File 973C. - Miscellaneous papers,

Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Bertie (1812-1895) was born at Uffington House, Lincolnshire, on 19 May 1812, the daughter of Albermarle Bertie, 9th earl of Lindsey, and his wife Charlotte Susanna Elizabeth. In 1833 she married the Dowlais ironmaster Josiah John Guest (1785-1852), MP for Merthyr Tydfil. They had ten children. In 1846 the Guests purchased Canford Manor in Dorset.
Already an accomplished linguist, at Dowlais she studied Welsh and went on to translate into English the eleven Middle Welsh tales from the Red Book of Hergest collectively known (by her) as the Mabinogion. These were published in seven parts from 1838 to 1849 and collected as The Mabinogion, from the Llyfr Coch o Hergest, and other ancient Welsh Manuscripts…, 3 vols (London and Llandovery, 1849).
Following her husband's death in 1852 Lady Charlotte took on the running of the Dowlais ironworks, until April 1855 when she married her eldest son's tutor Charles Schreiber (1826-1884), a classicist and later a Tory MP. They spent much of their time travelling and collecting English and European china. She also collected fans and playing cards; in her last years, following Charles's death, she published five volumes describing and reproducing these collections.
Lady Charlotte Schreiber died 15 January 1895 at Canford Manor and was buried at Canford Church.

Thomas Edward (Tom) Ellis (1859-1899), politician, was Liberal MP for Merioneth, 1886-1899, and chief Liberal whip, 1894-1895. He was born at Cynlas, Cefnddwysarn, Llanfor, Merionethshire, and educated in Llandderfel and Bala, before going to University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1875-1879. He joined New College, Oxford, in 1880, graduating in 1884 with a BA in Modern History, adding an MA in 1897. He became the private secretary of John Brunner, MP for Northwich, Cheshire, and in August 1886 he was elected as Liberal MP for Merioneth. By 1892, he was second whip in Gladstone's Liberal Government, and was chief Liberal whip, 1894-1895, under Lord Rosebery. He vigorously promoted Welsh interests in Parliament, advocating the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales, the creation of a Welsh assembly and national library, and pushing through the establishment of a Royal Commission on land in Wales and Monmouthshire. At one time he was a prominent member of the Cymru Fydd movement. He had a great influence on educational administration in Wales. He contributed to the passing of the Welsh Intermediate and Technical Education Act 1889, and was a member the University of Wales Court and the Central Welsh Board. He was the founder of the University of Wales' Old Students' Association. He married Annie Jane Davies (1873-1942) of Cwrt-mawr, Llangeitho, Cardiganshire, in 1898. However, his health was fragile, and he died on 5 April 1899, while in Cannes, France, and was buried at Cefnddwysarn. His only son, T. I. Ellis, was born eight months later. A volume entitled Speeches and Addresses was published by Hughes and Son, Wrexham, in 1912. His widow subsequently married the Rev. Peter Hughes Griffiths (1871-1937).