Prospect House

Prospect House.

Prospect House Llandovery now a branch of Lloyds Bank.

A-C "The deeds of Prospect House, which recite the history of the property since 1788, describe it as "formerly known as Castell yr Esgob or Bishop's Castle but now known as Prospect House".... " The earliest documents among the existing deeds of the house are two indentures of Lease and Release dated the 22nd and 23rd Nov 1788 made between William Price and John Evans, vendor and purchaser of the house.....[This establishes the fact that a William Price owned Prospect House in 1788.]

An indenture of the 31^st March 1789, between John Evans and Elizabeth his wife of the one part and Morgan Davies, gentleman, of the other part shows the new owner and his wife mortgaging the property, presumably in order to complete the purchase. Other documents refer to this transaction. One is the chirography of a fine levied between Morgan Davies, plaintiff, and John and Elizabeth Evans, deforceants, on 30^th March 1795. [This effectively conveyed the property to Morgan Davies who presumably had provided the mortgage – see footnote regarding this legal device]

Another (document) is an indenture dated the 3^rd October 1795 between John and Elizabeth Evans of the one part and Morgan Davies of the other part.

Finally there are indentures of Lease and Release made 6th and 7th July 1796 between 1) William Price and his wife Maudlin or Maud 2) Morgan Davies 3) John Evans 4) Thomas Bishop and 5) John Rees Bishop. By this transaction all the parties to the earlier documents united to transfer the ownership of the property to Thomas Bishop...On 29th June 1797 there is the chirography of a fine levied at Great Sessions, Carmarthen between Thomas Bishop, plaintiff, and William and Maudlin Price, deforceants."

This appears to be a complex series of events and the following is an attempt at simplifying them.

William Price sold the property in Nov 1788.

March 1789. In order to complete the transaction John and Elizabeth Evans obtain a mortgage from Morgan Davies.

1795. The terms of the chirograph are unknown. It obviously authenticates some agreement between the mortgagee Morgan Davies and borrowers John and Elizabeth Evans. The usual use of this legal device was to authenticate title to the property.

1796 At some point John and Elizabeth Evans are either forced to default on the mortgage or they want to sell the house and repay it. All parties, William and Maudlin Price (William the original owner), Morgan Davies (mortgagee), John and Elizabeth Evans (the occupiers and borrowers) and two Llandovery solicitors, Thomas Bishop (purchaser) and his son John Rees Bishop unite to transfer the title of the property to Thomas Bishop.

By the legal transaction of a levied fine Thomas Bishop establishes his title to the property.

The fact that 1796 and 1797 documents mention Maud / Maudlin as William’s wife makes it highly likely that the original owner was William Price Tynllwyn who would have sold the property prior to his marriage to Magdalen Rees in 1789. It's worth noting that this house was a considerable property with its own grounds in the High St. which were eventually built upon. A-C tells us that "In 1810 he house was rated on survey at £2 a year, more than five times the value placed on Butter Hall and Penygawse. Prospect House must have been a building of considerable size" [Both Butter Hall and Penygawse are considerable properties.]

Some notes for anyone interested in the legalese (!) -

A chirograph was a means of authenticating a legal agreement – having its roots in medieval times. The agreement was written twice (sometimes 3 or 4 times) on a single piece of vellum and between the copies was written the word ‘cirographum’. The vellum was then cut through the centre of the word and each party to the agreement kept a section which could then be produced together with the other part(s) to authenticate the transaction in case of dispute.

The legalese “a fine levied ….etc.” refers to a legal method of conveying a property from one person to another where there may be no direct proof of title. The overall intention is that Thomas Bishop, a Llandovery lawyer ends up with a chirograph which authenticates him as the legal owner. Thomas Bishop as plaintiff brings a fictitious case against William and Maudlin claiming that they (the deforceants) are wrongly in possession of his house. The court find in favour of the plaintiff and his ownership of the property is authenticated in legal terms and Thomas Bishop goes away with the chirograph which authenticates his title to the property. This legal device was also used in the transaction mentioned earlier between Morgan Davies and John and Elizabeth Evans.

The Star (The Old Star) - now No. 20. Star House.

The Star was built on the frontage of the Prospect House garden (see previous paragraph). A-C comments "It was the second in a line of six public houses standing side by side. Unlike the other houses built on the frontage of the Prospect House garden it did not belong to the Lloyd Harries family. Rate books from 1836 to 1866 name the owner as William Price. It is not known whether he was related to the William Price who sold Prospect House in 1788. According to the rating valuation, the owner in 1892 - 1893 was Edward Price. The rate book of 1899 names the owner as Anne Rees."

Was this the Star that is mentioned in the will of John Price Tircyd in 1854?