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Wigfair manuscripts Pennant, David, 1763-1841
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Letters to John Lloyd of Wigfair,

Sixty-four holograph letters and three formal notes from [Sir] Jos[eph] Banks, from Soho Square [London], from Spring Grove [Isleworth, co. Middlesex], from Revesby Abbey [Lincolnshire], etc., to John Lloyd at Hafodunos, at Soughton, Northop, at Wygfair, St. Asaph, etc., 1778-1814 and undated (personal and family news and news of acquaintances, and more specifically an invitation to a Royal Society club dinner (1778); Lord Mahon's book on electricity [Principles of Electricity, 1779] and his promise of another in which he would refute Mr. [Benjamin] Wilson's deductions, news of Lord Mulgrave and [Sir Charles] Blagden, and a request for a specimen of saxifraga umbrosa from Ireland (1780); a paper on new double stars to be read to the R[oyal] S[ociety] by [William] Herschel, the death of [? Dr. Solander] and a request for a specimen of Crataegus Aria from the cliffs near the top of Pen Man Mawr [co. Caernarvon] (1782); a balloon flight across the English Channel by [John] Jefferies and [François] Blanchard [this letter is dated January 1784 but this is probably a mistake for 1785, the flight having been made in January of that year], the resignation of the clerkship of the R[oyal] S[ociety] by Robertson and a contest for the post between Messrs. Coppard and Gilpin (1785); [William] Herschel's visit to Germany to take a telescope of his own making as a present to the University of Gottingen, Herschel's progress with his forty feet [telescope], the discovery of a new comet by Caroline, Herschel's sister, a 'bill intended by the manufacturers to restrain the growers of wool' and a meeting to be held in Denbighshire to consider the bill, the teaching of classics in England as compared with the continent (1786); the receipt of a box of plants from the Snowdon area, Danish and Roman antiquities found in the bed of the river Witham [co. Lincoln], the danger of wheat which was imported from America being infected by insects unknown in this country (1788); comments on Shetland sheep and a request for a specimen (1791); the political situation with comments on democrats, constitutionalists, the Whig club, etc., (1793); a visit from David Pennant, the ill treatment of recipient by a riotous mob at Denbigh, the presence of 'dangerous mobs in many counties' caused by 'the first Raising of the Militia', the price of corn, damage estimated at £ 750,000 by floods in Cambridgeshire, Lloyd's service to the country as a magistrate and the value of this office to the constitution, sheep rearing, the discovering of gold in Ireland (1795); the result of the [parliamentary] election in [co. Caernarvon] with mention of the contestants Sir Robert [Williams] and Lord Penrhyn, acknowledgement of receipt of copies of 'Shon Gwialen', the ill effects of apple insect, good wishes to recipient should he 'undertake the arduous task of becoming Knight of your shire', criticism of Thomas and David Pennant (1796); a request by Lloyd for a copy of the map which accompanied Dr. [Christopher] Packe's Ancographia sive Convallium Descriptio (1798); [Frederick] Hornemann's journey to Africa [on behalf of the African Association], the effects of prolonged drought, comments on Adam Smith's theory of 'perfect freedom in trade' (1800); the abundant crops and the price of grain (1801); the result of the [parliamentary] election in co. Kent, the West India docks in the Isle of Dogs and the Wapping Docks, the health of the members of the Royal Family whom the writer had seen at Weymouth (1802); the possibility of an invasion of England by Buonaparte (1803, 1805); Lloyd's wish to become a trustee of the [?British] Museum (1804); the death of [Alexander] Aubert at Lloyd's home, the draining and selling of land by the writer (1805); the writer's anger on seeing the spires of Lincoln minster pulled down, a request for Lloyd's help in procuring answers to a questionnaire concerning alleged damage to cathedral fabrics, comments on 'the Political Hurricane' which had taken the King out of the hands of a Whig administration, the political changes in England, wire worms, the anniversary of the Club, astronomical data (1807); the cultivation of cranberries, news of crops (1808); receipt of a Brazil coin and of tokens for his sister's [Sarah Sophia Banks] collection, Sir H. Englefield's circular letter and canvass of the Society of Antiquaries (1811)). 'Shon Gwialan' probably refers to the pamphlet entitled 'A Letter to the Right Reverend Dr. Warren on his conduct as Bishop of Bangor', published in 1796, in which the writer, 'Shon Gwialan', attacks the bishop of Bangor for alleged nepotism, etc. The identity of the writer has not been discovered.

Sir Joseph Banks.

Letters to John Lloyd of Wigfair,

Seventy holograph and autograph letters, notes, etc., addressed to John Lloyd at Garden Court, London, at Hafodunos near St. Asaph, at Wigfair near St. Asaph and elsewhere, 1770-1812.
They comprise letters, etc., from Cath[erine] Parry, Soughton, Llwynegrin, etc. [17]76-[?1778] (14) (detailed news of herself, the family and acquaintances, and of happenings in the neighbourhood); D[avid] Pennant, Downing, [Flintshire], 1796-1811 and undated (4) (a request for support with regard to [?the parliamentary election in the county of Flint caused by the death of Sir Roger Mostyn, bart., in July 1796], damage to some of Lloyd's scientific instruments, a quotation from one of [William] Bowles's works relating to various types of jars or vases made in parts of Spain with references to the same from other writers, viz. [Sir John Talbot] Dillon and [Henry] Swinburne); [Richard Pennant, Baron] Penrhyn, Penrhyn near Conway [Carnarvonshire], [? 1795] (a request for support at the next parliamentary election for the county of [Carnarvon]); Tho[mas] Pennant, Downing, [Flintshire], Chester, Lichfield and Gothurst, 1770-1795 and undated (11) (personal, a contract with Moses [Griffith] who was to be instructed 'that he may do justice to our Welch antiquities', a request to Lloyd to ask White, the bookseller [of Fleet Street, London], to advertise the writer's work entitled Synopsis of Quadrupeds [Chester, 1771], a collection of drawings of Welsh monuments in the possession of Mr. Astle probably living in Lambeth, enquiries concerning monuments in the church at Luton, Bedfordshire, a list of buildings, monuments, etc., noted on a journey through Bedfordshire, Buck[inghamshire], Northamptonshire, Warwicksh[ire], Staffordshire and Cheshire (1773), a request that the writer's drawings be left at Mr. White's 'for they must be soon engraven' (1773), comments on relations with America (1775), an earthquake which had shaken the writer's house [at Downing, 1775], congratulations to Lloyd on his work [?as a justice of the peace], a request for a loan of a copy of Mrs. Piozzi's Synonyms [British Synonymy or an Attempt at regulating the choice of Words in Familiar Conversation, by Mrs. Hester Lynch Piozzi, née Salusbury, formerly Mrs. Thrale, London, 1794], in order to check 'some pedigree remarks on the Mostyn family'); Roger Phillips, London, 1794 (the development of a cutting machine, the making of a turning lathe for Sir Joseph Banks, personal), [Constantine John Phipps, 2nd baron] Mulgrave [of New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland, later 1st baron Mulgrave of Mulgrave, Yorkshire], Portsmouth, Bath, and [on board HMS] Courageux, 1776-1780 (5) (enquiries concerning scientific instruments, personal); W. [ ] Phipps, Mulgrave Hall near Whitby, [Yorkshire], undated (personal); Gabriel Piozzi, Brynbella [near Tremeirchion, Flintshire], and Denbigh, 1795-1796 (3) (personal, recommending Mr. Mead as architect in connection with the proposed improvements at Wygfaur and offering timber); Mr. and Mrs. [Gabriel] Piozzi, Brynbella [near Tremeirchion, Flintshire], and Denbigh, 1800-1804 and undated (5) (personal, invitations to dinner, etc.); Mr. and Mrs. [Gabriel] Piozzi and Miss Cecilia Thrale, undated (personal); [Mrs.] H[ester] L[ynch] Piozzi, Brynbella [near Tremeirchion, Flintshire], and Denbigh, [1790]-1809 and undated (18) (personal, legal and business affairs, comment on the war against the French (1799) the position in France (1804) and Bonaparte in Egypt (1809), an offer of a corrected copy of the writer's work entitled Retrospection [or a review of the most striking and important events, characters . . . which the last eighteen hundred years have presented ..., London, 1801], invitations to Brynbella to meet Lady Orkney's family, the bishop of St. Asaph and others, a loan of two volumes of the works of [l’] Abbi [?Guillaume Thomas Frangois] Raynal, local news ); John Planta, Fulnec, near Leeds, 1807 (an order for two spinning wheels, descriptions of two different kinds of Reels and of a music desk); Joseph Pocklington, Carlton House near Newark upon Trent, Nottinghamshire, 1778 (instructions as to 'House covering with Brown Paper'); Rob[er]t Preston, Liverpool, 1793 (financial matters); R. Parry Price, Bryn y pys, [1781x1782] (his inability to attend a meeting of the Order of Druids and his fear of being expelled from the order); and R[ ] Puleston, Camp near Morpeth, Northumberland, and Glan y Môr, Bangor, Carnarvonshire, 1796-1812 (2) (the vacancy in the [parliamentary representation] of the county of Flint caused by the death of Sir Roger Mostyn and the writer's hopes of Lloyd's support in connection therewith (1796), a request for assistance in tracing the pedigree of the Puleston family from 1622 onwards on the occasion of the grant of a baronetcy to the writer (1812)).

Letters to the Reverend John Conway Potter (later John Conway Conway),

Twenty-two holograph letters, 1788-[1831] and undated, addressed to the above as the Reverend John Conway Potter and the Reverend John Conway Conway at Soughton, Northop, etc. [the surname Conway having been adopted in lieu of Potter circa 1825. See NLW MS. 12435E section (b)]. The writers include [Lewis Bagot], bishop of St. Asaph, and Mrs. Bagot, St. Asaph, 1797 (personal) (in third person), [the Reverend] L[uke] Booker, vicar of Dudley, 1825 (enclosing a poem entitled 'Votive Lines . . . on contemplating the Tomb of . . . Bishop [Richard] Hurd [bishop successively of Lichfield and Coventry, 1775-1781, and of Worcester, 1781-1808] in Hartlebury Church Yard') (in third person), T[homas] H[ugh] Clough, Hope, 1826 (the refusal of the writer's uncle Griffith to sign a conveyance of Cemmaes in favour of the writer), Will[ia]m Eccles, Manchester, 1822 (2) (legal matters), R. Howard, Cefn [1831] (advice concerning a wood, a road being constructed ?near Wygfair mansion), L. Hughes, Bronwhilfa, 1788 (a note to accompany a copy of the will of John Lloyd of Hafodunos, deceased), Rich[ard] Humphreys, Rose Hill, 1826 (payment of recipient's quota in respect of the Rhuddlan marsh embankment), G. W. Kenrick, Woor Hall, 1801 (condolences on the death of Mrs. Lloyd [? Dorothea, wife of Howel Lloyd of Hafodunos]), David Pennant, Downing [co. Flint], undated (2) (a request to recipient to go to Flint as a justice to examine Hugh Roberts, a rumour that the Halkin and other miners planned to liberate a prisoner from Flint gaol by force), Tho[mas] Pennant, Downing and Hanover Square [London], 1790-1792 (4) (roads in ?recipient's neighbourhood), Sarah Potter, Lowestoft, 1799-1803 (3) (family news especially the state of her father's health, mention of Napoleon), Mr. Roberts, Mold, 1826 (legal matters) (in third person), F. Roberts, Ty mawr, 1796 (legal matters), Mr. [ ] Stodart, St. Asaph [1816] (the purchase by Mr. [Henry] Foss at the sale [of the library of John Lloyd, deceased] held at Wygfair, of The Life of King Arthur for £320 [see the annotated sale catalogue in NLW MS 12500B], the sale of the 'Manuscripts for ab.t £50 principally purchased for Col. Vaughan') (in third person), and R. Waring, Leeswood [17]92 (the engaging of a gardener).