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Original and copied Civil War and Commonwealth papers which show the effects of major national events at county level. These include accounts of maintaining military troops and of war contributions in Ardudwy, [1644x1650?]; a royal pass for an army officer going to Ireland, 1645; an agreement for the surrender of Oxford, 1646; and a report of the Sub-Committee of the Commonwealth, 1654. Other subjects of interest are Sir John Owen 's governorship of Conwy Castle, notably his dispute with Archbishop John Williams and conditions stipulated for surrender of the fortress, [1645-1646]; the treatment of Royalists at castles in North Wales; the quartering of troops in Merionethshire; the sequestered lands of Sir John Owen in Caernarfonshire, the affected estate of William Owen and a demand of £1200 on the estate of the latter 's wife, Catherine Anwyl, 1646-1660; and information against Sir John Carter in respect of his political and religious activities [c. 1659].

Letters exchanged between members of the Maurice and Owen families of Clenennau and Brogyntyn, and other correspondence from friends or associates in Wales and England, together with a number of important official documents deriving from county administration in Caernarfonshire during the Tudor and Stuart periods, 1485, 1573-1698. Many of the early letters and papers, 1580-1622, relate to the joint deputy lieutenancy in Caernarfonshire of Sir William Maurice and Sir John Wynn, showing their preoccupation with the raising and organisation of militia troops for the defence of Caernarfonshire and for despatch to Ireland. Other topics include Sir William Maurice's position as deputy vice-admiral of North Wales and the protracted civil lawsuits in which he was engaged. The collection also constitutes an important historical source for the conduct of the Civil War in North Wales. Items from that period primarily concern Sir John Owen and his brother, Col. William Owen, Royalist commanders at Conwy and Harlech respectively, and their subsequent treatment under the Commonwealth and Restoration, 1643-1666. Many of the letters from 1678 to 1698 reveal the life of Sir Robert Owen, his debts, estate business, cultural interests and attachment to the Jacobite cause, together with contemporary political news. Apart from individuals already mentioned, prominent correspondents include the Privy Council of Elizabeth I, mostly through Henry Herbert, President of the Council in the Marches of Wales, 1587-1600; Sir Henry Johnes of Abermarlais, 1605-1616; Ralph, Lord Eure, 1607-1617; members of the Brynker family, 1603-1681; the Wynn family of Glyn and Sylfaen, 1625-1697; the Anwyl family of Park, 1636-1693; Charles I, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice, 1642-1647; Lord Byron, 1644-1648; John Williams, Archbishop of York, 1645-1646; George Twisleton, 1649-1660; the Godolphin family of Abertanat, 1658-1698; John Gadbury, 1679-1688; and Edward Lhuyd, 1696-1697.

A volume containing a late-eighteenth century copy of 'A Short Account of the Rebellion in North & South Wales in Oliver Cromwell's Time copy'd from a Manuscript', recording events in Wales during the English Civil War from its commencement in 1642 to the execution of Charles I in 1649 and through the Commonwealth Period until 1656 (ff. 1-13 verso, 22-30; ff. 12 verso-13 verso and f. 28 are in Welsh).
The author gives a non-partisan account of the conflict, although sometimes referring to the excesses of the Parliamentary forces; his statement on f. 1 verso that he was a resident of Llanfachreth and Dolgellau, Merionethshire, suggests an identification with Robert Vaughan (1592?-1666) of Hengwrt. The volume also includes a short chronology of events in England, Scotland, Ireland, and abroad, 1600-1653 (ff. 14-19); the names of the principal officers and the numbers from other ranks taken and killed at the Battle of Nantwich, 25 January 1643 (f. 19 verso); 'The Humble Petition of many Thousands in ye Counties of Northwales', concerning the ejection of ministers from their churches and the sequestering of tithes by the Act made 22 February 1649 for propagating the gospel in Wales (f. 20); memoranda and copies of documents relating to the parliamentary elections for Merionethshire, 1654 and 1658, including a letter, 30 September 1654, from Simon Thelwall, Plas-y-Ward, and Humphrey Jones, Plas-yn-ddôl, to the friends of John Vaughan, Cefnbodig, Penllyn, one of the candidates, and a letter, 23 December 1658, from Howel Vaughan, Glan-y-llyn, and others to Lewis Owen, Peniarth, expressing their opinion that the latter would be a fit person to serve as member for the county at the next Parliament (ff. 20 verso-21 verso); and an account of an apparition of a battle seen in 1656 by eight eyewitnesses at Tre'r-go between Newborough and Aberffraw, Anglesey (ff. 29 verso-30).