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Letters to Mary Owen (née Godolphin), wife of William Owen of Brogyntyn, 1730-1784, mainly from her immediate family, Godolphin and Owen relatives, friends and other close associates. They constitute a rich, lively source of information on the personal, domestic and social circumstances of an eighteenth century gentry family. Many of the letters reflect Mrs Owen 's own interests in music, theatre, literature, political news and high society gossip among her contemporaries. Recurrent topics include the ecclesiastical career of Lewis Owen; renovations at Porkington, 1735-1743; the estates of Richard Clayton and Arthur Owen; Elizabeth Longueville 's settlement; Jacobite disturbances; elections in North Wales and Shropshire; church preferments in England and Wales; and court life under the Hanoverian royal family, 1731-1752.

Letters received by William Owen, [c. 1705]-1767, together with a number of copies or drafts of his replies. Some of the letters are from members of the Godolphin and Owen families, [c. 1705]-1758, and others are from solicitors, bankers, national figures and local gentry, including several from Edward Wynn(e) of Bodewryd. General topics include charitable bequests and legacies by Anne Jones of Clenennau, [c. 1705]-1716; William Owen 's role in local government; elections in Shropshire and North Wales, particularly corrupt practices in the Caernarfon Borough elections for 1713 and 1722; improvements to Brogyntyn (Porkington) Hall, 1734; the appointment of Dr Hutton as bishop of Bangor, 1743; the Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1746; the purchase of Dolbenmaen, 1735; litigation relating to the estates of Richard Clayton and Arthur Owen, 1740-1760, boundary disputes in Gest and Penyfed, and quarrels with Margaret Lloyd of Cesail Gyfarch, 1741. The last file contains correspondence between William Owen, Edward Wynn(e), a Flemish lawyer and others, in an attempt to prove his claim to £500 out of the Bodysgallen estate, following the death of a distant kinsman John Francis Ouwens, 1710-1711, 1785.

Letters of various individuals connected to the families of Maurice, Owen, Ormsby-Gore and Godolphin through marriage, friendship or business and a small number of items where neither the author nor the recipient can be identified, 1582-1933.
They comprise letters to, from or about the Wynn family of Glyn, 1596-1690 (whose correspondents include Hugh Pennant, [c. 1663]), Anne Jones of Clenennau, 1679-1695, Rowlands of Nant, [1680s], Glynne of Eleirnion, [1680s]-1703, Humphrey Humphreys, 1700, Waller [of Castletown], 1706-1710, James Brynker, 1724, John Egerton, 1756, Edward Lloyd of Llanforda, 1680, the Seymour family, 1831-1868, Frank Weston, 1914, and others, 1582-1933. Topics include threats of invasions by the Spanish 1596, and the French, 1743; genealogies of Glynne of Glynllifon, [1605] and Gore, 1912; collection of the ship mise in Merionethshire, 1618; Sir Robert Owen 's dispute with Col. William Price of Rhiwlas over land in Gest, 1679-[c. 1694]; estate business of Margaret Lloyd of Cesail Gyfarch, 1729; claims on the estates of Richard Clayton, 1735, and of Robert Godolphin Owen, 1793; church administration in Llanyblodwel and elsewhere, [1730s?], 1756, 1868, 1914; parliamentary elections in Montgomeryshire, 1774 and Leitrim, 1874; the compulsory purchase of Oswestry Corporation property for improving access to London Bridge, 1831; complaints about the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, 1854; the Crimean War, 1855; First World War action against the Turks, 1918; and other items of national and international news. - - - The Stuart correspondence (mainly copies) includes James I to Sir George Calvert on the priveleges of the House of Commons, 1621; the Covenanters to the Earl of Essex, 1639; Sir William Temple to the Countess of Essex on the death of her daughter, [pre-1699]; and others, on the Oath of Allegiance, [1606], the rebellion and conquest of Ireland, 1649-1652, and the character of Sir George Jeffreys, 1680.