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Brief (2 copies) for Edmond Llewellyn and Richard Llewellyn, the nominal defendants, the real defendants being Messrs Bowzer, Overton and Oliver of the Hirwain Ironworks, in a case brought against them by Margaret Edwards, widow, alleging that 500 cartloads of stone valued at £500 had been taken from the plaintiff's farm called Hendre Baily in Aberdare for the construction of a furnace hearth without the consent of the plaintiff.

Brief (2 draft copies) for the prosecution in a case of the King, on the prosecution of Evan Evans, against William Phillip, John Davies, Samuel Davies, Mary, wife of Morgan Morgan, and John Powell (see 115). It is stated that Evan Evans, an employee of the Dowlais Company, had sent his son-in-law, William Lewis, to Abergavenny to buy meal get it ground and brought to Dowlais to supply the workmen there. Lewis purchased 40 bushels and hired horses and mules of Thomas Morgan of Noyadd in Llangattock to transport it. At a place called Cwmgwybeddog they were intercepted by about 200 people, who objected to their taking meal out of their district to Merthyr. Some were in favour of taking it before the mayor of Crickhowell, but it was decided to take the loads to the Beaufort Works instead. William Lewis offered to sell meal to those who needed it. David Williams, the agent of the Beaufort Company, was asked to reason with the crowd and eventually the carriers were allowed to proceed on their way unmolested.

Brief for defendants, Messrs Kendall and Bevan, in a cause promoted against them in the Monmouthshire Spring Sessions by the Monmouthshire Canal Navigation, who claimed £524.3.1 tonnages for conveying iron at the rate of 5d. per mile, whereas the defendants contended that it should be at the rate of 2d. per mile, as charged by the B. & A. Canal Co. (See Maybery Papers 986-8).

Brief for John Maybery and Thomas Wilkins plaintiffs in a case brought in the Exchequer at Hereford against John Wasse, esq., alleging breach of covenants in a lease of 14 Aug. 1775 (see Maybery Papers, 1216-17) in the following respects:. 1) Three years' rent, amounting to £972 due on 1 Sept. 1778 had remained unpaid;. 2) Lessees had refused to pay £77.18.0 spent on putting the works in repair;. 3) The lessees had not paid £247.18.0 for 618 dozen 6 pieces of iron stove lying about the furnace bank at the rate of 8s. per dozen;. 4) The lessees had not paid £89.15.6, the cost of raising 424 dozen 7 pieces or stones of iron mine lying on the banks of the several mine pits at the rate of 4s.23/4 per dozen;. 5) The lessees had not paid £105.13.71/2 for the cokes about the furnace at the rate of 15s. per dozen;. 6) The lessees had not paid for utensils, horses, wagons and hay about the premises valued at £320.13.41/2;. 7) The lessees had not kept the premises in good repair;. 8) That the 300 tons yearly of dark grey pig-iron had not been delivered, the total loss to the plaintiffs on all these counts amounting to £4,000; it is asserted that the failure of the works was due to lack of capital and the gross mismanagement of George Bowser, a man of bad character and twice bankrupt, who had been employed by King, Wasse's partner, against the expressed wish of the plaintiffs, that only 33 tons 11 cwt's of pig iron had been delivered at Machen and 30 tons to the Brecon forges, resulting in a great loss to plaintiffs, who could not obtain pig-iron from neighbouring ironworks owing to the great demand for the making of cannon for the Government, and they also suffered in that the price of pig-iron had advanced to £6 per ton, while the lessees had contracted to supply it for £4 per ton; it is alleged that Bowser, soon after the death of William King, and unknown to Wasse, who took on active part in the management, had put the furnace to work, getting the farmers of the neighbourhood to assist in carrying coal and made in about a fortnight or three weeks 30 tons of pig-iron, which he sold in Bristol on his own account without paying the carriers, whom he referred to Wasse, whereupon the plaintiffs made a distress on the premises, after which Bowser agreed to supply them with 4 tons weekly, but this pig-iron he again sold to Bristol, removing it at dead of night, whereupon a fresh distress was made and the furnace had to be blown out for want of cash to pay the carriers and workmen. Eventually the plaintiffs, at the request of Wasse, the defendant, made a regular distress upon the premises to prevent Bowzer carrying away the little that remained and where he was doing all the damage he could. The goods distrained were purchased by Thomas Rees, acting on behalf of the plaintiffs. Witnesses were prepared to prove that the wheel to turn cylinders and all things necessary to put the works in blast had been done before the lessees took over and that both King and Bowzer's inefficiency, instancing the use of water and black soap instead of oil to grease the tubs, the neglect and waste of a reservoir of water, the insufficiency of coal to operate the works and stating that, as a result of imprudence and mismanagement, they did not succeed in making half the iron the could.

Brief for plaintiff in the cause of ejectment tried at the Hereford Lent assizes respecting the house occupied by the manager of the Union Iron Company in Llangunnider, in which David Morgan, on the several demises of the Duke of Beaufort and of Richard Crawshay, Watkin George and Benjamin Hall, was the plaintiff and Richard Cunningham the defendant. It is recited that defendant was lately a partner with Crawshay, George and Hall in the Union Ironworks built principally on the estate of the Duke of Beaufort in Llangunnider. The partnership commenced at midsummer 1803 on the secession from the firm of David Evans, John Ambrose and Thomas Williams. At that time the capital of the firm appeared to be £26,099.12.2, of which £1,631 stood in the name of the defendant, £1,994.2.6 in that of Thomas Williams and the residue, amounting to £22,473.18.51/2, belonged to Messrs Evans and Ambrose, who withdrew on being paid their advances by Messrs Crawshay, George and Hall without interest. But Thomas Williams, who had played an active part in the erection of the Works and development of the mines received £3,000. The partners were to have equal shares in the profits of the concern, the defendant being appointed resident manager and cashier. Subsequently Messrs Crawshay, George and Hall advanced whatever sums were necessary for the running of the concern, but when they discovered that there were bills afloat and even dishonoured, drawn by the defendant in the name of the firm, which did not appear in the books, and which could not have been applied to the use of the firm, that he had a connection with Leonard Turney in London, on whom he drew bills in the name of the firm and unknown to his partners, and that there was a considerable balance owing to Messrs Hill, Kinsey & Co. on account of bills negotiated by defendant at the Abergavenny Bank, it was felt that the defendant had forfeited his claim as a partner and voluntarily withdrew. The defendant had admitted that the transactions were made to supply his own private wants and to keep up a fabricated capital. It appeared that he had no property of his own in the concern and his nominal capital had been maintained by fictitious credit, clandestinely supported in the name of the firm. He at first expressed his willingness to quit the house he occupied as manager of the Union Works, but in Dec. 1804 he was encouraged by some persons inimical to Crawshay to trump up the charge that he had been forced to execute the deed of dissolution of the partnership through fear and terror, and then manifested his intention not to quit.

Case and Opinion of G. S. Holroyd concerning the validity of the will of Edward Kendall, senior, and the entitlement of his step-son, William Bevan, to participate in all the property leased by the Duke of Beaufort to Messrs Kendall of merely to a share of what was denominated the Beaufort Works, if he should be entitled to a share in the whole leasehold property, should such interest be for the remainder of the lease, for his own lifetime, or merely for the duration of the new partnership to be determined by Edward Kendall, junior, and Mrs Jonathan Kendall. Recited that by a partnership deed of 7 Nov. 1797 the Beaufort Ironworks, a part share of the Clydach Ironworks and other properties leased from the Duke of Beaufort were constituted the property of the partnership for a period of 14 years, commencing 5 April 1795, the capital stated at £16,000, to be held in the proportions of 17/32, 13/32 and 2/32 by Edward Kendall, Jonathan Kendall and Joseph Latham respectively. In the year 1801 it was agreed that a sum of £780 annually should be paid instead of the one fifth share of the profits in the Clydach Ironworks, which was always carried to credit as profits in partnership books and divided accordingly. The partnership was continued for a further term of 7 years. In 1801 Edwin Kendall married as his second wife a Mrs Elizabeth Bevan, whose son, William, was brought into the business under the instruction of Joseph Latham, the managing partner (see Lloyd, pp. 178-82).

Case and Opinion of J. Chitty as to whether a letter written on the agent of the Duke of Beaufort by Richard Cunningham could be read out as evidence without being stamped in a cause of ejectment (see 93).

Case and Opinion of J. L. Knight concerning the terms of an agreement between Jonathan Dixon and George Overton dissolving their partnership. It is recited that these two persons had carried on the business of coal merchants, renting from Benjamin Hall by lease dated 29 June 1814 for 31 years coal lying under a piece of ground in Bedwellty, paying one shilling per to for 80 tons of every 100 tons and 4d. per ton for the remaining 20 tons as small coal, each ton to be 21 cwt of 120 lb's each, 14 lb's, being allowed on each draft of 3 cwt for breakage, 25 tons per day at least to be worked, otherwise an annual rent of £400 in lieu, with a proviso that in case the engine vein of coal could not be disposed of as large, it should be treated as small coal; besides these coal concessions called the Brinore colliery the undertaking consisted of lime rocks rented from the Duke of Beaufort, the Brinore tramroad, rented from the proprietors, of a smith's forge at Penrhew calch, erected at the joint expense of the partners, and a commodions wharf at Maesmawr, two lime kilns, large sheds, two dwelling houses and a counting house built by Johnathan Dixon at his own expense and of four dwelling houses built by Dixon on his lands at Glascwm, and a smith's forge also built by him at Coedcar Pengoed, all of which he rented to the undertaking for £150 per annum. The partnership lasted till 31 Oct. 1819 when Dixon retired and Overton arranged for his place to be taken by Scroope. By the terms of an agreement between Overton and Dixon of 27 Jan. 1820 Dixon agreed to transfer his assets in the firm valued at £2,600 as well as the aforesaid rent of £150 per annum for an annual payment during the remainder of the term of the original partnership to be regulated by the quantity of coal and lime brought along the tramroad, Overton undertaking to give Dixon 9d. per ton galeage on the best coal, 6d. per ton on inferior and small coal, 3d. per ton on all limestone brought down the tramroad belonging to the concern and 1d. per barrel on all lime burnt on the hills during the lease of the colliery, and Messrs Overton and Scroope to give a line on trams, templates and utensils till the sum of £2,600 plus interest was paid from the amount of galeage as above. It is stated that Dixon signed the agreement of the understanding that alterations would be made in the instrument carrying this agreement into effect, but he died on 22 July 1820, a few days after receiving the draft. Objections ware made by the solicitors acting on behalf of his widow, on the grounds that. 1) No redendum had been inserted for the payment of the agreed galeage and no provision made for distraining in the case of the non-payment of rent of the wharf, buildings and other conveniences;. 2) Inadequate provision to secure payment of £2,600 plus interest;. 3) That the galeage, contrary to the agreement, was based of 22 cwt's to the ton not the statute one of 20 cwt's as agreed, and qualities of the coal limited to best and inferior, not the classification of set forth in Hall's book in accordance with a verbal undertaking on signing the agreement;. 4) That the galeage was to be ascertained from the books of Messrs Overton & Scroope not from Hall's book.

Case and Opinion of W. E. Taunton as to the liability of Thomas Bacon to Deliver pig-iron to Messrs Walter and Jeffreys Wilkins according to the stipulations of an assignment of 1 Feb. 1780 (see 6) to the late Anthony Bacon, of whatever this provision was invalidated by the acceptance by Messrs Wilkins of a rent of £320 per annum in lieu (see 24). It is stated that Messrs Wilkins had deferred their claim, at Bacon's request, until the result of an action commenced in Chancery by Bacon against Messrs Fry, who had dismantled the works (see 28) and afterwards transferred it to a nominal person, a beggar. This action had been unsuccessful.

Declaration of the prosecutor, John Thomas in a suit against Thomas David of Aberdare in the Glamorganshire Quarter Sessions for breach of contract to haul 60 tons of timber lying on farms called Aberamon and Abercumboy in Aberdare to Cyfarthfa yard in p. Merthyr, at the rate of 7s.3 per ton, two trees in every 20 take not less than 35 solid feet and the remainder not to exceed 25 solid feet for each tree.

Declaration (office copy) of William Cory, plaintiff in a suit in the Exchequer of Pleas, against James Harford, a partner with John Partridge, Philip Crocker, Thomas Prichard, Richard Summers Harford, Samuel Harford, John Harford, Richard Jones Tomlinson, Richard Blakemore, William Green and the executors of Elizabeth Weaver in the firm of Harford, Partridge & Co., ironmasters in p. Aberistwith, co. Mon., for the payment of fines totalling £350 for not making returns to the tax commissioners of amount of profits of the firm for 1804.

1 William Forman of Penydarren Place, co. Glam, esq., and William Thompson of the city of London, esq., being company of ironmasters under the firm of the Penydarran Iron Co. 2 Josiah John Guest of Dowlais House, esq., Wyndham Lewis of Green Meadow, esq., Rev. William Price Lewis of Newhouse, co. Glam., and Thomas Revel Guest of Cardiff, esq., being a company of ironmasters under the firm of the Dowlais Iron Co. 3 John Jones of Brecon, gent. 4 William Meyrick of Merthyr Tydvil, gent. Deed of Agreement (draft) by which the Penydarren Company release to John Jones a piece of land on which a tramroad had been made by the Dowlais Company in Merthyr Tydfil, being part of m's and lands called Gellyvailog and Penydarren in Merthyr Tydfil in trust for the Dowlais Company in exchange for pieces of land delineated on a plan of the said farms called Penydarren and Gellyfaelog and for a piece of land in Merthyr Tydfil used by the Dowlais Iron Co. as a tram road, but which had long been discontinued, also delineated on a plan, to be held by William Meyrick in trust for the Penydarren Company; it is agreed that it should be lawful for the Dowlais Company to lay down a tramroad for the purpose of effecting a junction with the 'sand' tramroad of the Penydarren Company, extending from the Gellyfaelog bridge to the entrance of the Bonymaen lands and that they should have the liberty for a term of 20 years to use the said tramroad as well as the road running parallel with it without payment.

1 Jeffreys Wilkins of Brecon, esq. 2 John Lloyd of Brecon, esq. 3 John Powell of Brecon, gent. 4 John Peirce of Brecon, gent. Deed of partnership for the continuance of the partnership commenced by the parties in 1797 together with Walter Powell of Brecon, gent., who shortly afterwards withdrew, in the business of boat owners on the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal and in the business of working and selling coal and limestone and in any other business mutually agreed under the title of the 'Brecknock Boat Company' of 'Wilkins, Lloyd, Powell and Pierce', providing that the capital should be £9,400 and that further capital raised be advanced in equal proportions.

Deeds and documents, 1824-1864.

Deeds and documents, 1783-1807.

Deeds and documents, 1808-1823.

Depositions of witnesses examined before R. Davies at Brecon in a cause brought by the Crown on the prosecution of Messrs E. & J. Kendall and Joseph Latham, ironmasters, against Rees Phillips and William Price, miners, alleging the theft of tools from a colliery belonging to the Beaufort works in p. Llangattock.

1 Walter Wilkins of Maeslough, co. Rad., esq., and Jeffreys Wilkins of Maesydderwen, esq. 2 Richard John Hill of Plymouth Lodge, co. Glam., esq. 3 Thomas Bacon. (Draft) In consideration of £3,000 of the freehold m. and lands called Cwm Nanty Spithaden alias Wain y Spithaden and Tuy and Tyr Gwyn bach, also the close of land called Treepedwren, formerly part of Cwm Nant y Spithaden, which premises for some years past have been known as Tyr Gwyn bach in Penderin, together with the furnaces, forges watermill, engines, houses, outhouses, buildings, barns, stables, cottages, meadows, pastures, mines, minerals belonging, in trust for the life of Thomas Bacon, of all the interest in the residue of the terms granted in the assignment and lease of 1 Feb. 1780 (see 5 & 6) and of all claims against Thomas Bacon for rent due under the said assignment and lease, but Bacon to pay the arrears of rents reserved under leases of 26 Nov. 1757 and 7 Feb. 1760.