Harford family, of Falcondale and Peterwell

Family

Harford family, of Falcondale and Peterwell

David Evans bought the land and built the first house at Peterwell near Lampeter, Cardiganshire, in Charles I's reign. The Evans family were originally from Llechwedd Deri. Subsequently the Peterwell and Llechwedd Deri estates passed to the Lloyd family when Mary, widow of Daniel Evans, married secondly John Lloyd of Bwchllaethwen, Llangwynne, who came to reside at Peterwell. His daughter, Eleanor, married Sir Thomas Stepney and their daughter, Elizabeth, married Walter Lloyd (d. 1747) a lawyer from Foelallt, Llanfairclydogau, Carmarthenshire, and they settled in Peterwell, which with Llechwedd Deri had come to Elizabeth as co-heiress.
John Lloyd (1718-1755), their eldest son, succeeded to the estates, but he died without issue and the estates passed to his brother, Herbert Lloyd (1720-1769), who was created a baronet in 1763. Due to his large debts he shot himself in August 1769. The estate then passed to his nephew, John Adams of Whitland, MP for Carmarthen Borough 1774-1780, the son of Sir Herbert's sister, Elizabeth. He amassed more debts and attempted to sell the estate. Eventually, Albany Wallis, a London attorney, who held the original mortgage, bought the Peterwell estate in 1776. On his death he left the bulk of his fortune to Lady Bailey of Pall Mall for life, with remainder to her son Colonel Bailey Wallis. He sold the estate to Richard Hart-Davies, a partner in Harford Bank, Bristol.
The Harford family of Blaise Castle, Gloucestershire, purchased Peterwell from Richard Hart-Davis in 1820 after he had lost his money in 1819. The estate remained in the hands of the Harford family until 1949. The Harfords chose not to live at Peterwell and erected instead a new mansion at Falcondale about a mile away, which they had acquired at the beginning of the 19th century.
According to the 1873 return of owners of land, John Battersby-Harford of Falcondale owned an estimated 8,399 acres in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire with an estimated rental of £5,660. Their Falcondale estate was sold to the County Council in 1951.