Sub-sub-fonds E - Estate letters

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.