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Letters to [Col. William Owen?], [16]66, Sydney Godolphin, 1700-1728, Margaret Godolphin, 1717-1759, Arthur and William Owen, 1739, 1754, Mary Owen, 1776-1783, John Owen of Penrhos, 1789-1814, Owen Ormsby, 1794, and William Ormsby-Gore, 1842-1859, from tenants, solicitors and the agents of the Abertanat, Cemais and Penrhos estates, accompanied by occasional replies and relevant letters from third parties. The subject matter comprises mostly routine estate business, such as rent collection, leasing of properties, chief rents, taxes, tithes, submission of accounts, family and local news, problems encountered by agents and tenants, enclosures and encroachments on common land, particularly in Deuddwr and Broniarth, sale of crops and livestock, a sitting place in Llanymynech church, 1759, exploitation of timber and property repairs. Items of interest include fishing rights in Broniarth Pool, 1725-1728; Margaret Godolphin's intention to divert the River Tanat and a mill stream, 1733, 1737; the manorial courts of Cyfeiliog, 1754; consultation of the 1655 sessions rolls at Powis Castle in connection with property of John Owen at Broniarth, 1796; disputes over a sheepwalk on the Cemais estate of John Owen, 1806-1813; subscriptions to a new road from Meifod, 1807; and proposals for a railway near the Cemais estate, 1859. Some letters contain integral accounts.

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.

Private letters of the families of Maurice, Owen and Ormsby-Gore of Clenennau and Brogyntyn, 1587-1950, the Godolphin family of Abertanat, 1698-1764 and other individuals who were connected with them by marriage, friendship or official business, 1582-1933, frequently accompanied by copies, drafts or originals of outgoing correspondence and relevant letters from third parties. The range of subjects includes personal and social matters; local government; political news; contemporary national and local events; lawsuits; questions of title and inheritance; trusts; debts, mortgages and other financial matters; family history; the education and careers of individuals; property purchases and estate business in North Wales, Shropshire and Ireland, where this is inseparable from other topics.

Mainly abstracts of title, 1676-1700, a pedigree, drafts and copies of settlements and mortgages dated 1684-1733, counsels' opinions, notes and correspondence concerning the partition and descent of the Abertanat estate of Sydney Godolphin of Tanyllwyn and Susanna, his wife, in Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire, 1732-1750. There is also a case on the will of Margaret Godolphin with abstracts, [1774x1784]. The points in question include redemption of the mortgages, management of the estate, Margaret Godolphin' s title and the inheritance of a portion of Abertanat by her niece, Mary Owen. Correspondents include Sir John and Ann Evelyn, and members of the Godolphin family, 1733-1735. The papers also include a copy of the will of Ellen Godolphin, 1754, and opinions on her will and that of her nephew, Robert Hoblyn, 1766-1767; an abstract of title of Francis, Lord Godolphin, to the manor of Abertanat and other lands inherited from his aunt, Margaret Godolphin, 1714-1767, and cases and opinions on his will, 1784-1785.