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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 facsimile manuscript in two parts mostly in the hand of William Watkin Edward Wynne. The first part comprises copies (some printed) of charters, public records, deeds, pedigrees, poetry, etc. of Merionethshire and Caernarvonshire interest, some of which are taken from transcripts made by Robert Vaughan, Hengwrt. The material includes records and pedigrees relating to the Wynn family of Peniarth; notes on the Maurice and Owen families of Clenennau, Penmorfa, Caernarvonshire, with related deeds possibly in the hand of William Maurice of Llansilin; deeds relating to the Porkington estate; an extent of the commote of Eifionydd, 1352; an extract from the Coroner's Rolls for Merionethshire, 1345; charters of Castell y Bere and Harlech Castle; pedigrees of Madog ap Dafydd of Hendwr, Llandrillo, Merionethshire; an ode to Einion ap Gruffydd of Corsygedol by Gruffudd Gryg; odes to Dafydd ab Ieuan ab Einion by Guto'r Glyn and Dafydd Nanmor; letters addressed to W. W. E. Wynne, the correspondents including Walter Davies ('Gwallter Mechain'); etc. The second part is also mostly in the hand of W. W. E. Wynne and again comprises material mainly of Merionethshire and Caernarvonshire interest, including pedigrees, correspondence, deeds, etc. relating to the Porkington estate and to the Maurice family and to the Wynne family of Glyn and Ystumcegid, Caernarvonshire; poetry relating to members of the Wynn family of Glyn by Huw Machno, Rhisiart Cynwal and others (one elegy translated into English); press cuttings taken from the Cambrian News, 1879; letters addressed to W. W. E. Wynne, the correspondents including Walter Davies ('Gwallter Mechain') and Joseph Morris; etc.

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.