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The Williams family of Edwinsford, also known as Rhydodin, claimed descent from Hywel Dda and Rhodri Mawr, and through Ellen, wife of Llewelyn ap Phylip, from Henry I of England. In common with many other Welsh landed gentry, the family married into other leading Welsh houses, such as the Morgans of Tredegar and the Vaughans of Golden Grove. Through such a marriage in 1600 the family acquired the Llether Cadfan estate in Carmarthenshire.
The estate then descended in direct male line until the death without issue of Nicholas Williams in 1745: the estate then passed to his brother, Thomas Williams. He married firstly, Arabella, daughter and co-heiress of John Vaughan of Court Derllys, Carmarthenshire. Arabella died without issue and Thomas married secondly, Anne, daughter of William Singleton of London. Their eldest daughter Bridget married Robert Bankes Hodgkinson of Overton and also of Edwinsford in right of his wife. They died without issue and the estate passed to Thomas's second daughter, Arabella, who had married Sir James Hamlyn, 1st Bart., of Clovelly Court, Devon, therefore uniting the estates of Edwinsford and Clovelly.
Sir James died in 1811 and was succeeded by his only surviving son, James, who took on the arms and surname of Williams after the death of his mother in 1797. On his death in 1829 the estate passed to his eldest son, Sir James Hamlyn Williams (1790-1861). He left no male heir and with his death the baronetcy became extinct. By Sir James's will, his daughter, Mary Eleanor, inherited the Edwinsford estate, Clovelly passing to her sister, Christine. Mary married Sir James Drummond (1814-1866), 3rd Bart., of Hawthornden, Midlothian. He took on the additional surname of Williams in pursuant of his father-in-law's will. On his death in 1866, the estate passed to his eldest son, Sir James H. W. Williams-Drummond (1857-1913) and then upon his only child, Sir James Hamlyn Williams Williams-Drummond (b. 1891).
According to the 1873 return of owners of land, Sir James Hamlyn Williams-Drummond of Edwinsford owned an estimated 9,282 acres in Wales (all in Carmarthenshire) with an estimated rental of £6,358.

Sir William Williams (1634-1700), lawyer and politician, was the eldest son of Dr Hugh Williams, rector of Llanrhyddlad and Llantrisant, Anglesey. He was recorder of Chester, 1667-1684, and MP for the borough, 1675-1685; for Montgomeryshire boroughs, April-June 1685; and for Beaumaris, 1689-1690, 1695-1700. He was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in 1680 and again in 1681. In 1684 he was prosecuted for a scandalum magnatum having, as Speaker, authorised the publication of the Thomas Dangerfield's Narrative and was fined £10,000. He was originally a supporter of the country party but, following his fine, he became a supporter of James II for which he received a knighthood and the office of solicitor-general, both in 1687. He was one of the prosecuting counsel in the trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688. Following James's flight, he changed sides again and subsequently helped to draft the Bill of Rights. He bought the Llanforda estate, Oswestry, from the father of Edward Lluyd in 1665, and by marriage acquired the Glascoed estate, Llansilin, Denbighshire, where he was buried. His son, also called Sir William Williams (1684-1740), inherited Llanforda and Glascoed, whilst his grandson Sir Watkin Williams Wynn (d. 1749) inherited the Wynnstay estate through his mother.