Portraits and Pictures in Old Carmarthenshire Housesby Major FRANCIS JONES | ||||||||
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William Herbert Dyer, proprietor at this time, was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1776, and died without issue in 1821. He sold the estate in 1803 for £10,500 to Thomas Phillips, a surgeon in the East India Company, who, during 32 years service in India had contrived to amass an enormous fortune. Phillips also bought a good deal of the old furniture in the house. What happened to the Dyer portraits is not known. | ||||||||
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Berllandywyll | |||||||
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Berllandywyll is situated on the southwestern slope below Llangathen church, with an extensive view over the vale of Tywi. It was the seat of the Lloyds, descended from Thomas Lloyd of Castell Hywel in Cardiganshire who had married Bridget daughter of Sir Henry Vaughan of Derwydd in Llandybie parish, Carmarthenshire. The last of the male line at Berllandywyll, David Lloyd, married in 1748 Magdalen daughter of David Lewis of Dolhaidd. David got into financial difficulties and sold Castell Hywel. When he died without issue in 1779, Berllandywyll passed to his sister's only child, Alice Gratiana Williams who married Richard Jones of Pantglas, a barrister and later Clerk of the Peace for Carmarthenshire, who took the name Richard Jones Llwyd. Financial difficulties beset the last owners, who being childless, and in view of certain financial considerations, they left the state to Charles Richard Vaughan, younger son of Golden Grove. Richard Jones Llwyd died without issue in 1799, and on the death of the widow in 1806 at the age of 65, the property passed to Lord Cawdor, as heir by devise of the Golden Grove family. Alice Gratiana is the lady referred to in Gulston's notes. He wrote as follows: |
Portraits and Pictures in Old Carmarthenshire Housesby Major FRANCIS JONES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Newton the Seat of Mr Rice is near this Town [Llandilo], and is without exception one of the finest inland places I ever saw ; it is a great pity that the river Towy which winds most beautifully in the Vale has seldom water sufficient in it, in the Summer the Bed of the river being seldom covered till the end of October—the views of this place taken by Mr Bretherton are very like. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eating Room 1. 'Lord Chancellor Talbot. W.L. in his 'Chancellor's Robes, 'Seals, &c. 2. Countess Talbot, wife of the late , W.L. in coronation robes. 3. Over the door in a square, unknown, long wig, laced neck cloth, yellow mantle, pink & a strapped dress, in an oval. 4. [ ] In an oval, long wig in a blue velvet tight dress with Gold (Frogs ?) loose mantle, Collar open. 5. [ ] half length, Loose robe, long wig, neckcloth, leaning, hands fine. 6. 'Talbot—Bishop in his robes of the Garter, sitting, over the Chimney, father of the Chancellor. 7. 'Lady Talbot mother of the late Earl, and wife of the Chancellor, sitting, in white sattin, book in her lap, leaning on her arm, brown hair loose, to the knees. 8. Mr Rymer, in a round, one hand. The people here think it very like, I cannot find the least resemblance. [This comment seems also to be applied to the preceding]. 9. John Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury. W.L. in black, from top to bottom, cap, Spanish cloak, stockings, shoes, &c. Ribbon round his neck, ruffles, ruff, black beard, gloves in his left hand, sword and belt both ornamented, the colouring of his picture is very red, which makes it appear to be a copy. he has a black beard. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eating Room
"Newton. Mr Rice's. It is situated in one of the most beautiful Parks I ever saw. the Timber grows so fine. You come into a good Hall & then into a noble eating room & drawing room. There is Sir Rice ap Thomas's stirrups very curious & two Chairs of Henry 7th's time that cane out of Dinnover Castle the ruins of which are now standing upon a great rock with wood all down on one [side] & the river running in the bottom, which makes it very beautiful & romantic."Taliaris Perhaps the most intriguing of Gulston's descriptions concerns Taliaris in Llandeilofawr parish. This house, which received a substantial grant from the Historic Buildings Council some years ago, stands high on a slope some four miles northeast of the town of Llandeilo. Built in the form of a cube, the present structure dates from the seventeenth century, not least of its attractions being the scenes painted on panels in the dining room, said to have been executed by an Italian artist about the time of Charles II. The original owners of Taliaris descended from a natural son of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, whose grandson, Rhydderch Gwyn gave the family its permanent surname. About the beginning of the eighteenth century the male line failed, and the estate passed to Richard Jones of Tregib, whose grandmother was Sibyl Gwynne of Taliaris. On inheriting he adopted the surname Gwynne, and his line ended in his grand-daughter, the heiress Elizabeth Gwynne (born about 1767) who married John William Hughes of Bwlchgwynt and Corngafar. J. W. Hughes then settled at Tregib, his wife's other estate, and from him descended the well-known family of Gwynne Hughes of that place. Taliaris, which had been mortgaged by David Gwynne in 1768 for £12,000 to Sir John Wynne of Glynllivon in Caernarvonshire, afterwards passed out of the family and came into the possession of Lord Robert Seymour, and then of the Peels in the first half of the nineteenth century. Joseph Gulston found much to occupy him in Taliaris. Perhaps the most interesting are the portraits of the members of the Sea Serjeants, an exclusive society in West Wales whose members were suspected of possessing Jacobite sympathies.19 The portraits had been painted by Robert Taylor during the presidency of Richard (Jones) Gwynne of Taliaris, and we learn from another source that they were moved to Tregib after the family sold Taliaris. Gulston writes about Taliaris as follows: MS in. fo 33a. Taliaris. 1785. "The late Mr Gwinne who was president of the Sea Sargents Club, a Society who met once a year for a week. they wore a star on there (sic) left side. The Hall is hung round with the pictures of all the members namelyIn MS 3. fo 65. 1783, he describes the portraits in detail - "Taliaris. The seat of David Gwynne, Esq, near Llandilo, Carmarthenshire. A beautiful situation with a most rich and extensive prospect. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mr Richd Gwynne married Miss Catherine Garnons of Rhiwgoch, by whom he had issue one daughter the heiress of his family, as his two brothers had none."
He returns to the house again in MS 4. fo 12. c 1783, and says -
"At the late Mr Gwynne's of Taliaris, near Landilo, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, is a picture of the late Sir Thomas Stepney, son of Sir John the foregoing man, in an olive green velvet coat, red waistcoat with a broad musqueteer gold late on it, brown (wig or) hair, neckcloth: in oval painted by Taylor being one of the Society of Sea Sarjeants, with a small star on the left side. Mr Thomas Popkin of Glamorganshire who married Sir Thomas sister is another Serjeant, he is dressed in brown velvet, grey waistcoat with a broad gold lace, bag wig, painted by Taylor." On folio 18 he offers a further comment — "Sir Thomas Stepney father of the present Sir John was one of the Society of Sea Sarjeants, which society had all their pictures painted by Taylor, and are still to be seen at Mr Gwynne's at Taliaris in the County of Carmarthen. he is in an olive green velvet coat, red waistcoat with a broad musqueteer lace, brown wig, neckcloth, oval. he was husband of Lady Stepney daughter of the above Mrs Vaughan for whom the above epitaph was wrote in Llandybie church."So much for Gulston's account of the portraits at Taliaris in 1783-5. Within six years of his visit the portraits of the Sea Serjeants were moved to Tregib, and we are fortunate to possess a description by another visitor who noted them. She was a Mrs Mary Morgan, and an account of her visit on 13 October 1791 appears on pages 370-376 of A Tour of Milford Haven in the year 1791, London, 1795, as follows:- . . . drove to Tregib, which I long had a curiosity to visit, it being famous for its antiquity, and likewise for its having belonged to the president of the Sea Serjeants . . . when we arrived at Tregib, we were welcomed in the most hospitable manner by the Lady President, who was then sitting at the head of her table, in a fine old hall, which was entirely surrounded with the portraits of the former members of the society of Sea Serjeants, twenty-six in number. Mr Gwynne, her brother, was drawn as president, in his chair of state. There is also a picture of the chaplain to this community, and of the painter who drew them all; he having desired that he might add his own to the collection. There was something exceedingly striking in this venerable groupe, and the antiquity of the place which they occupied . . . Notwithstanding this lady sat, it may be said, in the midst of her dead friends, she preserved a wonderful degree of cheerfulness; nor did the vanity of the sex prompt her to dwell upon any one circumstance, in which she shone the most conspicuous of the throng that graced their galas. At the table was the young lady, who procured us the sight of this once famous house, and likewise another, the last of the President's descendants, in whom centres a large fortune, and who had just given her hand to the man of her heart. To complete the pleasures of this day, they had borrowed a fine treble harp from Golden Grove. As I had never heard a treble harp before, I was quite in raptures, and thought it the most charming instrument that ever was played upon . . . ."There is a gothic touch about this lady sitting "in the midst of her dead friends," which the late Isak Dinesen would have appreciated. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tregib We now come to Tregib which also finds a place in Mr Gulston's notebooks. This house stands amidst a fine grove of trees on low ground about a mile to the east of Llandeilo. From the fifteenth century until a few decades ago Tregib had been owned by the descendants of Sir Elidir Ddu, Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, of Crug near Llandeilo. The first of the family to live at Tregib was the knight's great-grandson Thomas ap Gwilym, and his Elizabethan descendant, Morgan ap John, adopted the permanent surname of Jones. On inheriting the Taliaris estate in 1721 Richard Jones took the surname Gwynne under the terms of the will of his great-uncle as mentioned on page 00 above. The family ended in an heiress, Elizabeth Gwynne (d 1832) who married John William Hughes (d 1825) who settled at this wife's home, and from them descends the Gwynne-Hughes family. Although the house has been subjected to extensive changes over the years, particularly in late Victorian times, some earlier features have survived, notably the vaulted cellars of the mansion which, it is believed, belong to the fifteenth century, and a small panelled room with a fine overmantle done in plaster above the fireplace, bearing a shield of five quarterings, the date 1657 and the initials of Francis Jones of Tregib who had been High Sheriff ten years previously. When Gulston called at Tregib about 1783, he says it was the house of a Mr Lewis. This is probably a slip, for the owner at that time was Miss Elizabeth Gwynne whose acquaintance we made in the section on Taliaris. Although he does not describe any pictures, I think it proper to include the house particularly as it became the repository of the old portraits from Taliaris. This is what Gulston says — MS3. fo 61. "Tregib near Llandilo, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. The seat of Mr Lewis. A small bad house. In the Hall are three remarkable old Chairs, very large, each different from the other. They are made of Oak, ru . . d Posts, before and behind. The Arms have rails slopeing from the back downwards to the front. Profile: [here follows a small sketch of a chair] supposed to be very old. One of them is triangular. Sideboard of Oak, with Vases etc. These Chairs are very curious and are well worth seeing. These Chairs were turned by Jones 1651. New part of the house built 1651."Mrs Morgan, who, as we have noted earlier, called there in 1791, also admired the chairs, and comments The furniture is entirely of a piece with the building, particularly two large wooden armchairs; they are ornamented in a very singular manner, with rings cut out of the solid wood, which turn round those parts of the chairs upon which they hang; being a great many of them, they make, when moved a slight jingling noise. The date of these chairs cannot be ascertained; nor can that of the house, the new part of which was built in the year 1657." (Tour, p 374). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portraits and Pictures in Old Carmarthenshire Housesby Major FRANCIS JONES | ||||||||
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Readers will have noticed that detailed descriptions of pictures and other mural decorations were rarely given in inventories of the contents of houses in bygone days. Bare entries, such as "family portraits," "prints," "maps," merely excite our curiosity and leave us with feelings akin to frustration. So, it is a pleasant experience to come across manuscripts containing not only detailed descriptions of pictures, mainly portraits, in Welsh and English houses in the latter half of the seventeenth century, but also observations on the subjects, on the artists, their excellence and shortcomings. | ||||||||
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These manuscripts, ten notebooks in all, form part of the muniments of the Stepney-Gulston family of Derwydd, lately deposited in the County Record Office. Their author was Joseph Gulston (1745—1786), the celebrated collector of books and prints, whose career has earned him a place in the Dictionary of National Biography. His father, also named Joseph, amassed a fortune as a financier and merchant, and represented Poole as Member of Parliament from 1741 until his death. The circumstances surrounding the marriage of Joseph Gulston père were sufficiently unusual to form the theme of an exciting novel that enjoyed a wide popularity towards the end of the last century. His wife, Mericas Silva, was the daughter of a Portuguese merchant, and a Roman Catholic. They married by stealth. The ceremony took place in the Fleet and a second celebration was performed by a Catholic priest, so that the knot was doubly and indubitably tied. Joseph, for whom fluctuations on the bourse and the harsh realities of eighteenth century politics held no terrors, lived in constant dread of a masterful and alarming sister, a formidable Anglican who would have strongly disapproved of such "mixed" marriage. Accordingly, the union was kept secret and the children brought up in the strictest concealment.1 The eldest son of the marriage, Joseph, received his education at Eton and Christ Church College, Oxford, and on his father's death in 1766 inherited £250,000 in the Funds, a Hertfordshire estate with an annual rental of £1,500, a residence at Ealing Grove, Middlesex, and a town house in Soho Square. He devoted | |||||||
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These manuscripts, ten notebooks in all, form part of the muniments of the Stepney-Gulston family of Derwydd, lately deposited in the County Record Office. Their author was Joseph Gulston (1745—1786), the celebrated collector of books and prints, whose career has earned him a place in the Dictionary of National Biography. His father, also named Joseph, amassed a fortune as a financier and merchant, and represented Poole as Member of Parliament from 1741 until his death. The circumstances surrounding the marriage of Joseph Gulston père were sufficiently unusual to form the theme of an exciting novel that enjoyed a wide popularity towards the end of the last century. His wife, Mericas Silva, was the daughter of a Portuguese merchant, and a Roman Catholic. They married by stealth. The ceremony took place in the Fleet and a second celebration was performed by a Catholic priest, so that the knot was doubly and indubitably tied. Joseph, for whom fluctuations on the bourse and the harsh realities of eighteenth century politics held no terrors, lived in constant dread of a masterful and alarming sister, a formidable Anglican who would have strongly disapproved of such "mixed" marriage. Accordingly, the union was kept secret and the children brought up in the strictest concealment.1 The eldest son of the marriage, Joseph, received his education at Eton and Christ Church College, Oxford, and on his father's death in 1766 inherited £250,000 in the Funds, a Hertfordshire estate with an annual rental of £1,500, a residence at Ealing Grove, Middlesex, and a town house in Soho Square. He devoted his life to collecting books, prints, pictures, cartoons, etc., visiting private houses and public galleries to study and enjoy works of art, so that he became an acknowledged authority on these matters. Unfortunately, allied to these cultural interests, was a light-hearted extravagance, carelessness in money matters, and a physical indolence, which resulted in the dissipation of the fine fortune he had inherited. Like his father he entered Parliament, being elected for Poole in 1780, a seat he lost four years later "by neglecting to get out of bed till too late in the day to solicit the votes of five Quaker constituents."2 As a result of this lack of business acumen he found himself in serious difficulties, and in 1784 was obliged to sell the library he had assembled with discrimination, and two years later his magnificent collection of pictures consisting of 67,000 portraits, prints, and scenes, came under the hammer. Hopes that this would solve his more pressing problems were unrealised, for the literary and artistic treasures were sold at ludicrously low figures. He died on 16th July 1786, some four months after the sale.
Joseph Gulston's connection with Wales came with his marriage in 1768 to the talented Elizabeth Bridgetta, daughter of Sir Thomas Stepney, Baronet, whose family had held extensive estates in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire since the middle of the sixteenth century, and descendant by the distaff of the Vaughans of Llanelly and Derwydd (cadets of Golden Grove) and also of the celebrated portrait painter Van Dyck.3 She was a noted beauty and an accomplished etcher, and enjoyed the distinction, unusual in one of her sex, of being the inventor of plated harness. If anything, she proved more extravagant than her husband whom she predeceased by four years. Nevertheless, the Welsh estates were protected by terms of entail, so that the descendants of these cultured spendthrifts the Gulstons and Stepney-Gulstons — were able to enjoy ample estates in South Wales, some of which are still in their possession.
The notebooks providing the data for this article were written during the period 1779—1785. Most of Gulston's visits concern royal palaces like St James's, Windsor, Hampton Court, and Buckingham House (as it was then called), great English seats like Blenheim, Marlborough and Woburn, town and country houses, castles, colleges, and churches. He found, by comparison, the Welsh houses to be inferior, both in design and content, to their English counterparts, and expresses contempt for several of them. Nevertheless, the information he has preserved makes it easy for us to forgive his spiky observations and abundant prejudices. Many of the inscriptions he copied from church memorials have since disappeared; great changes have taken place in the houses he saw, some have become ruinous and untenanted, or have passed to a succession of new owners, while the majority of the pictures he describes have suffered the fate of his own collection. Possessing acute powers of observation, and the instinct of a professional in knowing what points to look for in a portrait, he identified the subject, described features, posture, dress, and other details, named the artist, occasionally permitted himself a connoisseur's judgement — "bad," "very bad," "fine," "good," etc, and tells us in what rooms the portraits were hung. Such descriptions by an expert are as valuable as they are rare, and it is to be regretted that he did not extend his visits to more Welsh houses.
Included in the notebooks are the following mansions of Carmarthenshire interest — Aberglasney, Berllandywyll, Derwydd, Edwinsford, Golden Grove, Newton (Dynevor), Taliaris, and Tregib.
Aberglasney This house is in Llangathen parish. In medieval times it belonged to the family of the chieftain Llywelyn Foethus whose great-great-great-grandson, Sir William Thomas, knight, of Aberglasney, was High Sheriff of the county in 1540. From the Thomases the property passed to Bishop Rudd, Bishop of St Davids (1593—1614), who is said to have rebuilt the house. The house and estate, heavily mortgaged, came into the hands of the Hon Thomas Watson-Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse, who, early in the eighteenth century, sold it to Robert Dyer, father of the poet. The Dyers made extensive alterations to the residence, and it is that house which has substantially survived to our times. When Joseph Gulston called, the proprietor was William Herbert Dyer. This is what he wrote: MS 3, fo 62. Aberglasney, 1783. "The seat of William Dyer, Esq, Carmarthenshire. An old house with a large Hall. In the center is a Staircase which carry's you to a Chapel of which nothing now is remaining but the Pulpit which is old and curious. There is a terras round a court built on Stone Arches. It is close to Grongar Hill. The country is most beautiful. In the house are the following pictures -William Herbert Dyer, proprietor at this time, was High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1776, and died without issue in 1821. He sold the estate in 1803 for £10,500 to Thomas Phillips, a surgeon in the East India Company, who, during 32 years service in India had contrived to amass an enormous fortune. Phillips also bought a good deal of the old furniture in the house. What happened to the Dyer portraits is not known. Berllandywyll Berllandywyll is situated on the southwestern slope below Llangathen church, with an extensive view over the vale of Tywi. It was the seat of the Lloyds, descended from Thomas Lloyd of Castell Hywel in Cardiganshire who had married Bridget daughter of Sir Henry Vaughan of Derwydd in Llandybie parish, Carmarthenshire. The last of the male line at Berllandywyll, David Lloyd, married in 1748 Magdalen daughter of David Lewis of Dolhaidd. David got into financial difficulties and sold Castell Hywel. When he died without issue in 1779, Berllandywyll passed to his sister's only child, Alice Gratiana Williams who married Richard Jones of Pantglas, a barrister and later Clerk of the Peace for Carmarthenshire, who took the name Richard Jones Llwyd. Financial difficulties beset the last owners, who being childless, and in view of certain financial considerations, they left the state to Charles Richard Vaughan, younger son of Golden Grove. Richard Jones Llwyd died without issue in 1799, and on the death of the widow in 1806 at the age of 65, the property passed to Lord Cawdor, as heir by devise of the Golden Grove family. Alice Gratiana is the lady referred to in Gulston's notes. He wrote as follows: MS 3, fo 64. Berllandowill. c 1783 "Mrs Lloyd's. 3 miles from Llandilo. A very beautiful spot. On whose death this estate devolves to the second son of Mr Vaughan of Golden Grove.
"At Mrs Lloyd's of Berllandowill is a picture very much damaged of old Sir Henry Vaughan of Derwydd, half length, buff waistcoat, breast plate short, striped sleeves, falling stiff band over the armour, left hand on a table, pistol in his right hand, sash round him, short hair."Derwydd Derwydd, snug below the crest of a wooded hillslope in the parish of Llandybie, is remarkable for the fact that it has remained for over five hundred years in possession of the descendants of its medieval owners. Its original owners, a family of minor gentry, ended in the male line with Rhydderch ap Howell ap Bedo of Derwydd (living 1560). By his first wife, Margaret daughter of Owen Philipps of Cilsant, Rhydderch left an only child, Elizabeth, who married John Gwyn William of Piode in Llandybie parish. From this union, too, there was only one child, namely Sage, who married firstly, Edward Rice of Newton by whom she had no issue, and secondly Henry Vaughan a younger son of Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove. After his marriage, Henry Vaughan settled at Derwydd, and added considerably to the estate by purchase of lands in Llandybie parish. A stout Royalist, he served as a Major General during the early part of the Civil War, and was knighted in 1643. He fought at the battle of Naseby in 1644, was captured and afterwards imprisoned in the Tower. He died in the year of the Restoration, and was succeeded by his son, Henry. Henry Vaughan, born in 1613, married Elizabeth daughter of William Herbert of Tintern, Monmouthshire. He took a prominent part in public life and was knighted. He died on 26 December 1676, aged 63, and left Derwydd to his nephew Richard Vaughan of Cwrt Derllys near Carmarthen. Sir Henry had two children — John who died young, and Margaret who died unmarried in 1705. Richard Vaughan who inherited Derwydd, was the elder son of John Vaughan of Court Derllys. Born in 1654, he trained for the law, became Recorder of Carmarthen, and in 1715 was appointed a Judge of Great Sessions. He had no issue by his wife Arabella, daughter of Sir Erasmus Philipps of Picton Castle, and on his death in 1724 left the Derwydd estate to his three nieces and coheirs, namely daughters of his brother John Vaughan. Of these coheiresses only one left surviving issue. She was Elizabeth, the second daughter, who married Thomas Lloyd of Trehir who settled at Derwydd, and died in 1734. They had two children — Richard Vaughan Lloyd who died in 1729 aged 3 years, and Elizabeth Eleanora Lloyd (1725—1795) who became the sole heiress of Derwydd. Elizabeth Eleanora married Sir Thomas Stepney (d 1772) by whom she had two daughters, Elizabeth Bridgetta (1750—1780) who inherited Derwydd, and married Joseph Gulston (author of the notebooks) from whom the Stepney-Gulstons descend; and Maria Justina who married firstly, Francis Head, and secondly General Andrew Cowell from whom descend the Cowell-Stepneys and the Murray-Threiplands. Gulston has not much to say about the portraits at Derwydd, and mentions only three. Either he did not complete the description, or the majority of the portraits were kept in Llanelly House, the main residence of the Stepneys at that time. This is all he had to say in 1783-5:- MS 4. fo 17. "Derwydd, at Lady Stepney's are these 3 Portraits -Edwinsford (Rhydodyn) Edwinsford, in the parish of Llansawel, has been from medieval times the seat of a family descended from the Irish chieftain Ideo Wyllt, who, having entered Wales with a force to aid Rhys ap Tewdwr of Deheubarth (killed 1093), married a daughter of that prince, and settled at Edwinsford. Lewis Glyn Cothi composed poems of praise to the family of Rhydodyn who extended generous patronage to the bards. David ap Rhys William of Rhydodyn, died in 1613, was the first to adopt the surname Williams thereafter borne by his descendants. I'm afraid Joseph Gulston is rickety on genealogy, and his statement below on the paternity of Mrs Hodgkinson is erroneous. The last of the Williamses of Edwinsford was Thomas, Custos Rotulorum of Carmarthenshire, son of Sir Rice Williams the High Sheriff of 1680. Thomas Williams married firstly Arabella Vaughan, one of the coheiresses of Derllys Court, who died without issue, and secondly Anne Singleton of London by whom he had a daughter, Arabella, who married Sir James Hamlyn of Clovelly Court, Devon, Baronet. Their son Sir James Hamlyn Williams, Baronet, took his mother's surname on her death in 1797, and from him descends the present owner, Sir James Williams-Drummond, Baronet, of Hawthornden. It is believed that the house was entirely re-built about the beginning of the seventeenth century, and since that time many changes have been made, especially towards the middle of the last century when a new front was built, a wing added on the south side, and the dining room re-panelled with antique woodwork removed from the old house of Llether Cadfan which forms part of the estate. Very fine decorated ceilings, the work of Italian plasterers, dating from about 1620, have survived. Gulston, prejudiced against Welsh houses, considered it a "small bad house much in the same stile as all the houses in Wales, not worth seeing" (MS 1a, fo 33), but Fenton who saw it in 1809 thought differently and offered the following comments - "Pass Edwinsford, an old Mansion, pretty large, lying low on the banks of the Cothy, which winds under the beautifully wooded Hill near it. There is a large walled Garden, a great part of which is of mud, said to be the best for fruit. To characterise the different farm Offices, there occur several well executed figures in lead painted, such as a large Pig near the Piggery, Hay makers near the Haggard, and at the Stables or Kennel an admirable fowler. Near the House are shewn 13 large trees planted the year Thos Williams Esqr of this House was Sheriff,13 by him and his 12 Javelin Men after their return from the Spring Assizes — A central tree with 12 others round it." (Tours in Wales, p 54).Gulston left his impressions of the house and pictures as follows:- MS 5 fos 22-23. Edwinsford. 1783. "The seat of the late Sir Nicholas Williams, now Robert Banks Hodgkinson for the life of his wife, daughter of Sir Nicholas.14 This place is about nine miles from Landilo and has belonged to the family of Williams many years. The river Cothy runs near the house, which is called a good house for Wales; although it has not one tolerable room in it for the possessor of such an estate. Sir Nicholas15 built a banquetting house on the point of a hill about three miles distant, which was destroyed by Lightning Feby 8th 1772. N.B. it had a Spire. Here is a good kitchen garden.Pictures in Edwinsford Golden Grove (Gelli Aur) Golden Grove in the parish of Llanfihangel Aberbythych, home of the Vaughans, Earls of Carbery, remained in the hands of the family until 1804 when it was devised to Lord Cawdor whose present representative continues to own it.17 The first house, built in the 1560s, was destroyed by a disastrous fire in 1729. During the years 1754-1758 a new house arose from the ashes, whose dimensions and plan are known from surviving documents. It was abandoned about 1826 when a new Golden Grove was built on the hillside about a thousand yards to the west. The house which Gulston saw has completely disappeared and there are no remains above ground to indicate its site. When he called, the owner was John Vaughan, Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum, who had married Letitia Jane Elizabeth daughter of Sir Cornwallis Maude, Baronet (later Viscount Hawarden and Baron Montalt). Here are the pictures he saw:— "Mr Vaughn's, about 2 mile from Llandilo, but a small house. it belonged to John Vaughan who was created Baron of Emlyn & Earl of Carbery in Ireland. You first come in a hall & then a dining room on one side & a drawing room on the other, dressing room, etc. All the Pictures are put into a Lumber Garret. Good Gardens."In MS 1, fos 39-43. c 1783, he writes at greater length "Golden Grove the seat of John Vaughan esqre, near Llandilo, Carmarthenshirc, South Wales. The present possessor having new furnished the house the following pictures are placed in the Garretts, Servants Room and Butler's pantry, much to his honour, credit, and taste. | |||||||
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Portraits and Pictures in Old Carmarthenshire Housesby Major FRANCIS JONESWales Herald Extraordinary County Archivist of Carmarthenshire Readers will have noticed that detailed descriptions of pictures and other mural decorations were rarely given in inventories of the contents of houses in bygone days. Bare entries, such as "family portraits," "prints," "maps," merely excite our curiosity and leave us with feelings akin to frustration. So, it is a pleasant experience to come across manuscripts containing not only detailed descriptions of pictures, mainly portraits, in Welsh and English houses in the latter half of the seventeenth century, but also observations on the subjects, on the artists, their excellence and shortcomings. These manuscripts, ten notebooks in all, form part of the muniments of the Stepney-Gulston family of Derwydd, lately deposited in the County Record Office. Their author was Joseph Gulston (1745—1786), the celebrated collector of books and prints, whose career has earned him a place in the Dictionary of National Biography. His father, also named Joseph, amassed a fortune as a financier and merchant, and represented Poole as Member of Parliament from 1741 until his death. The circumstances surrounding the marriage of Joseph Gulston père were sufficiently unusual to form the theme of an exciting novel that enjoyed a wide popularity towards the end of the last century. His wife, Mericas Silva, was the daughter of a Portuguese merchant, and a Roman Catholic. They married by stealth. The ceremony took place in the Fleet and a second celebration was performed by a Catholic priest, so that the knot was doubly and indubitably tied. Joseph, for whom fluctuations on the bourse and the harsh realities of eighteenth century politics held no terrors, lived in constant dread of a masterful and alarming sister, a formidable Anglican who would have strongly disapproved of such "mixed" marriage. Accordingly, the union was kept secret and the children brought up in the strictest concealment.1 The eldest son of the marriage, Joseph, received his education at Eton and Christ Church College, Oxford, and on his father's death in 1766 inherited £250,000 in the Funds, a Hertfordshire estate with an annual rental of £1,500, a residence at Ealing Grove, Middlesex, and a town house in Soho Square. He devoted ... |