Showing 1919 results

Arranged into papers relating to lawsuits, 1548-1883; miscellaneous legal papers, 1613-1811; and papers relating to pleas of debt in the county courts of Montgomeryshire and Merioneth, 1827-1830.

The deeds and related documents appear to fall naturally into three main groups. Firstly there are the deeds and financial papers for land purchases in Montgomeryshire by Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, which were found as a physically discrete group in the archive, 1582-1853; secondly there are deeds relating to various property purchases and exchanges made by the Wynnstay estate in Caernarfonshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merioneth, Montgomeryshire and Salop, [1782]-1945; and thirdly, conveyances, particulars, conditions of sale, abstracts of title, etc. recording extensive land sales by the Wynnstay estate, [1771]x1938.

Loose letters and other associated papers, 1777-1948; and 15 volumes containing outgoing letters from the office of Longueville and Co. relating to the Wynnstay estate which was one of their major clients, 1928-1957. Many of the letters concern purchases, sales and exchanges of land in Denbighshire, Montgomeryshire, Merioneth and Salop, and they incidentally provide a record of contemporary conveyancing practices. Other recurrent topics include the Williams Wynn family settlements and trusts; the development of the railways; mining and mineral rights; fee farm rents and chief rents. The letter books provide a record of the Wynnstay estate in financial decline during the first half of the twentieth century, referring to the sales of land for housing development and the provision of local amenities. They also show how life on the estate was affected by defence regulations, requisitioning and evacuation during the Second World War.

Papers deriving from elections in Denbighshire, 1868, and in Montgomeryshire, Merioneth and miscellanous counties, 1813-1877. The papers from the Denbighshire election of 1868 include two good series of poll books and clerks’ check books, and a substantial file of vouchers, bills and correspondence, 1868-1869. The Montgomeryshire section contains papers from lawsuit of 1863 relating to the parliamentary election of 1862; and an electoral register of 1877.

Papers deriving from official administrative procedures, local government and justice at county level, in Montgomeryshire, 1605-1727, 1847; in Denbighshire, [1424], 1529-1851, 1906; and in Merioneth, Anglesey and Caernarfonshire, North Wales (misc.) and Shropshire, 1523-1797. They typically include appointments and duties of county officials, commissions of militia officers, election papers, taxation and subsidy records, town and borough records, and other papers routinely issued at the Quarter Sessions.

Records of the Much Wenlock estate in Shropshire, comprising title deeds, 1291, 1321, 1536-1860; manorial records, 1614-1677, 1770-1857; and estate, legal and official administration papers, 1534x[1860].

Nos 124-237 also comprise letters from Catherine L. Vaughan to J. Glyn Davies.

Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

Arranged by writer's name.

Arranged by writer's name.

The growth of the Wynnstay estate through marriage and purchase of land was a complicated and protracted one. This growth is reflected in the estate rentals, listed and analysed in this catalogue. The rentals are preserved in an almost unbroken series from the time of Sir William Williams. Furthermore, rentals of many smaller estates, constituent parts of the later Wynnstay estate, go back well beyond the date at which they joined Wynnstay, into the 17th and even the 16th century. By 1808, the Wynnstay estate was more or less fully grown. In 1808-9 there was a reorganisation of the administration of the estate. A by-product of the reorganisation was the binding, or perhaps in some cases the re-binding, of all rentals up to 1809. All these rentals, now R1 to R63 were bound uniformly (they vary of course in size) in calf with two lettering pieces, one red and one black. The earliest rentals were gathered together in six volumes titled 'Old Miscellaneous Rentals'. Other series follow, leading into the long series of rentals of the Wynnstay estate proper titled 'W. W. W. Rentals'. Exceptions to the uniform 1809 binding, very likely because they were not found at the time, are R7 which has an old calf binding and R19 and 20, bound to the same pattern as the 1809 binding but with use of different tools which appear also on the binding of R64, the rental for 1810. R64 is otherwise also of the same pattern as the 1809 bindings. The rentals for 1811-42 are bound to be a different pattern, with a single red lettering piece. The volumes for 1811-14 are each slightly different and were probably bound annually. Those for 1815-42 appear uniform in all respects and were probably all bound in or soon after 1842. R68 is extra- series and bound in rough calf. A third pattern of binding, again with a single red lettering piece, appears from 1843 onwards. Slight variations in tooling and lettering show that from 1843 rentals were bound in small batches, the longest run being of twelve years. From 1881 the red lettering piece disappears through otherwise the pattern remains the same. Towards the end of this period, in the 1870s and 1880s it looks as though the rentals were bound as blank books, before use. A word more is needed about the make-up of the rentals in so far as it is determined by the manner of administering the estate. Because of its size and far-flung character, the collection of rents (and to some extent disbursement) was in the hands of several agents. Each agent produced his own accounts, commonly in a single-quire book. The Wynnstay rental for any given year is made up of these separate books, varying in size, bound together in one volume. To facilitate reference to the separate books, representing the constituent estates or collections of the Wynnstay estate, they have been numbered within each volume. Thus, for example, R28/6 refers to the 1745 rental for the Llwydiarth estate: it is the 6th book in the volume designated R28, the Wynnstay estate rental for 1745. When it appeared to be helpful, letters a, b, c, etc., have been used to indicate divisions within a book within a rental. Hence the references of the type R113/3f. Many of the agents' and collectors' books comprised in the rentals include accounts of disbursements. Where, as is usually the case, these are merely allowances to tenants or for repairs to property, the list ignores their presence. Occasionally there are special accounts, e.g., for election expenses. The latter type is indicated in the analytical list. Also listed are a few 'non-Wynnstay' rentals, that is to say, rentals of property which never belonged to Wynnstay. Some are bound up with the Wynnstay rentals, e.g., those for Gwydir estate, see p. 54; the remainder are gathered together at RA 30-40. The reasons for the presence of these rentals are sometime obvious, and noted. Apart from rentals, this volume of the schedule lists the surviving estate account books and vouchers. The surviving series mostly originate in the 1860s, marking the adoption of new method in the estate office. Excluded from this volume are account books and vouchers not relating to the estate. In listing the rentals, the year given for a rental is, unless otherwise indicated, the year in which the last day of the rent year falls, e.g., a rental for Lady Day 1801 to Lady Day 1802 will be represented in the list as 1802. The following abbreviations are used: p. and p's - parish or parishes of; t. and t's - township or township of; M. - Michaelmas; L.D. - Lady Day.

Arranged chronologically.