An Inheritance in Llandovery.

One of the intriguing aspects of William Price Tyllwyn's will is the revelation that he owned property in Llandovery. This is almost certainly what qualified him as a freeholder and the style Gent. and hence to have the right to vote.

A detailed history of many of the properties in Llandovery town was written and published by the Llandovery Civic Trust as “Pages from the history of Llandovery” by Alfred Theodore Arber-Cooke in two volumes (1975 and reprint 1994). Arber-Cooke was the town clerk of Llandovery and had access to many historical records. This source, particularly Vol. 2, proved invaluable in many respects. The Appendix Notes of Vol. 2 actually contains a pedigree for William Price (although not correct in every detail). Mr. Arber-Cooke's detailed descriptions and histories of several Llandovery properties were particularly revealing. In the following paragraphs and subsequent posts I have quoted from Vol.2

Arber-Cooke's Pedigree of William Price

In his notes with reference to the Half Moon in Stone St., A-C writes “A pedigree of this branch of the Price family is printed here. It does not show how David Price of Glasallt was related to this family - he may have been another son of William Price of Tynyllwyn but was not baptised at Myddfai with the rest of William's children.”  (PFHL Vol2 p. 451)

(In fact A-C is correct that David Price of Glasallt does not appear in the parish register. For some reason the register page for 1755 has been (literally) cut short and the last baptismal entry is for 12 Oct 1755. However the Myddfai Bishop's Transcript for 1855 has the entry for 26 Oct 1755 - David son of William Price and Margaret. The fact that David was indeed one of William's sons is also confirmed by William's will and by a draft bond drawn up by his brother John which also identifies him as David Price of Glasallt Fawr. It is further confirmed by another son - Morgan Price's will of 1804 which mentions his brother David.)

A-C continues, “Neither does it show the link between this branch and that once headed by Thomas Price of Llandovery, mercer (d. 1796) who held another group of Stone Street properties. The Price properties had evidently constituted a single block, the sites of the present Nos. 30 - 52. One moiety [share], now represented by Nos. 30 - 36, descended to William Price of Tynyllwyn. The other, where Nos. 38 - 52 now stand, came into the possession of John Rolley of Nantymwyn, probably when he married Rachel, daughter of Thomas Price, in 1779. This moiety is later found in the hands of one of Rachel's nephews, Samuel Price, Postmaster. Rachel and several other children of Thomas Price was baptised at Myddfai.”  This is an intriguing speculation based on information which I have not been able to trace. A-C gives no details of the source of his information regarding the legacies of the Stone Street properties and in spite of some research no will has been found. There may be some clues in the deeds of the relevant properties but access to this sort of information is difficult if not impossible. More information regarding Thomas Price, mercer, John Rollwy etc. will be provided in a later post.

 

The Pedigree

The pedigree provided for William Price Tynyllwyn is incomplete (it was almost certainly not intended to be complete) but it is also understandably inaccurate. Apart from the omission of David, the children are all shown. However, William Price Tynllwyn's son William (identified by A-C as William Price of Mothvey b. 1758 and hereafter identified by the same title for the sake of clarity) is shown as married to Magdalen who, in fact was his father's second wife. William of Mothvey was actually married to Elizabeth William at MPC in 1783 but died comparatively young in 1797 thus predeceasing his father. A-C correctly identifies William Price of Pentreoyn (Pentwyn) as the son of William Price of Mothvey.

Jane, the eldest daughter of William Tynllwyn (bp. 1750) is assumed by A-C to have married Benjamin Davies 3 May 1771 - this being the only marriage recorded for a Jane Price at Myddfai and she would have been of an appropriate age. However, at the time of William's will she was married to Rees John of Llanthoysant and at this time she had nine children. Some further research is required to clear this matter up but it is made difficult by the fact that most of the Llanddeusant Parish Records do not survive apart from the Bishop’s Transcripts.

Leaving aside the pedigree, A-C has painstakingly researched much of the history of individual properties in Llandovery and some relevant extracts are reproduced in the next post.

Notes: Mothvey is an old form of Myddfai. Llanthoysant is an old form of Llanddeusant (Church of Two Saints) a parish bordering Myddfai to the North West

Some Welsh meanings - Tynyllwyn = House in the Grove. Pentwyn - top of the mound.