henry Rumsey Williams, per Mr P. H. Lawson, ARIBA, Chester, in 1942.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers, 1634-1928, mostly deriving from and relating to the legal practice of Henry Rumsey Williams, comprising draft conveyances, abstracts of title, letters, accounts and miscellaneous papers of clients, including the estate of Wynn of Glynllifon, 1719-1840, the Griffiths family of Caernarfon and Amwlch, 1726-[1830s], Jared Jackson, 1760-1836, Plasgwyn estate, 1761-1846, Cefn Cwmwd estate, 1763-1828, Coed Helen estate, 1770-1838, Trergo estate, 1771-1832, Parry family, 1773-1788, Peniarth estate, 1773-1830, Orielton estate, 1774-1814, Bodior estate, 1778-1837, Faenol estate, 1778-1840, Arnold Robinson Burrowes, 1785-1837, Grindley family, [c. 1786]-1842, Morgan family, 1787-1839, Treiorwerth estate, 1787-1844, Evan Pritchard, 1788-1813, John Price, 1790-1844 Caerhun estate, 1791-1834, W. A. Madocks, 1799-1824, Nancall estate, 1802-1837, Morris Griffith, 1804-1832, Edward Griffith Roberts, 1805-1827, William Humphrey, 1805-1833, Plas Llanfair estate, 1805-1837, Baily Williams family, 1806-1838, Richard Garnons, 1809-1837, Cefn Hengwrt estate, 1810-1815, George Bettiss, 1810-1831, William Edwards, 1811-1836, Penrhyn estate, 1811-1837, Wyatt family, 1813-1835, Gelli Goch estate, 1815-1831, Anna Maria Wynne, 1816-1833, Robert Thomas, 1818-1839, Roberts family, 1818-1840, Bodegroes estate, 1819-1836, Hughes, Brydges and Granville, bankers, 1819-1840, Vickers family, 1820-1833, Boston estate, 1820-1839, Owen Griffith, 1822-1846, George Holmes Jackson, 1823-1841, the Rev. Hugh Hughes Wynne, 1831-1848, John Rowlands, 1832-1841, and Edward Hosier Williams, 1833, in Caernarfonshire, Anglesey, Denbighshire, and Merionethshire; legal correspondence, 1790-1848, probate records, 1727-1871, and papers relating to civil cases, 1757-1850, religion, 1788-1842, mining, 1779-1842, quarrying, 1798-1840, shipping, 1778- [c. 1841], roads and railways, 1834-1839; legal practice records, 1804-1841, and executorship papers, 1841-1855, belonging to Henry Rumsey Williams, and records of his family in Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire and Caernarfonshire, 1881-1928. Records relating to William's political activities have not survived.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
All records donated to the National Library of Wales have been retained.
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
Arranged into the following: deeds, accounts, etc., of clients (arranged by client and thereafter chronologically); deeds, accounts, etc., relating to other properties in Wales and England; unlocated properties, various individuals, etc.; legal correspondence; civil cases; probate; religion; industry (mining; quarrying; others); shipping; roads and railways; papers of Henry Rumsey Williams (estate papers; legal practice; executorship papers); and miscellaneous papers, probably belonging to Henry Rumsey Williams' descendants.
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
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Most of the documents have been affected by damp, some quite severely.
Finding aids
A hard copy of the catalogue is available at the National Library of Wales.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title supplied from contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Project identifier
Access points
Subject access points
- Lawyers -- Wales -- Caernarfon -- Archives.
- Shipping -- Wales -- Gwynedd.
- Deeds -- Wales -- Gwynedd.
- Wills -- Wales -- Gwynedd.
- Deeds -- Wales -- Denbighshire.
- Deeds -- Wales -- Anglesey
- Slate industry -- Wales -- Gwynedd -- Archives.
- Railroads -- Wales -- Gwynedd.
- Wills -- Wales -- Gwynedd.
- Anglesey (Wales)
- Caernarfon (Wales)
- Caernarvonshire (Wales)
- Denbighshire (Wales).
- Merioneth (Wales)
- Glynllifon (Wales)
Place access points
Name access points
- Glynllifon Estate (Wales) -- Archives. (Subject)
- Faenol Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Peniarth Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Penrhyn Estate (Gwynedd, Wales) (Subject)
- Coed Helen Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Peniarth Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Penrhyn Estate (Gwynedd, Wales) (Subject)
- Coed Helen Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Faenol Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Penrhyn Estate (Gwynedd, Wales) (Subject)
- Glynllifon Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Coed Helen Estate (Wales) (Subject)
- Williams, Henry Rumsey, 1774-1841 -- Archives (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
April 2003.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
The following source was consulted in the compilation of this description: NLW, Schedule of Henry Rumsey Williams Deeds and Documents;
Archivist's note
Compiled by David Moore for the ANW project.