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Sir David Williams (?1536-1613) bought the Gwernyfed estate in 1600 from John Gunter. Sir David's grandson, Sir Henry Williams (d. 1652) was created a baronet in 1644. Sir David's grand-daughter, Elizabeth Williams, carried by marriage the Gwernyfed estate to Sir Edward Williams (d. 1721) of Eltham, who was descended from the Williams family of Talyllyn. However the family title did not pass with the estate, but went to Sir Walter Williams. The estate descended in the male line until the death without a surviving son of Sir Edward Williams in 1804. He had married firstly, Mary, daughter of Isaac Leheup of Gunthorpe, Norfolk. Gwernyfed was inherited by his daughter, Mary Williams. She married Thomas Wood of Middlesex, and their son, Thomas Wood (1777-1860) was M.P. for Breconshire, 1806-1847. The estate remained in the hands of the Wood family until it was sold in 1922.

The Edwinsford estate stands midway between Llansawel and Talley near the banks of the river Cothi. The original owner of Edwinsford was Meurig Goch and the oldest part of the building probably dates to the Elizabethan period. It was extended during the seventeenth century then later extensively renovated in the nineteenth century. The Williams (later Drummond Williams) family of Edwinsford intermarried with the Vaughans of Golden Grove, so adding to both estates. From the mid-twentieth century Edwinsford fell into decay. According to a 1873 return, the last possessor, Sir James Hamlyn Williams Williams-Drummond, who died in 1970, owned an estimated 9,282 acres in Carmarthenshire at an estimated annual rental of ℗Đ6,358. The Williams family contributed notably to Carmarthenshire civic and political life, with eight High Sheriffs, two Lords Lieutenants, three Members of Parliament, as well as numerous Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace to their credit. Sir Francis Dudley Williams Drummond (1863-1935) chronicled his family history in Annals of Edwinsford, Clovelly and Hawthorn-den (1924). The first owners of Golden Grove (Gelli Aur) near Bronwydd in Carmarthenshire were the Vaughan family during the sixteenth century. The estate was taken over by the Cawdor family in 1804 and, between 1827 and 1832, John Frederick Campbell, second baron Cawdor, completely rebuilt the original Tudor mansion. The 5th Earl of Cawdor, John Duncan Vaughan Campbell (1900-1970), leased Golden Grove to Carmarthenshire County Council. Its grounds today are open to the public as a country park and the buildings themselves house Carmarthenshire Agricultural College.

Mathew Evans, a solicitor and twice mayor of Aberystwyth (1734 and 1760) is the first recorded occupier of Cwmcynfelyn. He left his estate to his nephew, Mathew Davies of Wileirog-uchaf (sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1790). Mathew Davies married Jane, daughter of Roderick Richards of Plas Penglais, Aberystwyth, and had two daughters and co-heiresses. Jane, the eldest, married Isaac Lloyd Williams (1771-1846) of Lincolns Inn, the son of David Williams of Ty'n-y-wern and Ystrad Teilo in the parish of Llanrhystud, Cardiganshire. Isaac was succeeded by his eldest son, Mathew Davies Williams (1800-1860), who sold parts of the estate to the Gogerddan estate. Cwmcynfelyn appears to have passed out of the hands of the Williams family by 1881.

Much of the property forming the estate associated with Castell Deudraeth, Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire, formerly called Bron Eryri, was acquired by David Williams (1799-1869). Having unsuccessfully contested the Merionethshire seat in 1859 and 1865, he finally became the Liberal Member of Parliament for the county in 1868. He was succeeded in the Deudraeth estate by his eldest son Sir Arthur Osmond Williams MP (1849-1927), Liberal Member of Parliament for Merionethshire, 1900-1910.

William Williams ('Gwilym Cyfeiliog') (1801-1876), born in Winllan, Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, was the son of Richard Williams, a Calvinistic minister and Mary Williams (formerly Howell). In about 1822, he acquired land in Bontdolgadfan, Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, and remained there for the rest of his life, establishing a strong association with the area. He held the posts of vestry clerk, and Assistant Overseer of the Poor, 1867-1870. From 1823 his poetry and hymns (as 'Gwilym Cyfeiliog') were frequently published. His brother, the Rev. Richard Williams (1802-1842) was a Calvinistic Methodist minister at Liverpool. William Williams married three times, to Anne Evans, of Minffordd, in 1828, to Mary Morris, of Dolgwyddyl, Trefeglwys, in 1834, and to Mary Evans, of Tyn-llwyn, Llanbrynmair (d. 1891), in 1845. He had ten children, including Richard Williams, of Celynog, Newtown (1835-1906), William, Evan (c. 1855-1875), Sarah (afterwards Roberts) (c. 1865-1917) who married John Roberts in 1900, Hannah (-1889), Anne, Elen (afterwards Griffiths), Mary (afterwards Wigley) who moved to America [c. 1850] and the Rev. John Williams (1857-1908) minister at Ffestiniog, Dolgellau and Wrexham. He was involved in temperance societies in Machynlleth. John Williams' children included William Emyr, J. Baldwyn and Eluned. The family accumulated many papers relating to Llanbrynmair, including records of eisteddfodau, Bontdolgadfan Calvinistic Methodist chapel, temperance and friendly societies, and the diary of Richard Tibbott, who was Congregationalist minister of Llanbrynmair, 1741-2.

John Williams (d. 1898), of Dowlais, Glamorgan, moved to Acre House, Acrefair, Denbighshire, in 1864, when he became manager of the New British Iron Company at Ruabon, Denbighshire, having previously been employed at various ironworks in south Wales. His wife, Maria (d. 1906), was the daughter of the Rev. Ebenezer Pugh, a Calvinistic Methodist minister, and sister of the Rev. John Pugh, Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire, later of Holywell, Flintshire, the author of several books. John and Maria Williams had five daughters and a son. Four of the daughters died unmarried: Margaret J. (d. 1926); Elinor (d. 1937); Ida Jane (d. 1893), a teacher at the Llandderfel Board School, Meirionethshire, 1886-1889; and Annie (d. 1941), educated at Shrewsbury, 1872, and a governess in the New Quay area of Cardiganshire, 1882-1883 and 1888-1890. The other daughter, Mary, was educated at Shrewsbury, and at the Training College, Swansea, 1875, and married Owen Pritchard of Oswestry, but died without issue in 1890. The son, the Rev. Ebenezer John Williams (1851-1938), was educated at the Holt Academy, 1864-1868, and the Theological College, Bala, 1878-1882, having been employed, 1868-1877, at the office of the ironworks in Ruabon. He served as minister at the Calvinistic Methodist chapels in Llanwddyn, Montgomeryshire, 1882-1889, during which time the Liverpool Corporation Water Works was constructed in the area, Llandrillo, Merionethshire, 1889-1897, Ruthin, 1897-1906, and Froncysyllte, Denbighshire, 1907-1929. He and retired from the ministry in 1929. As well as the ironworks, and Calvinistic Methodism, the family's chief interestes were the Temperance Movement, the Liberal Party and its election campaigns, and (for personal reasons in 1893-1894) Marriage Law Reform.

The Williams family of Aberpergwm was an old family with a very long association with the upper Neath Valley. The family pedigree can be traced back to one Morgan ap Caradoc ap Iestyn, the 12th century lord of Nedd-Afan. The family made Aberpergwm their home in the 16th century, and continued there until the 1950s. The estate consisted in the main of a large area in the parish of Cadoxton-juxta-Neath, principally in the hamlets of Neath Higher and Neath Middle, in the manor of Neath Ultra and Cilybebyll, and adjacent areas in Breconshire. Several members of the family were instrumental in cultivating Welsh poetry and music in the Neath Valley, and the house once contained many important Welsh manuscripts.
The Williams family were deeply involved in the coal industry, encouraging the growth of the industry to such an extent that Morgan Stuart Williams is described in 1889 as colliery owner in preference to the usual esquire.
William Williams (1788-1855) married Matilda Susannah Smith, only daughter and sole heiress of Col. Thomas Smith of Castellau, Glamorgan, and Rosamund, daughter of John Bush of Burcot, Oxfordshire. Matilda Susannah married secondly, Edward Lloyd of Ty'n-y-Rhyl, Flintshire, which may explain the presence of papers of the Lloyd family of Castellau and Aberpergwm.
According to the 1873 return of owners of land, Morgan Stuart Williams (1846-1909) of Aberpergwm, Glamorgan, owned an estimated 3,917 acres in Wales (in Glamorgan and Breconshire), with an estimated rental of £3,690. He purchased the St Donat's Castle estate in 1899. His eldest son and heir, Godfrey Herbert Joseph Williams, sold St Donat's Castle in 1922.