Letters, press cuttings, transcripts and associated papers collected by Sir Evan D. Jones (1859-1949), of Pentower, Fishguard, relating to the French Invasion of 1797 and to the North Pembrokeshire Local Militia. The correspondents, 1925-1931, include Professor David Salmon, Iltid E. Thomas, J. Kyrle Fletcher and Lord St Davids.

'Cadw Di gai neu Gofiedydd yr Amserau', being a miscellany and commonplace book kept by William Owen ('Gwilym Alaw'), Chwaen Wen, Anglesey, farmer and poet. -- Among the numerous items in the volume are: 'Petigree of William Owen Chwaen wen Anglesey ... son of Owen Williams of Erianall Goch Llechgwenfarwydd ...', 'Count of stock at Whaen Wen when I married Being in the 23 years of my age in July 1785', 'Prawf o fuddioldeb rhywogaeth dda o ddefaid a wnaed gan ... Arglwydd Somerville yn Somerset yn ... 1804', 'Swm Treth y Property a godwyd gan W. Owen yn Llantrisant Ceidio a gwredog ...', 1803-15, 'Hanes Ardrethion chwaen wen', 1785-1801, 'Rents Paid by Wm. Owen to Sr. J. T. Stanley...', 'Tythes rents paid by Will Owen at chwaen wenn', 1787-1819, 'An Inventory of all Live and dead Stock in the Parish of Llantrisaint, and in the Chapelry of Gwredog in the said Parish ... made in the year 1798 May 21 when an invasion was daily expected by the French under Napoleon Buonaparte which inventories were duly made in all the Maritime districts of Gt. Britain so that sufferers should be indemnified out of the Public Funds', 'A list of persons in the Parish of Llantrisaint and in the Chapelry of Gwredog willing to serve in defence of the Country should an invasion be made, in what manner and what implements they can bring forward, all between the age of 15 and 60 years', 'Copies of Inventories Appraised by William Owen of Dronwy and others between the years 1773 and [1848]', 'Account of Leg(a)cy schedules filled and send to London By me William Owen Blew Bell Holyhead', 1837-49, 'Copies of some Wills Made by me William Owen', valuations and appraisements in various Anglesey parishes, a long autobiographical note by William Owen, 'Cyfrif or Arian a gefais wrth fyned ir carchar ir Kings Bench ac a gefais yno oddiwrth gyfeillion yn Mon ac wedi dyfod adref gan y rhai teimladwy', etc.

A volume (No. VI) in the autograph of the Rev. Henry James Vincent (1799-1865), vicar of St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire. The manuscript contains a description of 'an archaeological tour', which commenced 'Monday Augt 25 1862', from Llantood to St Davids and back to Goodwick. Places visited or referred to include Eglwyswrw, Brynberian, Henry's Moat, Ambleston, Little Newcastle, St Dogwells, Letterston, Jordanston, Granston, St Nicholas, Trenewydd (Pencaer), Trefasser, Ffynnon Druidion, Mathry, Mesur y dorth, Waun beddau, Rhodiad, St Davids, Llanrian, Trevine, Trenewydd (Pencaer), Llanwnda and Goodwick. There are many references to and short descriptions of archaeological and historical sites. The descriptions are most detailed for the St Nicholas, Llanwnda and Pencaer area, with which the writer was familiar. He stayed twice at Trenewydd (Pencaer), 'the residence of my cousin John James, Esq.' and he refers to Trevelgare [?recte Trefelgarn] as 'the abode of my childhood'. He also recites anecdotes relating to the French landing at Pencerrig gwastad in 1797. There are interesting details also in his description of St Davids, which he compares with its condition when he first saw it in January 1810 and he gives also his earliest recollections of the buildings and of the grammar school in the cathedral. A large number of pages have been inserted into the description of the tour giving details concerning famous figures connected with various places on or near the route of the tour. Most of this material is derived from published sources but in some cases (e.g. the section relating to the Rev. Nathaniel Rowland) it includes personal reminiscences and information acquired from acquaintances. The following figures are referred to at some length: Owen Glendower (a lengthy description of his activities as Little Trefgarn in St Dogwells was 'supposed to have been the birthplace of the celebrated Owen Glendower', though the writer admits later 'That Glendower was born in Pembrokeshire is scarcely probable'; Joseph Harris (Gomer, 1773-1825), (from St Dogwells) (in this section the writer states his attitude towards the preservation of the Welsh language); the Rev. Nathaniel Rowland (1749-1831) (connected with Little Newcastle) (this section contains some personal reminiscences and information acquired from acquaintances and details relating to other members of the Rowland family); and the Rev. Howell Davies (1716-1770) (connected with Llysyfran). There are briefer references to Bartholomew Roberts (1682?-1722), the pirate, from Little Newcastle, the Rev. William Gambold (1672-1728) and John Gambold (1711-1771), the Moravian bishop. There is a longer note relating to Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815), which includes anecdotes which the writer had heard from a friend of Picton. The writer states that he had been promised a title for orders from St Nicholas but the incumbent had died before the writer had come of age and had been succeeded by the Rev. William Grey Hughes (?1792-1824). The writer gives his recollections of the Rev. William Grey Hughes and also details concerning his father the Rev. John Hughes (1760-1813) and his grandfather the Rev. Thomas Grey (1733-1810).

A volume, 1794-[1827] (watermark 1794), in the hand of Capt. Frederick Jones of Brecon, Breconshire, and Pencerrig, Radnorshire, younger brother of the artist Thomas Jones, Pencerrig, comprising a short narrative account, [1794], of his military career in India while serving as an officer in the army of the East India Company, 1777-1788 (ff. 37-40 verso), and brief diary entries for October 1788-February 1827, described as 'Memorandums extracted from Pocket book ledgers &c of my own' (ff. 41-168, rectos only). The diary entries record his life after his return to Britain from India and refer mainly to family matters, excursions, journeys, and visits to and from friends, with occasional comments on local, national, and European events.
The diary is bound together with copies of Jones's two published volumes, A Brief Account of the Tullaugaum Expedition from Bombay… (Brecknock: W. and G. North, 1794; Libri Walliae 4972, ESTC T113094), published anonymously and based on diaries which he subsequently destroyed (ff. 1-15); together with Copies of Letters, merely intended for, and by the Desire of Intimate Friends (Brecknock: W. and G. North, 1795; not in ESTC), also published anonymously, being three letters from him, two sent from Canton, China, in 1787 and 1788, and the third from Paris, September 1789 (ff. 16-32, the stub of f. 16 apparently being the remains of the title page). The diary includes references to the French landing at Fishguard in 1797 (f. 59), family monuments erected in Nantmel Church and Caebach Chapel, 1810 (ff. 84, 86), and the introduction of gas lighting in Brecon, 1822-1823 (ff. 143, 145). The stubs of ff. 34-36 contain fragments of text. For extracts of the diary see 'The diary of Captain Frederick Jones', ed. by R. C. B. Oliver, Transactions of the Radnorshire Society, 53 (1983), 28-56; 54 (1984), 41-57; 56 (1986), 52-71; 60 (1990), 41-65; and 61 (1991), 54-70.

Fifty-eight holograph letters addressed to Susan(na) Lloyd at Hafodunos, Mold, at Soughton House (upper Soughton), Northop, etc. The writers include Ann Jemima Clough, Thakeham Place, 1797 (a proposed visit by the writer's children, news of family and friends), D[orothea] Clough [the recipient's sister], Denbigh, [1805] and undated (2) (legacies bequeathed by the wills of aunt E. Conway and aunt Wickham) (with one draft reply), Richd. Garnons [Colomendy], undated (2) (pleasantries), Eliza Griffith, Carreg-lwyd, etc., [1801]-1803 and undated (4) (news of relatives and friends, a meeting at Llangefni in connection with a proposed testimonial to Mr. Sparrow for his services in the Customs, disturbances in the Paris mines, the arrival of troopers in Caernarvonshire for fear of a rising by the poor, the discovery of copper at Ynysygwyddal, the birth of an heir at Leweney and a reference to Mrs. Piozzi, the progress of the harvest, comments on a visit to Bath), Holland Griffith, Carreglwyd, 1838 (amusement afforded the recipient by the writer's Welsh paper, hopes that electioneering differences are fast dying away in Flintshire, a visit to the writer by a multitude of Teetotalists, the letting of the writer's colliery at Berw), Richd. Howard, Denbigh and Beaumaris, c. 1817-1843 and undated (4) (news of relatives and friends, a visit to Bangor Deanery, serious proceedings arising from old Panton's will, a change in the agency of the Marquis of Anglesey, satisfaction with the writer's curate, the probable departure of Thomas Davies from Jesus College, Oxford, a new statute in the University, the rejection of three Anglesey young men for scholarships, observations on the projected division of Soughton Common, a legal action touching a mortgage of the Hafodunos estate (together with a receipt, 1815, from Richd. Howard to Susan Lloyd for a sum of £6/10/0 paid by the former on the latter's behalf to Bevan, the timber merchant, on account of Coedycra Mill), the writer's departure from Beaumaris and subsequent movements, income from minerals received for the recipient, dissension in the National Church) (one incomplete), Catha[rine] Lloyd, from Carreglwyd, from Bath, etc., [17]94-1820 and undated (26) (copious news of relatives and friends, references to threats of French invasion and to the defenceless state of the Kingdom (1795-1804), accounts of visits to the theatre and to parties and to Ireland and Bath, etc., Colonel William Shipley's success in the Flintshire parliamentary election of 1807, references to the mine at Ynnisygwyddle), J[ohn] Ll[oyd], Dublin Bay, 1801 (an account of the voyage from Holyhead and the arrival at Dublin), M. Lloyd, Bagillt, etc., [17]81-1790 and undated (9) (personal, the writer's health, news of relatives and friends, the death of the recipient's brother Ben), M. Lloyd, London, etc., 1803-1809 and undated (5) (news of relatives and friends, the health of the writer's husband, a reference to the most excellent shore at Llandidno Bay, the progress of the harvest, the writer's removal to London, visits to the 'Ladies of Llangollen' and to Cheltenham, the recipient's trouble about the writer's chaise), Phoe[be] Lloyd, from Plascoch, undated (the health of the writer's aunt), M. E. Potter, Soughton, [17]91 (personal, business matters on behalf of the writer's mother, news of the writer's mother) (with additions by M. E. Potter to Mr. Potter, touching 'home matters', with references to stock, and from C[atharine] Lloyd to Susanna Lloyd, touching armorial colours for a piece of plate), and Sarah Potter, undated (thanks for the loan of Aunt Lloyd's letter, requires a supply of ale).

Account book of Llangloffan Baptist Church, parish of Granston, Pembrokeshire, 1785-1806, in the hand of John Evans, Cilau-wen. The accounts relate largely to the receipt of rents, interest, and legacies, and to payments made to ministers and for distribution among the poor. One item refers to a sum of £12.19s. delivered to the congregation 'to pay the law shute of Thomas John Sumerton' [on a charge of treason in connection with the landing of the French at Fishguard in 1797]. Inset are two receipts to David Evans, Rinaston, for sums of £20 and £40 borrowed by his late father [John Evans, Cilau-wen] from the ministers of Llangloffan Church for the late Jno. Lewis 'the Quaker', Haverfordwest, and Jno. Thomas, Newport.

Transcripts of documents, mainly official letters, etc., relating to the landing of French troops near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, 1797, with a plan of the attempted invasion.

Two volumes of transcripts, etc., lettered on the spine 'Collectanea concerning Caermarthen . . . Alcwyn C. Evans, Caermarthen'. In addition the fly-leaf of the first volume is inscribed 'Collectanea relating to the Town and County of Caermarthen'. The contents include a printed copy of Cartularium S. Johannis Bapt. [recte S. John the Evangelist] de Caermarthen . . . (Cheltenham, 1865), together with a transcript, an English translation, notes, references, a list of priors, and indexes compiled by the scribe in 1869 [see Peniarth MS 401 and NLW MS 12376C]; inscriptions and epitaphs in the churches and churchyards of Llanelly, Penbre, Kidwely, St. Ishmael, Llanstephan, Cilycwm, Mothvey, Mydrim, Llanvihangel, Llanginning, Llandevaelog, Llanvihangel Aberbythich, Llanvynnydd, Llanfair ar y bryn, Llanarthney, Cowbridge, Llanbleiddian in Llantrissaint, Llanfihangel (Y Pont Fon), Llandochai, St. Hilary, and the Irish Franciscans' Church in the Convent of Isidore at Rome, together with a few plans and armorial bearings, the latter both emblazoned and in trick; reminiscences of 'old' David Rees, clerk of St. Peter's Church, Carmarthen (a list of public houses in the borough in 1798, a grinding mill in Blue Street, the imprisonment of the French on 26 February 1797, the pillorying of Thomas Evans ('Twm Penpistyll') ['Tomos Glyn Cothi'] four times in one year for treason, the visit of Lord Nelson, etc.); annotated transcripts of 'cywyddau', etc., by Hopkin ap Thomas ap Eineon, Ieuan Deulwyn, William ap Ieuan hen, and Lewis Glyn Cothi; archaeological and historical notes, from Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1852-1859, on Castell Carreg Cennen, Cwrt Bryn y Beirdd, 'Llyn fan. The Caermarthenshire Van pool and its fairies', Kidwelly Castle, Kidwelly Church, and the boundaries of Carmarthenshire; abstracts of grants of the manor of Emlyn otherwise Emlyon, co. Carmarthen, 1611-1614; transcripts of an instrument of sequestration of the fruits of the parish church of St. Peter's, Carmarthen, 1705, and of the presentation of Richard Prichard, M.A., to the benefice, 1709; 'Hanes Mynachlog Talyllychau. The History of Talley Monastery' by David Howell ('Llawdden'), with an English translation by Edwd. Davies, classical tutor in Brecon Independent College; an annotated transcript of a letter from John Vaughan, 2nd viscount Lisburne, from Crosswood, to Thomas Pryse, M.P., at Gogerddan, 1739 (the writer's misfortune at Llannidloes, observations on the inhabitants of Cardigan and a wish for the recipient's success); a transcript of 'Valoi Benefic' in Wallia' from Harleian MS 128; 'An Inventory of the White or Grey Friars at Caermarthen' [1534] transcribed from public records; a transcript of 'The Roll of Fealty and Presentments in Caermarthenshire on the accession of Edward the Black Prince to his Principality of Wales', 1343; a biographical note on Sir Stephen Bawcen ( ob. 1257); 'cywyddau' and 'awdlau' by David ap Edmund and Lewis Glyn Cothi, with annotations; accounts of the Caermarthen Literary and Scientific Institution from its foundation in 1841 to 1863; lists of officials (chancellors, precentors, treasurers, and archdeacons) of the diocese of St. Davids from the twelfth to the nineteenth century; 'Chwedyl o Rhydychain'; a parchment missive in Norman-French, 1356, from John Laurens, mayor of Caermarthen, to the people of Barnstaple, 'expressing Reciprocal Professions of Good Will' (endorsed 'Agreement . . . to have access to each other's Fairs without Toll'), together with an English translation; epitaphs in the church and churchyard of St. Peter's, Carmarthen; poetry, partly extracted from Rhys Jones: Gorchestion Beirdd Cymru (Amwythig, 1773), by Aneurin, Taliesin, Risiart ap Rys ('o Langarfan'), Llywarch Hen, Bardd Glas o'r Gadair, Rhys Goch (Tir Iarll), and Rhys Goch o Eryri; two English translations, one being by Lady Flora Hastings, of poems by [Johann Christoph Friedrich von] Schiller; a bill from John Jones, Carmarthen, for engraving the inscription (enclosed) on a brass plate put in the foundation stone of St. Paul's Church, Carmarthen, and the inscription on a silver trowel used by Thomas Burgess, bishop of St. Davids, in laying the first stone, 1824, with annotations by the scribe; extracts from Cambrian Register and Archaeologia Cambrensis, etc. ('What 'Dyved' was', 'The Caio Gold Mines', 'The Rebellion. Temp. Oliver Cromwell', translations of poetry by Lewis Glyn Cothi, Gogofau, Owen Glyndwr's progress in South Wales in 1403, a description of Allt Cynedda, 'Eisteddfodau: Temp. Henry IV', 'On Carn Goch in Caermarthenshire', 'The Dolau Cothy Stones', etc.); a 'cywydd' by Gruffydd Llwyd ap Dafydd ap Eineon Lygliw, with an English translation and annotations; extracts relating to the tale of Merlin; a list of festivals of Welsh saints; a 'cywydd' by William Egwad ('o'r Ynyswen'); a history of Dryslwyn Castle; an English translation of the charter granted to the burgesses of Llaugharne by Sir Guy de Bryan, circa 1300; 'A Sketch of the Life of Revd. John Evans [Unitarian minister at Evesham and Carmarthen], written by his nephew'; extracts from public records relating to Carmarthenshire; a list of parliamentary representatives for the county and for the county borough of Carmarthen, with dates and biographical details, for the period 1536- 1895 (continued)

Printed abstracts and manuscript transcripts of fourteen charters of the borough of Cardiff, 1338-1687, and transcripts of cases and opinions of John Richardson, Middle Temple, 1818, Henry Al(s)worth Merewether, Chancery Lane, 1824-1825, etc., relating to the appointment of constables and capital burgesses, exemption from corporation tolls, etc.; a grant of the lordship of Kidwellie to John Vaughan, 1st earl of Carbery, and Richard, lord Vaughan, his son and heir apparent, 1630; transcripts and translated abstracts of the parish registers of Trelech a'r Bettws, 1663-1837; abstracts of pre-1600 probate records preserved in the St. Davids Diocesan Registry, Carmarthen, with a list of testators recorded in each bundle and an index of places; material towards a history of the families of Vaughan and Lake, in the form of annotated transcripts and abstracts of probate records, compiled pedigrees, extracts from the parish registers of Llandevaelog, 1695-1780, Llanfihangel Aberbythich, 1704-1774, Llanarthney, 1729, St. Peter's, Carmarthen, 1704-1806, Llandybie, 1702-1781, Llangunnor, 1728-1779, and Llangendeirn, 1739-1779, similar epitaphs from the parish churches of Llangunnor and Llandevaelog, and records of the services of Captain Harry Vaughan, R.N., Carmarthen, and of his brother-in- law Captain James Katon, R.N.; material relating to the families of Bloome (Blome) and Copner, in the form of annotated transcripts and abstracts of probate records, compiled pedigrees, and extracts from the parish registers of Abergwili, 1723-1767, St. Peter's, Carmarthen, 1675/6-1756, and Llanvynydd, 1692-1782; a transcript of the will of Walter Rees of Water Street, parish of St. Peter, co. of the borough of Carmarthen, 1824; pedigrees based on probate records of the family of Thomas of Trelech a'r Bettws, Mydrim, Llangeler, etc. (among them being Samuel Thomas, Principal of Carmarthen Presbyterian College); a transcript of the will of William Davies late of Carmarthen but now of Five Fields Row, parish of Saint George, Hanover Square, co. Middlesex, 1788, providing for the establishment of a free school at Trelech a'r Bettws; an account of the action of the King v. General Thomas Picton in the Court of King's Bench, 1806-1808, on a charge of putting Louisa Calderon to torture in the island of Trinidad; pedigrees based on probate records of the family of Philips (Phillipps, Philipps, etc.) of Marthri [sic], co. Pembroke, Cwmgwili, Llandissilio, Laugharne, Llanarthney, Henllan Amgoed, etc.; the names of the clergy evicted from churches in co. Carmarthen by virtue of the Act of Uniformity of 1662, extracted from Edmund Calamy: The Nonconformist's Memorial (London, 1775); annotated selections, 1662-1683, taken in August 1890, from an 'old MSS Book, parchment bound, in Caermarthen Registry' [i. e., a register of St. Davids Chapter acts and leases now designated SD Ch/B 19 in the Church in Wales Collection in the National Library of Wales]; abstracts of miscellaneous probate records in the Diocesan Registry, Carmarthen, among them being the records of the family of Middleton of Pwllcrochan, co. Pembroke, etc.; 'Notes made in a search for the ancestry of Horatio Davis, of Boston, Mass., U.S.', including abstracts of Bristol and St. Davids probate records, and extracts from the parish register of Tickenham, co. Somerset, 1540-1674; poetry by John Blackwell ['Alun'] ('o Wyddgrug'), [Thomas Evans] 'Tho[ma]s Glyn Cothi', David ap Ieuan ap Rhydderch (i.e., David Davies, Castell Hywel), Siams Dafydd ('Iago ab Dewi'), 'Gwilym Tew Glan Taf', Edw. Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'), Henry Thomas ('Don Glantowy') (a poem entitled 'Bryn Grongaer' written without a single apostrophe), and the Reverend John Evans, Coed (1808-1819); lists of freeholders and of land- and householders sworn at Carmarthen, 1764; a description of 'Caermarthen Civic Emblems'; 'Old Welsh Phrases. Collected by Mr. Lloyd Morgan, of Llanidloes', almost entirely taken from William Owen [-Pughe]: A Dictionary of the Welsh Language, vol. I (London, 1803); a transcript of George Owen's Brief Account of Wales; etc. There is a list of contents of the first volume and an alphabetical index to the second volume. Inserted as a frontispiece to the first volume is an etched view of the quay and town of Carmarthen, 1868, by D. Jones, and to the second volume an engraving of the bridge and town, and in the text there are a number of pen-and-ink illustrations.

Transcripts by E.A. Lewis of documents in the Public Record Office relating to the trial of Thomas John and Samuel Griffith on a charge of treason in connection with the French invasion of Fishguard, 1797.