Griffith LlewellynAge: 551767–1822
- Name
- Griffith Llewellyn
- Given names
- Griffith
- Surname
- Llewellyn
Birth | 1767 |
Birth of a sister | 1772 (Age 5) Margam, Glamorgan, Wales
younger sister -
Desima Llewellyn
|
Occupation | Solicitor; Coroner; Deputy Lieutenant of Glamorgan
Source:
Research by Glyn Davies - Chatham, Kent
Publication: Various e-mails, GEDCOM Files & Register, Descendency, and other Reports produced by Glyn from Mar 2003 onwards.
Citation details: E-mail & attachment from Glyn 6 Feb 2011
Note:
As a Solicitor, Griffith Llewellyn appears to have been noted for unscrupulous dealings. One episode…
As a Solicitor, Griffith Llewellyn appears to have been noted for unscrupulous dealings. One episode in particular is well documented. Expand this note to read the details, provided by Glyn Davies:
If credence can be given to the writings of Owen Morgan, at no great credit to himself, Griffith
augmented his estate by scurrilous means in the acquisition of Bwlch-y-Clawdd otherwise known
as Parc Isaf and Ystrad Wen. A transcription of the alleged affair is as follows: -
THE SAD FATE OF WILLIAM -DAVYDD. PARC ISAV.
A TRAGEDY: A SQUIRE AND HIS VICTIMS. TWELVE YEARS A PRISONER IN THE
FLEET, ETC.
In 1752, David Hopkin was the owner of Parc Isav Farm, and the great mountain known as Bwlchy-
Clawdd, situate between the farmhouse, and the top of Ogmore Valley. The family had
possessed the property from remote antiquity. The little Western Glen in which it is situate, due
West from Aberorchwy (Treorky), was anciently called Ystrad Vechan, or Lesser Ystrad, and the
Farm-house at the top of it, Parc Isav, or Lower Parc, there being another house of the some name
round the angle above on the right.
David Hopkin and Janet, his wife, had. the following sons. and daughters: Thomas, Evan and
Morgan. Daughters: Gwenllian, Alice and Janet.
Thomas had in the lifetime of his parents, a son by one Catherine Thomas. He was named Howell,
and was reared with the family at Parc Isav, from which he married Mary Ann John, on May 1st
1762. He became a great favourite with his, grandparents, but as seems from later circumstances, an
object of jealousy to Gwenllian after she married and had a son and daughter of her own.
In David Hopkin's will, dated 1752, he places Howell. in the position of fourth in succession under
the entail male to the landed estate, thus giving him the statue of a fourth son of his own, the others
being Thomas, Evan and Morgan. In the same year, David Hopkin died, and was buried near
Ystrad-Dyvodwg Parish Church. Evan and Morgan died soon after, both unmarried. The widow,
their mother, continued to reside at Parc Isav, in possession by the courtesy of the law. She was
alive in 1770, when Thomas married one Margaret Butler, Llandyvodwg.
Gwenllian had married William David, and both were tenants of Coed y Meirig Farm, above
Merthyr Tydvil. They had two children, William and Janet. Her husband died. Some time after,
Gwenllian married one David Richard.
Alice was married, and with her husband and family occupied Ynisbeio Farm. Janet lived unmarried
with her mother at Parc Isav. Howell occupied Tylecoch, Yniswen and Nant Ddyrus farms; the
two last named till his death in 1821. Thomas, on his marriage with Peggy Buttler, rented Canar
Mawr Farm above Pencoed. Not having enough ready cash to stock his rented farm, he applied to
"Rhys, Court Coleman", a Bridgend solicitor, for a loan. He obtained £200 from him, on the
security of his succession to the landed estate on the demise of his mother. But, almost immediately
after his marriage, the malady, which had proved fatal to his two brothers, Evan and Morgan,
consumption, attacked him, and he was soon known to be slowly dying.
" Rhys, Court Coleman " was now naturally enough, anxious about his £200. Of course he could
have distrained upon the farm stock of Thomas, but this would have been very sad business in the
face of Thomas's mortal illness. Mr. Rhys knew perfectly well that the next in the succession to
the freeholds was Howell; and Howell had in no way been asked to join his father in giving security
to Mr. Rhys for the £200. There appears to have been a deliberate conspiracy on the part of
members of his family, concocted by Gwenllian, to conceal from Howell's knowledge that he was
the next survivor after his father, Thomas, to whom the estate descended under the will of 1752.
Mr. Rhys appears to have discovered this. The first stroke, with a view to cheat Howell, was
Gwenllian and her second husband, under some excuse sending her two children to live with their
grandmother and Jane, at Parc Isav. The grandmother died, but Jane continued to live at Parc Isav
as tenant under Peggy Buttler, Thomas having died in April, 1774. It does not appear that Janet
had the slightest suspicion as to Gwenllian and David Richard's motive in placing her little son and
daughter at Parc Isav Mr. Rhys, Court Coleman, had informed them of a plan to transfer the
succession from Howell to William, Gwenllian's only son. To be effectual that which had to he
done had to be accomplished in Thomas's lifetime, and he was in the last stage of the malady. What
Mr. Rhys proposed, .was to take proceedings to bar the entail created by the will of 1752 executed
in Howell's favour. The process is called Fine and Recovery. Notice of this to be done had at once
to be filed at the next Brecon Assizes, in March, 1774. This notice was practically given by David
Richard, and Mr. Rhys acted as his attorney in the case.
They appeared in April, 1774, at the Glamorgan Assizes, held in the town of Cowbridge, and there
suffered the Fine and Recovery. Instantly afterwards they went at full gallop to Canar Mawr,
where the dying man lay; got him and Peggy to ratify the document by their signatures, and then
executed Thomas's last WilI and Testament, in which Howell's name is not at all mentioned. The
writer has had in his hands at the Record Office, Fetter Lane, London, the document signed by
Thomas and Peggy relating to the barring of the entail. Thomas's signature is like a very faint " H."
(" His Mark "), indicative of his extreme weakness at the time. Peggy's signature is a bold heavy
cross.
We find by the Church Register and his Will, that Thomas died that night or on the morrow. There
is one saving thing in the nefarious transaction, namely, the conspirators were too hurried by the
aspect of Thomas's dying condition, to prepare and execute a Declaration of Uses without which a
Fine and Recovery is of no effect to bar an entail: therefore the entail of David Hopkin, in 1752 in
favour of Howell is still in force. This was discovered by Mr. Griffyth Llywelin, Baglan Hall, as
will be shown further on.
Howell continued to enjoy a busy life on his neighbouring farms, never dreaming of the roguish
practices around him. No doubt he was one of the mourners at his father's funeral, and wept over
his coffin. But there were others whose consciences were uneasy: they knew they were thieves,
and had taken undue advantage of the circumstances of the dying Thomas to rob his son, Howell.
Thomas had no issue by Peggy. Howell never knew to the last moment of his life, the above story,
but old people have told the writer he often said, he would but for his illegitimacy, have been the
heir to Parc Isav and Bwlch y Clawdd: but he never knew the conditions of his grandfather's will of
1752, which made him heir, notwithstanding the bar sinister.
In 1784 Janet David Hopkin died. In her Will she bequeaths everything, " Chattels moveable and
immoveable," to Howell, whom she describes as "the beloved son of my brother Thomas."
William, Gwenllian's son, took possession of the freeholds, and married his late aunt's servant girl.
Sometime after this, Mr. Rhys, Court Coleman, took action against William, for the recovery, of the
£200. William obtained the money under the security of a Promissory Note, of Mr. Walter
Edwards, Ty Newydd Farm, Treherbert. In 1806 Mr. Walter Edwards died, and in his Will left
£200 to his son, Mr. William Edwards, Bedwhir, Aberdare, a solicitor.
In 1807 he called in the money. Whether there was a rumour in the country that there was
something defective in William's title has not transpired. It seems highly probable there was and
that Mr. Rhys, after he had obtained his £200, let out hints to that effect. Perhaps, too, his
conscience troubled him respecting the wrong he had entailed upon Howell, who, with a large family
was struggling along. But what is positively known is, that William could not find anyone to
advance the £200 to enable him to repay Mr. Edwards. Another significant fact is, that Mr.
Edwards did not foreclose the freeholds held by William. lnstead of that he more than once took all
William's sheep, cattle, horses, etc., and had them sent to the Pound at Court Leet, near the present
Pandy Hotel. But in every instance he had them driven back to Parc Isaf fields. The next thing to
happen was, Mr. Edwards requesting William to sell the freeholds to him.
Things were in this state in August 1807. The trouble at Parc Isav was the theme in every mouth in
the Valleys. But no one came to poor William's assistance.
We now come to the circumstances of William's ruin, his long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison;
bottom of Fleet Street, London, and his burial there in the year 1820. - Eighteen months later, his
cruel persecutor died too, in the midst of his wealth and luxuries near Aberavon.
SCENE FIRST: - CARDIFF ARMS PARLOUR, CARDIFF.
TWO SOLICITORS MEETING.
Their names are, Mr. Gruffyth Llywelin, Baglan Hall, and Mr. William Edwards, Bedwhir. Both
look upon William Davydd, Parc Isav, in his trouble as a ready prey for vultures; and the only thing
troubling them is which of them two shall have the felicity of swallowing his farms. All his
indebtedness is only £200, but that only makes the case more interesting to them.
Mr. G, Llywelin to W. Edwards: "You have had a lot of bother with William David".
Mr. William Edwards (closing one eye and looking significantly at his brother in the law); "Yes, I
have; but I think I have at last got him willing to sell the lot to me".
It may be mentioned here that it was the smallness of the sum and great value of the freeholds held
by William David, were the obstacles in the way of Mr. William Edwards, and that his annoyance,
taking away the sheep, cattle, etc., were to worry and force William David to sell to him.
After Mr. G. Llywelin had wormed out of Mr. William Edwards all about the affair he wanted to
know, he enquired of Mr. Edwards, was he going up that afternoon to Ystrad-Dyvodwg?
"Yes, I am," was the answer
Said Mr. G. Llywelin: I am coming too, but I have a little business to transact in the town first.
Will you wait, that we may go up together?
"Yes, I will," replied Mr. William Edwards.
Now the Rev. Evan Prichard was Vicar of Llandaff, and was married to Mr. G. Llywelin's sister.
As quickly as possible he rode to Llandaff requested the Vicar to mount a horse and ride with him
to Pentre, Ystrad-Dyfodwg. The Vicar's father, Mr. Evan' Prichard, Collena, Tonyrefail had
borrowed a considerable sum of money of Mr. G. Llywelin, to enable him to convert Tonyrefail
into a place of various industries besides farming. It is plain that Mr. G. Llywelin was a man of
much vigour, both mentally and physically, therefore, fond of having his own way. On the other
hand, the Prichard's were honour personified, and they were amiable to a fault. Moreover, they
were most deeply religious in their convictions and their lives. The two started on horseback from
Llandaff. It was August 8th, 1807.
SECOND SCENE.
Parc Isav Farmhouse standing alone at the foot of one lofty mountain, and having one equally lofty
on either flank. The house even then was most venerable in appearance, and no doubt hundreds of
summers and winters had visited it in divers moods. Near it flowed from the lonely majestic and
silent mountains, the clearest waters that come forth from these filter beds of God. In the angle
above the house was a fine orchard of apples, pears and other fruits, which, owing to the shelter
theft from blighting winds, grew to perfection.
Adjoining the house were outbuildings for the cows, and there in, former days Gwen, Alice, and
Janet might, while milking the generous kine, be heard warbling ancient Kimmerian airs wedded to
rural ballads. There in the interior directly opposite the entrance was a door, then a long dairy, with
two windows opening into the blooming garden. The tables in the dairy were large stone flags, cut
into shape by some forefathers of the house, from some mountain quarry not far off. But at the
time we are dealing with, all of the former generations had passed away o'er that bourne from which
no traveller returns, as far as we know.
On this particular day, William David was engaged in doing something near a hedge in a sloping
green field just above the house. Jane, his daughter, now repeats what she beheld. She often
repeated the story when upwards of 80 to the writer: " I was in the act," she said, "of feeding the
geese, just behind the house, when I saw a man coming up the Glen, on horseback. He saw my
father and he then dismounted, and opening a gate, he passed through into the field leading his horse
by the bridle up towards my father. I felt curious as to who he was and what he wanted. We had
gone through so much trouble because my father could not pay Mr. Edwards, that, in my anxiety
(gofid) I ran up on the opposite side of the hedge, and I listened to their conversation. I heard my
father calling the gentleman Gruffyth Llywelin, and he telling my father that William Edwards was
coming to take all he had, that the best thing for him to do was to pretend he bad already sold the
lands to him- (Gruffyth Llywelin). I heard my father repeatedly saying to his visitor that he could
not believe Mr. William Edwards would behave in that cruel manner."
"But," said Mr. Llywelin, "see what has he not done already: belittling you in the eyes of all the
parishioners." The end of the quarrel - for so Jane regarded it - was, that my father went down the
field towards the road leading down from the Glen, with Mr. G. Llywelin who was walking and
leading his horse. I darted back into the house, said Jane, and told mother what I had overheard; and
that my father had gone down the road with Gruffyth Llywelin. My mother got excited, and told
me he too had been wanting to buy our lands. My mother said: The scamp is taking your father to
Pentre Farm. As soon as she dressed herself, away she went after them. In after life she mentioned
what took place. I, she said, hurried with great emotion down the great valley to Pentre porch.
They inside must have seen me coming, and when I entered, the passage, I met your father (to Jane)
coming out of the parlour. Gruffyth Llywelin called out after him, ' I will send a man to crop the
hedge below your house.' Mother (Mrs. David) replied, with an oath, 'you will do nothing of the
kind, Guito! On the way home my father told mother that what he had done was to protect himself
from William Edwards. He had placed his cross to a paper to that effect, and a clergyman had
witnessed it. That was all.
SCENE THIRD.
Six months after this, in the month of February, 1808, William David was at Llangynwyd on
business. He was arrested at the instance of Gruffyth Llywelin, under the Writ called Capias ad
respondenum, and was lodged in Cardiff Gaol. He refused to plead, or answer at all. The plea
against him was that he had contracted a promise to Mr. Gruffyth Llywelin, witnessed by the Rev.
Evan Prichard, Vicar of Llandaff, to sell in six months from August 8th, 1807, both Parc Isav and
Bwlch y Clwdd, for a thousand pounds. To his friends William David declared he had been tricked
into signing the promise, and that he would rather die than ratify what he had been induced by
trickery to sign.
SCENE FOURTH.
Between 1808 and 1812 Mr. Gruffyth Llywelin appears to have discovered that the defendant
William David, was not after all, the real owner of Parc Isav and Bwlch y Clawdd, but Howell
Thomas David Hopkin. Howell, in 1812, was 80 years old - he lived nine years longer. One day he
was by the footbridge over the river opposite Yniswen, just above Treorchy, when Gruffyth
Llywelin suddenly accosted him. The conversation, as Howell said afterwards, was "about William,
his cousin".
The evident object of Gruffyth Llywelin was to get Howell also into his toils. The author
discovered in the Record Office what Gruffyth Llywelin was engaged upon at this very time. He
was preparing a Bill of Complaint, which the writer has read, against William David. By the bridge
he promised Howell £100 "for signing a bit of paper". As already stated, Howell had it fixed in his
mind that he could not be the heir of his father, because, unfortunately, he was born out of wedlock.
Howell was tempted by the offer of £100 promise dangled before him. He consented, and agreed to
accompany Gruffyth Llewelin to Pentre. He wanted to go to. Yniswen, close at hand, to tell his
wife and daughters where he was going. No, the tempter was not willing; he, as in the case of
William David, was afraid of the keenness of a woman's wit. Howell signed his name; the Rev.
Evan Pritchard witnessed that document also. William had already been about four years in Cardiff
prison. Immediately after Howell "signed---an act which greatly annoyed William's family, who
were in the dark as to the meaning of the act - Gruffyth Llywelin, the miserable man, stated in his
Bill of Complaints (1812) that William David, the defendant, had promised to sell the said lands to
him for a £1,000, and that "Howell Thomas, otherwise David, had, as security against the entail
created by the Will of David Hopkin in 1752, joined in the sale by William David, the said Howell
to receive £100 out of the purchase money. Those are his very words in his Bill of Complaint filed
in 1812. William David made no answer, being too poor, and uneducated to be able to do so. The
Judge committed him to the Fleet, for contempt of Court, refusing, the legal form is, to answer a Bill
in a cause. The author has traced in the Books of Record the subsequent life of William David.
He never left the Fleet Prison alive. In 1820, he was still lingering there, often dreaming of his wife
and children in the lonely Glen in Ystrad Dyvodwg. Now and then, in succeeding terms, Gruffyth
Llywelin would have William David brought before the Judge, to "answer", but the result was
always the same, namely, recommittal because be refused to "sign" to complete the sale of Parc Isav
and Bwlch-y-Clawdd to plaintiff, Gruffyth Llywelin.
The plaintiff appears to have diligently watched the varying condition of his victim's health. This
to him was important, for his victim might die, and then the "bargain" might become forfeited.
Thus, with unrelenting greed and callousness, he watched lest the victim underneath his cruel paw,
might disappear "to beyond the veil," to where the weary is at rest.
Late in 1820, news came that William David was ailing, and probably dying in the London prison.
Would he escape the talons of his educated enemy; a man versed in all the technicalities of the law?
Gruffyth Llywelin hurried up to London, and there be appealed, by counsel, to have the "promise"
of August 8th, 1807, completed by the hand of the Judge, instead of by that of William David
himself. This was what is called "specific performance" by a Judge in Equity, in the name of the
law. That was done. The taxing Master reported the cost of the action by Gruffyth Llywelin v.
William David was £800, the debt due to William Edwards, Bedwhir, was £200. Those sums
Gruffyth Llywelin was ordered to pay, and to retain his own costs in the case. Thus the £1,000 for
the two said farms, and the £100 promised to Howell Thomas, otherwise David, were swallowed
up.
William David was now apparently released by the law. He must have supposed he would now
very soon behold again his native mountains, after spending twelve years within prison walls, the
sad victim of a soulless and cruel sharper of the blackest dye. No, he would see the faces of his wife
and smart daughters never more. His sons were athletes, but what could they do! Their father was
in the grip of the law, set in motion by one who knew the technicalities, and who had sworn that
the victim was about to leave the country, to avoid carrying out his contract with him, and who
thereby had imprisoned under a "Ca Sa," warrant. The plaintiff's oath was a lie, but what cared he
for the responsibilities of perjury, which could not be proved in a court of law against him. Did he
think of a higher power when he invoked the Majesty of Heaven by the words, "So help me God".
Until some years ago, there were in Ystrad Dyvodwg, men living who knew friends who had visited
poor William David in Cardiff prison and afterwards in the Fleet, London, some few years before he
died there, in loneliness and sorrow. His two daughters, Jane and Ann, were limping little girls
when he had last beheld their comely, innocent faces. Visitors had lately informed him they were
now the beauties of the old Glen in far off Wales. How he longed to hear their voices and that of
their mother, about his dying bed. Alone he passed away, and his body was consigned to a grave
within his prison walls.
THE LAST SCENE AT PARC ISAV.
"We hardly ever received letters at Park Isav," said Jane to the author in her old age. "But one day a
letter came to my mother. It was bordered in black, the only one of the sort that had ever come to
our house. Something told me," she continued, "that the letter announced poor father's death. It
appears the letter came from Gruffyth Llywelin, to prepare us for what he was about to do; turn us
out into the road". Jane went on to says as follows: -"none of us could read or write, for there were
no schools in the parish then. I took the letter down the little vale to the great valley, and then to
Aber'orchwy. I there handed it to Mr. Edwards to read. After reading it silently, he said to me,
'Yes, my girl, your poor father is dead and gone! I had always hoped to see my poor father before
he died, but now I knew I should never see his dear face any more. I returned home along the road
running by the brook, crying dreadfully all the way. On reaching home and telling mother and the
elder children, my mother grew frantic, and wringing her hands and walking about, she cried
incessantly,
dear William will return no more!' It was a dreadful afternoon at Parc Isav.'
" A fortnight later," she went on to state, "Gruffyth Llywelin rode over Bwlch y Clawdd
Mountain, he called higher up the glen upon William Hopkin and got him to accompany him to our
house.
When they entered I was peeling potatoes by the kitchen window, and mother was knitting, by the
fire in the parlour. Suddenly William Hopkin caught my arms from behind. I was at the moment
tempted by the devil to drive my knife into the heart of the man who had killed my father. William
carried me outside and held me there. Presently my mother came out with Gruffyth Llywelin. Then
he placed a padlock on the door, and we were requested to 'go away'. We went to some friend's
house down the valley.
Eighteen months later, Gruffyth Llywelin himself was dead. Old people, said Jane, told me he
became insane, and that, in his fits of madness, he was crying out, 'William David, Howell Thomas.
"0! God, God, God", and that he died tragically in 1822".
Many years ago, the author visited Thomas Roberts, son-in-law of Howell Thomas. He had lived
in Merthyr Manor Lodge, under Sir John Nicholl, since about 1818. He was blind and very old, and
in bed. He told the writer he was living in one of his father-in-law's rented farms, called Yniswen,
above Treorki, at the time his father-in-law was induced to " sign" a paper on being promised £100
by Gruffyth Llywelin. "But," asked the writer, "did you not suspect by Gruffyth Llywelin's
action, Howell had some claim to the two farms, notwithstanding his illegitimacy?" " Yes," was the
answer," and I went to Llandaff to consult Howell's father's Will. But his name was not even
mentioned in it." "Had you," the author said, " consulted Howell's grandfather's Will you would
have found that Howell was the real owner, and not William, as far as Wills were concerned." The
old man lifted up both hands and said, "Here is at last clear what has puzzled me all my life".
It appears that while the excitement of the contest lasted, Gruffyth Llywelin was buoyed up by
artificial excitement, but when the grave closed over his victims - for Howell died in 1821 -
conscience awoke in the unhappy man, and made his wealth like the fires of Sodom to him.
The said Howell Thomas was the author's great-grandfather.
(Owen Morgan 1836 - 1921, journalist & writer) |
Baptism of a sister | 9 May 1772 (Age 5) St.Mary, Margam, Glamorgan, Wales
younger sister -
Desima Llewellyn
|
Birth of a brother | 7 November 1773 (Age 6) Brombil, Margam, Glamorgan, Wales
younger brother -
William Llewellyn J.P.
|
Marriage | Catherine Jones - View family 7 January 1794 (Age 27) St.Baglan, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
Source:
Parish Register - Baglan St. Baglan
Publication: Transcript 1999
Citation details: Booklet p.62 Text: Catherine of Baglan; Griffith of Swansea; by licence
|
Birth of a daughter #1 | 27 May 1795 (Age 28) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
daughter -
Catherine Llewellyn
|
Death of a mother | 1795 (Age 28)
mother -
Elizabeth Jenkins
|
Birth of a son #2 | 1796 (Age 29) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
son -
Thomas John Llewellyn
|
Death of a brother | 1797 (Age 30)
brother -
Hopkin "David?" Llewellyn
|
Appointment | Appointment as Steward of the Margam Estate July 1798 (Age 31) Margam, Glamorgan, Wales
Source:
Research by Glyn Davies - Chatham, Kent
Publication: Various e-mails, GEDCOM Files & Register, Descendency, and other Reports produced by Glyn from Mar 2003 onwards.
Citation details: E-mail and attachment from Glyn 6 Feb 2011 Text: After his father had relinquished the Margam Estate agency in 1798, and following the death of his older brother in 1797, Griffith was appointed in July 1798 as steward and keeper of the various manors. The salary for discharging these duties was fixed at £230 a year.
|
Birth of a daughter #3 | 26 January 1799 (Age 32) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
daughter -
Elizabeth Llewellyn
|
Birth of a son #4 | 7 January 1801 (Age 34) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
son -
Hopkin Llewellyn
|
Baptism of a son | 20 January 1801 (Age 34) St.Baglan, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
son -
Hopkin Llewellyn
|
Birth of a son #5 | 1802 (Age 35) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
son -
Griffith Llewellyn
|
Birth of a son #6 | 1806 (Age 39) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
son -
William Llewellyn
|
Death of a father | 18 April 1811 (Age 44)
father -
Hopkin Llewellyn
|
Will | 13 December 1821 (Age 54) Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
Source:
Research by Beth Edwards
Citation details: Will of Griffith Llewellyn Text: Summary of the very long and complicated Will, which I have not yet had the time to fully transcribe:
1. He establishes a Trust which is to cover all his apparently substantial 'freehold messuages, farm lands, tenements and hereditaments' in Glamorgan and elsewhere, but excluding those properties already subject to existing Trusts and mortgages, and he appoints two trustees to handle it - Rev. William.B.Knight, of Margam and Thomas Ffranklin of Baglan. 2. That trust is to provide income for the use of: a. His brother William LLEWELLYN, Surgeon, of Margam and brother-in-law Rev. Richard PRICHARD, Rector of Langan b. His wife Catherine for her natural life, and following her death, to son Griffith c. His sons William, Hopkin, and Thomas John d. His daughters Catherine & Elizabeth 3. £1000 to each of his two daughters 12 months after his death 4. £10,000 into another Trust - trustees appointed - wife Catherine, brother William, and brother-in-law Richard PRICHARD. This trust to cater for the needs of the children, the £10,000 to be dealt with as follows: a. £3000 each invested for sons Hopkin and William to meet their maintenance and education needs - the interest to wife Catherine for her own use, the principal to be paid to the sons when they attain 21. b. £2000 each to be invested for the daughters Catherine and Elizabeth in specified 3% annuities - lots of stipulations and conditions, to ensure that the girls and not their husbands benefit, to specify the passing on of the income and rights to the principal sum invested to the children - provisions for all possible eventualities regarding children/no children, sequence of deaths, daughters dying without issue or intestate, etc., etc. 5. All the household goods, furniture, pictures, prints, books, plate, linen, etc., etc., .. horses cows, pigs, poultry, corn, straw, hay, farm implements, timber, dairy, brewing and garden implements and utensils in and around the house and farm at Baglan ... plus 50 sheep of her selection ... to his wife Catherine as a gift (i.e. specifically separated from the rest, residue and remainder of his personal estate, thus not to be sold to pay any outstanding debts, funeral expenses etc 6. £50 each to sons Thomas John and Griffith ' as a token of my love and regard as they will be provided for after the decease of my wife' 7. Rest, residue and remainder of Goods, Chattels, etc, etc ... after payment of debts, funeral expenses and legacies .. to wife Catherine for her own use. All subject to what appears to be quite an important provision - that it meets with the full satisfaction of his wife and younger children with respect to any claims they may have on the 'hereditaments comprised in my marriage settlement under the several and respective terms of 500 years and 1000 years ...' and that '.. it shall be decreed a case of election in my said younger children (Hopkin and William) either to take all together under my Will or under the said Settlement ...' He gives them three months after his death to accept one or the other - EITHER they 'execute a good and full release' of the hereditaments comprised in the Settlement 'of and for all claims and demands under the several and respective terms of 500 years and 1000years, OR they shall be considered to have abandoned all claims under the Will. There is additional provision for placing the younger sons Hopkin and William in professions or business ... or for 'their advancement in the World' After the death of wife Catherine, son Thomas John is to take over outstanding responsibilities under the Will - provision for Thomas John not surviving (cascading responsibilities down through the other sons) Wife Catherine named executrix. Finally, all those other 'hereditaments and Real Estate vested in me as Trustee or Mortgagee' are bequeathed to son Griffith, along with responsibility for serving the terms of the mortgages and trusts. Signed by Griffith LLEWELLYN 13 Dec 1821 Wits: H.G.Grant; W.Gronow; John Bevan - Baglan CODICIL dated 4 Nov 1822 Revoked bequest of £3000 in trust for son Hopkin. The £3000 becomes part of the 'residue of the personal Estate' Signed Griffith Llewellyn Wits: D.Powell; Thos. Porter; Wm. Williams PROVED in London - with Codicil - 18 Dec 1822 Note: Expand source reference for summary of Will. |
Death of a brother | 5 May 1822 (Age 55) New Park, Newton Nottage, Glamorgan, Wales
elder brother -
Richard Llewellyn
|
Death | 6 November 1822 (Age 55) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
Source:
Monumental Inscriptions - Baglan St.Catherine
Publication: 2001
Citation details: MI 2T1 Booklet p.38 Text: Tombstone
South: Sacred to the memory of/ GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN Esq./ of Baglan Hall/ who departed this life/ on the 6th day of November 1822, aged 55 years./ East: Here also lie/ the remains of/ CATHERINE/ widow of the said GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ who died the/ 9th day of November (should read January!) 1840/ in the 76th years of her age. North: Here also lie the remains of/ THOMAS JOHN LLEWELLYN esquire/ Eldest son of the said GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ & CATHERINE his wife who died on the 20th/ day of January 1839 in the 43rd year of his age./ Also the remains of HOPKIN LLEWELLYN esq./ second son of the said GRIFFITH & CATHERINE/ LLEWELLYN who died 26th Feb.1858 aged 57 years./ Also the remains of WILLIAM LLEWELLYN esq./ Fourth son of the said GRIFFITH & CATHERINE/ LLEWELLYN who died 23rd Sep.1858 aged 52 years. West: Also of CATHERINE/ Eldest daughter of GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ born May 27.1795, died Nov.9.1880/ Also of ELIZABETH younger daughter/ GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ born Jan26.1799/ died Dec.20.1883. |
Burial | 11 November 1822 (5 days after death) St.Catherine, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales
Source:
Research by Glyn Davies - Chatham, Kent
Publication: Various e-mails, GEDCOM Files & Register, Descendency, and other Reports produced by Glyn from Mar 2003 onwards.
Citation details: E-mail & attachment received from Glyn 6 Feb 2011
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Last change | 11 March 2014 - 11:22:39 by: Ron Davies |
Family with parents - View family |
father |
Hopkin Llewellyn
Birth 1724 Ystradyfodwg, Glamorgan, Wales Death 18 April 1811 (Age 87) Loading...
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12 years mother |
Elizabeth Jenkins
Birth 1736 Hendre Owen, Llanharan, Glamorgan, Wales Death 1795 (Age 59) Loading...
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Marriage: 15 November 1757 — St.Cynwyd, Llangynwyd, Glamorgan, Wales |
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#1 brother |
Hopkin "David?" Llewellyn
Birth Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Death 1797 Loading...
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#2 sister |
Eleanor Llewellyn
Birth Brombil, Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Death yes Loading...
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#3 elder brother |
Richard Llewellyn
Birth 1760 Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Death 5 May 1822 (Age 62) New Park, Newton Nottage, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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1 year #4 elder sister |
Elizabeth Llewellyn
Birth 1761 Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Death yes Loading...
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1 year #5 elder sister |
Margaret Llewellyn
Birth 1762 Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Death yes Loading...
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5 years #6 himself |
Griffith Llewellyn
Birth 1767 Death 6 November 1822 (Age 55) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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5 years #7 younger sister |
Desima Llewellyn
Birth 1772 Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Death yes Loading...
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22 months #8 younger brother |
William Llewellyn J.P.
Birth 7 November 1773 Brombil, Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Death 26 April 1840 (Age 66) Glanavon, Margam, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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Family with Catherine Jones - View family |
himself |
Griffith Llewellyn
Birth 1767 Death 6 November 1822 (Age 55) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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-2 years wife |
Catherine Jones
Birth 1765 Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Death 9 January 1840 (Age 75) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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Marriage: 7 January 1794 — St.Baglan, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales |
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17 months #1 daughter |
Catherine Llewellyn
Birth 27 May 1795 Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Death 9 November 1880 (Age 85) Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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7 months #2 son |
Thomas John Llewellyn
Birth 1796 Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Death 20 January 1839 (Age 43) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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3 years #3 daughter |
Elizabeth Llewellyn
Birth 26 January 1799 Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Death 20 December 1883 (Age 84) The Cottage, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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23 months #4 son |
Hopkin Llewellyn
Birth 7 January 1801 Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Death 26 February 1858 (Age 57) Baglan Cottage, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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1 year #5 son |
Griffith Llewellyn
Birth 1802 Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Death December 1888 (Age 86) Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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4 years #6 son |
William Llewellyn
Birth 1806 Baglan Hall, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Death 23 September 1858 (Age 52) Baglan Cottage, Baglan, Glamorgan, Wales Loading...
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Occupation | Research by Glyn Davies - Chatham, Kent Publication: Various e-mails, GEDCOM Files & Register, Descendency, and other Reports produced by Glyn from Mar 2003 onwards. Citation details: E-mail & attachment from Glyn 6 Feb 2011 |
Marriage | Parish Register - Baglan St. Baglan Publication: Transcript 1999 Citation details: Booklet p.62 Text: Catherine of Baglan; Griffith of Swansea; by licence |
Marriage | Parish Register - Baglan St. Baglan Publication: Transcript 1999 Citation details: Booklet p.62 Text: Catherine of Baglan; Griffith of Swansea; by licence |
Appointment | Research by Glyn Davies - Chatham, Kent Publication: Various e-mails, GEDCOM Files & Register, Descendency, and other Reports produced by Glyn from Mar 2003 onwards. Citation details: E-mail and attachment from Glyn 6 Feb 2011 Text: After his father had relinquished the Margam Estate agency in 1798, and following the death of his older brother in 1797, Griffith was appointed in July 1798 as steward and keeper of the various manors. The salary for discharging these duties was fixed at £230 a year. |
Will | Research by Beth Edwards Citation details: Will of Griffith Llewellyn Text: Summary of the very long and complicated Will, which I have not yet had the time to fully transcribe: 1. He establishes a Trust which is to cover all his apparently substantial 'freehold messuages, farm lands, tenements and hereditaments' in Glamorgan and elsewhere, but excluding those properties already subject to existing Trusts and mortgages, and he appoints two trustees to handle it - Rev. William.B.Knight, of Margam and Thomas Ffranklin of Baglan. 2. That trust is to provide income for the use of: a. His brother William LLEWELLYN, Surgeon, of Margam and brother-in-law Rev. Richard PRICHARD, Rector of Langan b. His wife Catherine for her natural life, and following her death, to son Griffith c. His sons William, Hopkin, and Thomas John d. His daughters Catherine & Elizabeth 3. £1000 to each of his two daughters 12 months after his death 4. £10,000 into another Trust - trustees appointed - wife Catherine, brother William, and brother-in-law Richard PRICHARD. This trust to cater for the needs of the children, the £10,000 to be dealt with as follows: a. £3000 each invested for sons Hopkin and William to meet their maintenance and education needs - the interest to wife Catherine for her own use, the principal to be paid to the sons when they attain 21. b. £2000 each to be invested for the daughters Catherine and Elizabeth in specified 3% annuities - lots of stipulations and conditions, to ensure that the girls and not their husbands benefit, to specify the passing on of the income and rights to the principal sum invested to the children - provisions for all possible eventualities regarding children/no children, sequence of deaths, daughters dying without issue or intestate, etc., etc. 5. All the household goods, furniture, pictures, prints, books, plate, linen, etc., etc., .. horses cows, pigs, poultry, corn, straw, hay, farm implements, timber, dairy, brewing and garden implements and utensils in and around the house and farm at Baglan ... plus 50 sheep of her selection ... to his wife Catherine as a gift (i.e. specifically separated from the rest, residue and remainder of his personal estate, thus not to be sold to pay any outstanding debts, funeral expenses etc 6. £50 each to sons Thomas John and Griffith ' as a token of my love and regard as they will be provided for after the decease of my wife' 7. Rest, residue and remainder of Goods, Chattels, etc, etc ... after payment of debts, funeral expenses and legacies .. to wife Catherine for her own use. All subject to what appears to be quite an important provision - that it meets with the full satisfaction of his wife and younger children with respect to any claims they may have on the 'hereditaments comprised in my marriage settlement under the several and respective terms of 500 years and 1000 years ...' and that '.. it shall be decreed a case of election in my said younger children (Hopkin and William) either to take all together under my Will or under the said Settlement ...' He gives them three months after his death to accept one or the other - EITHER they 'execute a good and full release' of the hereditaments comprised in the Settlement 'of and for all claims and demands under the several and respective terms of 500 years and 1000years, OR they shall be considered to have abandoned all claims under the Will. There is additional provision for placing the younger sons Hopkin and William in professions or business ... or for 'their advancement in the World' After the death of wife Catherine, son Thomas John is to take over outstanding responsibilities under the Will - provision for Thomas John not surviving (cascading responsibilities down through the other sons) Wife Catherine named executrix. Finally, all those other 'hereditaments and Real Estate vested in me as Trustee or Mortgagee' are bequeathed to son Griffith, along with responsibility for serving the terms of the mortgages and trusts. Signed by Griffith LLEWELLYN 13 Dec 1821 Wits: H.G.Grant; W.Gronow; John Bevan - Baglan CODICIL dated 4 Nov 1822 Revoked bequest of £3000 in trust for son Hopkin. The £3000 becomes part of the 'residue of the personal Estate' Signed Griffith Llewellyn Wits: D.Powell; Thos. Porter; Wm. Williams PROVED in London - with Codicil - 18 Dec 1822 |
Death | Monumental Inscriptions - Baglan St.Catherine Publication: 2001 Citation details: MI 2T1 Booklet p.38 Text: Tombstone South: Sacred to the memory of/ GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN Esq./ of Baglan Hall/ who departed this life/ on the 6th day of November 1822, aged 55 years./ East: Here also lie/ the remains of/ CATHERINE/ widow of the said GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ who died the/ 9th day of November (should read January!) 1840/ in the 76th years of her age. North: Here also lie the remains of/ THOMAS JOHN LLEWELLYN esquire/ Eldest son of the said GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ & CATHERINE his wife who died on the 20th/ day of January 1839 in the 43rd year of his age./ Also the remains of HOPKIN LLEWELLYN esq./ second son of the said GRIFFITH & CATHERINE/ LLEWELLYN who died 26th Feb.1858 aged 57 years./ Also the remains of WILLIAM LLEWELLYN esq./ Fourth son of the said GRIFFITH & CATHERINE/ LLEWELLYN who died 23rd Sep.1858 aged 52 years. West: Also of CATHERINE/ Eldest daughter of GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ born May 27.1795, died Nov.9.1880/ Also of ELIZABETH younger daughter/ GRIFFITH LLEWELLYN/ born Jan26.1799/ died Dec.20.1883. |
Burial | Research by Glyn Davies - Chatham, Kent Publication: Various e-mails, GEDCOM Files & Register, Descendency, and other Reports produced by Glyn from Mar 2003 onwards. Citation details: E-mail & attachment received from Glyn 6 Feb 2011 |
Note | |
Occupation | As a Solicitor, Griffith Llewellyn appears to have been noted for unscrupulous dealings. One episode in particular is well documented. Expand this note to read the details, provided by Glyn Davies:
If credence can be given to the writings of Owen Morgan, at no great credit to himself, Griffith
augmented his estate by scurrilous means in the acquisition of Bwlch-y-Clawdd otherwise known
as Parc Isaf and Ystrad Wen. A transcription of the alleged affair is as follows: -
THE SAD FATE OF WILLIAM -DAVYDD. PARC ISAV.
A TRAGEDY: A SQUIRE AND HIS VICTIMS. TWELVE YEARS A PRISONER IN THE
FLEET, ETC.
In 1752, David Hopkin was the owner of Parc Isav Farm, and the great mountain known as Bwlchy-
Clawdd, situate between the farmhouse, and the top of Ogmore Valley. The family had
possessed the property from remote antiquity. The little Western Glen in which it is situate, due
West from Aberorchwy (Treorky), was anciently called Ystrad Vechan, or Lesser Ystrad, and the
Farm-house at the top of it, Parc Isav, or Lower Parc, there being another house of the some name
round the angle above on the right.
David Hopkin and Janet, his wife, had. the following sons. and daughters: Thomas, Evan and
Morgan. Daughters: Gwenllian, Alice and Janet.
Thomas had in the lifetime of his parents, a son by one Catherine Thomas. He was named Howell,
and was reared with the family at Parc Isav, from which he married Mary Ann John, on May 1st
1762. He became a great favourite with his, grandparents, but as seems from later circumstances, an
object of jealousy to Gwenllian after she married and had a son and daughter of her own.
In David Hopkin's will, dated 1752, he places Howell. in the position of fourth in succession under
the entail male to the landed estate, thus giving him the statue of a fourth son of his own, the others
being Thomas, Evan and Morgan. In the same year, David Hopkin died, and was buried near
Ystrad-Dyvodwg Parish Church. Evan and Morgan died soon after, both unmarried. The widow,
their mother, continued to reside at Parc Isav, in possession by the courtesy of the law. She was
alive in 1770, when Thomas married one Margaret Butler, Llandyvodwg.
Gwenllian had married William David, and both were tenants of Coed y Meirig Farm, above
Merthyr Tydvil. They had two children, William and Janet. Her husband died. Some time after,
Gwenllian married one David Richard.
Alice was married, and with her husband and family occupied Ynisbeio Farm. Janet lived unmarried
with her mother at Parc Isav. Howell occupied Tylecoch, Yniswen and Nant Ddyrus farms; the
two last named till his death in 1821. Thomas, on his marriage with Peggy Buttler, rented Canar
Mawr Farm above Pencoed. Not having enough ready cash to stock his rented farm, he applied to
"Rhys, Court Coleman", a Bridgend solicitor, for a loan. He obtained £200 from him, on the
security of his succession to the landed estate on the demise of his mother. But, almost immediately
after his marriage, the malady, which had proved fatal to his two brothers, Evan and Morgan,
consumption, attacked him, and he was soon known to be slowly dying.
" Rhys, Court Coleman " was now naturally enough, anxious about his £200. Of course he could
have distrained upon the farm stock of Thomas, but this would have been very sad business in the
face of Thomas's mortal illness. Mr. Rhys knew perfectly well that the next in the succession to
the freeholds was Howell; and Howell had in no way been asked to join his father in giving security
to Mr. Rhys for the £200. There appears to have been a deliberate conspiracy on the part of
members of his family, concocted by Gwenllian, to conceal from Howell's knowledge that he was
the next survivor after his father, Thomas, to whom the estate descended under the will of 1752.
Mr. Rhys appears to have discovered this. The first stroke, with a view to cheat Howell, was
Gwenllian and her second husband, under some excuse sending her two children to live with their
grandmother and Jane, at Parc Isav. The grandmother died, but Jane continued to live at Parc Isav
as tenant under Peggy Buttler, Thomas having died in April, 1774. It does not appear that Janet
had the slightest suspicion as to Gwenllian and David Richard's motive in placing her little son and
daughter at Parc Isav Mr. Rhys, Court Coleman, had informed them of a plan to transfer the
succession from Howell to William, Gwenllian's only son. To be effectual that which had to he
done had to be accomplished in Thomas's lifetime, and he was in the last stage of the malady. What
Mr. Rhys proposed, .was to take proceedings to bar the entail created by the will of 1752 executed
in Howell's favour. The process is called Fine and Recovery. Notice of this to be done had at once
to be filed at the next Brecon Assizes, in March, 1774. This notice was practically given by David
Richard, and Mr. Rhys acted as his attorney in the case.
They appeared in April, 1774, at the Glamorgan Assizes, held in the town of Cowbridge, and there
suffered the Fine and Recovery. Instantly afterwards they went at full gallop to Canar Mawr,
where the dying man lay; got him and Peggy to ratify the document by their signatures, and then
executed Thomas's last WilI and Testament, in which Howell's name is not at all mentioned. The
writer has had in his hands at the Record Office, Fetter Lane, London, the document signed by
Thomas and Peggy relating to the barring of the entail. Thomas's signature is like a very faint " H."
(" His Mark "), indicative of his extreme weakness at the time. Peggy's signature is a bold heavy
cross.
We find by the Church Register and his Will, that Thomas died that night or on the morrow. There
is one saving thing in the nefarious transaction, namely, the conspirators were too hurried by the
aspect of Thomas's dying condition, to prepare and execute a Declaration of Uses without which a
Fine and Recovery is of no effect to bar an entail: therefore the entail of David Hopkin, in 1752 in
favour of Howell is still in force. This was discovered by Mr. Griffyth Llywelin, Baglan Hall, as
will be shown further on.
Howell continued to enjoy a busy life on his neighbouring farms, never dreaming of the roguish
practices around him. No doubt he was one of the mourners at his father's funeral, and wept over
his coffin. But there were others whose consciences were uneasy: they knew they were thieves,
and had taken undue advantage of the circumstances of the dying Thomas to rob his son, Howell.
Thomas had no issue by Peggy. Howell never knew to the last moment of his life, the above story,
but old people have told the writer he often said, he would but for his illegitimacy, have been the
heir to Parc Isav and Bwlch y Clawdd: but he never knew the conditions of his grandfather's will of
1752, which made him heir, notwithstanding the bar sinister.
In 1784 Janet David Hopkin died. In her Will she bequeaths everything, " Chattels moveable and
immoveable," to Howell, whom she describes as "the beloved son of my brother Thomas."
William, Gwenllian's son, took possession of the freeholds, and married his late aunt's servant girl.
Sometime after this, Mr. Rhys, Court Coleman, took action against William, for the recovery, of the
£200. William obtained the money under the security of a Promissory Note, of Mr. Walter
Edwards, Ty Newydd Farm, Treherbert. In 1806 Mr. Walter Edwards died, and in his Will left
£200 to his son, Mr. William Edwards, Bedwhir, Aberdare, a solicitor.
In 1807 he called in the money. Whether there was a rumour in the country that there was
something defective in William's title has not transpired. It seems highly probable there was and
that Mr. Rhys, after he had obtained his £200, let out hints to that effect. Perhaps, too, his
conscience troubled him respecting the wrong he had entailed upon Howell, who, with a large family
was struggling along. But what is positively known is, that William could not find anyone to
advance the £200 to enable him to repay Mr. Edwards. Another significant fact is, that Mr.
Edwards did not foreclose the freeholds held by William. lnstead of that he more than once took all
William's sheep, cattle, horses, etc., and had them sent to the Pound at Court Leet, near the present
Pandy Hotel. But in every instance he had them driven back to Parc Isaf fields. The next thing to
happen was, Mr. Edwards requesting William to sell the freeholds to him.
Things were in this state in August 1807. The trouble at Parc Isav was the theme in every mouth in
the Valleys. But no one came to poor William's assistance.
We now come to the circumstances of William's ruin, his long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison;
bottom of Fleet Street, London, and his burial there in the year 1820. - Eighteen months later, his
cruel persecutor died too, in the midst of his wealth and luxuries near Aberavon.
SCENE FIRST: - CARDIFF ARMS PARLOUR, CARDIFF.
TWO SOLICITORS MEETING.
Their names are, Mr. Gruffyth Llywelin, Baglan Hall, and Mr. William Edwards, Bedwhir. Both
look upon William Davydd, Parc Isav, in his trouble as a ready prey for vultures; and the only thing
troubling them is which of them two shall have the felicity of swallowing his farms. All his
indebtedness is only £200, but that only makes the case more interesting to them.
Mr. G, Llywelin to W. Edwards: "You have had a lot of bother with William David".
Mr. William Edwards (closing one eye and looking significantly at his brother in the law); "Yes, I
have; but I think I have at last got him willing to sell the lot to me".
It may be mentioned here that it was the smallness of the sum and great value of the freeholds held
by William David, were the obstacles in the way of Mr. William Edwards, and that his annoyance,
taking away the sheep, cattle, etc., were to worry and force William David to sell to him.
After Mr. G. Llywelin had wormed out of Mr. William Edwards all about the affair he wanted to
know, he enquired of Mr. Edwards, was he going up that afternoon to Ystrad-Dyvodwg?
"Yes, I am," was the answer
Said Mr. G. Llywelin: I am coming too, but I have a little business to transact in the town first.
Will you wait, that we may go up together?
"Yes, I will," replied Mr. William Edwards.
Now the Rev. Evan Prichard was Vicar of Llandaff, and was married to Mr. G. Llywelin's sister.
As quickly as possible he rode to Llandaff requested the Vicar to mount a horse and ride with him
to Pentre, Ystrad-Dyfodwg. The Vicar's father, Mr. Evan' Prichard, Collena, Tonyrefail had
borrowed a considerable sum of money of Mr. G. Llywelin, to enable him to convert Tonyrefail
into a place of various industries besides farming. It is plain that Mr. G. Llywelin was a man of
much vigour, both mentally and physically, therefore, fond of having his own way. On the other
hand, the Prichard's were honour personified, and they were amiable to a fault. Moreover, they
were most deeply religious in their convictions and their lives. The two started on horseback from
Llandaff. It was August 8th, 1807.
SECOND SCENE.
Parc Isav Farmhouse standing alone at the foot of one lofty mountain, and having one equally lofty
on either flank. The house even then was most venerable in appearance, and no doubt hundreds of
summers and winters had visited it in divers moods. Near it flowed from the lonely majestic and
silent mountains, the clearest waters that come forth from these filter beds of God. In the angle
above the house was a fine orchard of apples, pears and other fruits, which, owing to the shelter
theft from blighting winds, grew to perfection.
Adjoining the house were outbuildings for the cows, and there in, former days Gwen, Alice, and
Janet might, while milking the generous kine, be heard warbling ancient Kimmerian airs wedded to
rural ballads. There in the interior directly opposite the entrance was a door, then a long dairy, with
two windows opening into the blooming garden. The tables in the dairy were large stone flags, cut
into shape by some forefathers of the house, from some mountain quarry not far off. But at the
time we are dealing with, all of the former generations had passed away o'er that bourne from which
no traveller returns, as far as we know.
On this particular day, William David was engaged in doing something near a hedge in a sloping
green field just above the house. Jane, his daughter, now repeats what she beheld. She often
repeated the story when upwards of 80 to the writer: " I was in the act," she said, "of feeding the
geese, just behind the house, when I saw a man coming up the Glen, on horseback. He saw my
father and he then dismounted, and opening a gate, he passed through into the field leading his horse
by the bridle up towards my father. I felt curious as to who he was and what he wanted. We had
gone through so much trouble because my father could not pay Mr. Edwards, that, in my anxiety
(gofid) I ran up on the opposite side of the hedge, and I listened to their conversation. I heard my
father calling the gentleman Gruffyth Llywelin, and he telling my father that William Edwards was
coming to take all he had, that the best thing for him to do was to pretend he bad already sold the
lands to him- (Gruffyth Llywelin). I heard my father repeatedly saying to his visitor that he could
not believe Mr. William Edwards would behave in that cruel manner."
"But," said Mr. Llywelin, "see what has he not done already: belittling you in the eyes of all the
parishioners." The end of the quarrel - for so Jane regarded it - was, that my father went down the
field towards the road leading down from the Glen, with Mr. G. Llywelin who was walking and
leading his horse. I darted back into the house, said Jane, and told mother what I had overheard; and
that my father had gone down the road with Gruffyth Llywelin. My mother got excited, and told
me he too had been wanting to buy our lands. My mother said: The scamp is taking your father to
Pentre Farm. As soon as she dressed herself, away she went after them. In after life she mentioned
what took place. I, she said, hurried with great emotion down the great valley to Pentre porch.
They inside must have seen me coming, and when I entered, the passage, I met your father (to Jane)
coming out of the parlour. Gruffyth Llywelin called out after him, ' I will send a man to crop the
hedge below your house.' Mother (Mrs. David) replied, with an oath, 'you will do nothing of the
kind, Guito! On the way home my father told mother that what he had done was to protect himself
from William Edwards. He had placed his cross to a paper to that effect, and a clergyman had
witnessed it. That was all.
SCENE THIRD.
Six months after this, in the month of February, 1808, William David was at Llangynwyd on
business. He was arrested at the instance of Gruffyth Llywelin, under the Writ called Capias ad
respondenum, and was lodged in Cardiff Gaol. He refused to plead, or answer at all. The plea
against him was that he had contracted a promise to Mr. Gruffyth Llywelin, witnessed by the Rev.
Evan Prichard, Vicar of Llandaff, to sell in six months from August 8th, 1807, both Parc Isav and
Bwlch y Clwdd, for a thousand pounds. To his friends William David declared he had been tricked
into signing the promise, and that he would rather die than ratify what he had been induced by
trickery to sign.
SCENE FOURTH.
Between 1808 and 1812 Mr. Gruffyth Llywelin appears to have discovered that the defendant
William David, was not after all, the real owner of Parc Isav and Bwlch y Clawdd, but Howell
Thomas David Hopkin. Howell, in 1812, was 80 years old - he lived nine years longer. One day he
was by the footbridge over the river opposite Yniswen, just above Treorchy, when Gruffyth
Llywelin suddenly accosted him. The conversation, as Howell said afterwards, was "about William,
his cousin".
The evident object of Gruffyth Llywelin was to get Howell also into his toils. The author
discovered in the Record Office what Gruffyth Llywelin was engaged upon at this very time. He
was preparing a Bill of Complaint, which the writer has read, against William David. By the bridge
he promised Howell £100 "for signing a bit of paper". As already stated, Howell had it fixed in his
mind that he could not be the heir of his father, because, unfortunately, he was born out of wedlock.
Howell was tempted by the offer of £100 promise dangled before him. He consented, and agreed to
accompany Gruffyth Llewelin to Pentre. He wanted to go to. Yniswen, close at hand, to tell his
wife and daughters where he was going. No, the tempter was not willing; he, as in the case of
William David, was afraid of the keenness of a woman's wit. Howell signed his name; the Rev.
Evan Pritchard witnessed that document also. William had already been about four years in Cardiff
prison. Immediately after Howell "signed---an act which greatly annoyed William's family, who
were in the dark as to the meaning of the act - Gruffyth Llywelin, the miserable man, stated in his
Bill of Complaints (1812) that William David, the defendant, had promised to sell the said lands to
him for a £1,000, and that "Howell Thomas, otherwise David, had, as security against the entail
created by the Will of David Hopkin in 1752, joined in the sale by William David, the said Howell
to receive £100 out of the purchase money. Those are his very words in his Bill of Complaint filed
in 1812. William David made no answer, being too poor, and uneducated to be able to do so. The
Judge committed him to the Fleet, for contempt of Court, refusing, the legal form is, to answer a Bill
in a cause. The author has traced in the Books of Record the subsequent life of William David.
He never left the Fleet Prison alive. In 1820, he was still lingering there, often dreaming of his wife
and children in the lonely Glen in Ystrad Dyvodwg. Now and then, in succeeding terms, Gruffyth
Llywelin would have William David brought before the Judge, to "answer", but the result was
always the same, namely, recommittal because be refused to "sign" to complete the sale of Parc Isav
and Bwlch-y-Clawdd to plaintiff, Gruffyth Llywelin.
The plaintiff appears to have diligently watched the varying condition of his victim's health. This
to him was important, for his victim might die, and then the "bargain" might become forfeited.
Thus, with unrelenting greed and callousness, he watched lest the victim underneath his cruel paw,
might disappear "to beyond the veil," to where the weary is at rest.
Late in 1820, news came that William David was ailing, and probably dying in the London prison.
Would he escape the talons of his educated enemy; a man versed in all the technicalities of the law?
Gruffyth Llywelin hurried up to London, and there be appealed, by counsel, to have the "promise"
of August 8th, 1807, completed by the hand of the Judge, instead of by that of William David
himself. This was what is called "specific performance" by a Judge in Equity, in the name of the
law. That was done. The taxing Master reported the cost of the action by Gruffyth Llywelin v.
William David was £800, the debt due to William Edwards, Bedwhir, was £200. Those sums
Gruffyth Llywelin was ordered to pay, and to retain his own costs in the case. Thus the £1,000 for
the two said farms, and the £100 promised to Howell Thomas, otherwise David, were swallowed
up.
William David was now apparently released by the law. He must have supposed he would now
very soon behold again his native mountains, after spending twelve years within prison walls, the
sad victim of a soulless and cruel sharper of the blackest dye. No, he would see the faces of his wife
and smart daughters never more. His sons were athletes, but what could they do! Their father was
in the grip of the law, set in motion by one who knew the technicalities, and who had sworn that
the victim was about to leave the country, to avoid carrying out his contract with him, and who
thereby had imprisoned under a "Ca Sa," warrant. The plaintiff's oath was a lie, but what cared he
for the responsibilities of perjury, which could not be proved in a court of law against him. Did he
think of a higher power when he invoked the Majesty of Heaven by the words, "So help me God".
Until some years ago, there were in Ystrad Dyvodwg, men living who knew friends who had visited
poor William David in Cardiff prison and afterwards in the Fleet, London, some few years before he
died there, in loneliness and sorrow. His two daughters, Jane and Ann, were limping little girls
when he had last beheld their comely, innocent faces. Visitors had lately informed him they were
now the beauties of the old Glen in far off Wales. How he longed to hear their voices and that of
their mother, about his dying bed. Alone he passed away, and his body was consigned to a grave
within his prison walls.
THE LAST SCENE AT PARC ISAV.
"We hardly ever received letters at Park Isav," said Jane to the author in her old age. "But one day a
letter came to my mother. It was bordered in black, the only one of the sort that had ever come to
our house. Something told me," she continued, "that the letter announced poor father's death. It
appears the letter came from Gruffyth Llywelin, to prepare us for what he was about to do; turn us
out into the road". Jane went on to says as follows: -"none of us could read or write, for there were
no schools in the parish then. I took the letter down the little vale to the great valley, and then to
Aber'orchwy. I there handed it to Mr. Edwards to read. After reading it silently, he said to me,
'Yes, my girl, your poor father is dead and gone! I had always hoped to see my poor father before
he died, but now I knew I should never see his dear face any more. I returned home along the road
running by the brook, crying dreadfully all the way. On reaching home and telling mother and the
elder children, my mother grew frantic, and wringing her hands and walking about, she cried
incessantly,
dear William will return no more!' It was a dreadful afternoon at Parc Isav.'
" A fortnight later," she went on to state, "Gruffyth Llywelin rode over Bwlch y Clawdd
Mountain, he called higher up the glen upon William Hopkin and got him to accompany him to our
house.
When they entered I was peeling potatoes by the kitchen window, and mother was knitting, by the
fire in the parlour. Suddenly William Hopkin caught my arms from behind. I was at the moment
tempted by the devil to drive my knife into the heart of the man who had killed my father. William
carried me outside and held me there. Presently my mother came out with Gruffyth Llywelin. Then
he placed a padlock on the door, and we were requested to 'go away'. We went to some friend's
house down the valley.
Eighteen months later, Gruffyth Llywelin himself was dead. Old people, said Jane, told me he
became insane, and that, in his fits of madness, he was crying out, 'William David, Howell Thomas.
"0! God, God, God", and that he died tragically in 1822".
Many years ago, the author visited Thomas Roberts, son-in-law of Howell Thomas. He had lived
in Merthyr Manor Lodge, under Sir John Nicholl, since about 1818. He was blind and very old, and
in bed. He told the writer he was living in one of his father-in-law's rented farms, called Yniswen,
above Treorki, at the time his father-in-law was induced to " sign" a paper on being promised £100
by Gruffyth Llywelin. "But," asked the writer, "did you not suspect by Gruffyth Llywelin's
action, Howell had some claim to the two farms, notwithstanding his illegitimacy?" " Yes," was the
answer," and I went to Llandaff to consult Howell's father's Will. But his name was not even
mentioned in it." "Had you," the author said, " consulted Howell's grandfather's Will you would
have found that Howell was the real owner, and not William, as far as Wills were concerned." The
old man lifted up both hands and said, "Here is at last clear what has puzzled me all my life".
It appears that while the excitement of the contest lasted, Gruffyth Llywelin was buoyed up by
artificial excitement, but when the grave closed over his victims - for Howell died in 1821 -
conscience awoke in the unhappy man, and made his wealth like the fires of Sodom to him.
The said Howell Thomas was the author's great-grandfather.
(Owen Morgan 1836 - 1921, journalist & writer) |
Will | Expand source reference for summary of Will. |