William Price Tynllwyn Summary and Family

The evidence points to the fact that Willam Price Tynllwyn was a man of some substance. How he came by his property is not known but it is likely that he inherited at least some of it. He calls himself a farmer in his will and presumably this was his chosen vocation. He was able to rent the largest farm in the Upper division of Myddfai parish. He was in a position to send his eldest son John to schooling and then to Oxford University. William of Mothvey his son who predeceased him was a farmer and although he died intestate he left a considerable estate which was proved by his widow.

William Price Tynllwyn lent money to his son in law Evan Morgan in the form of a mortgage. His son David Price Glasallt became a well known and respected member of the local community and although his son Morgan farmed in the remotest part of the parish he was a property owner and freeholder and left a will.

It is frustrating that so little can be discovered of William's origins. If, as Arber-Cooke suggests, he was related to Thomas Price, the Llandovery mercer whose children appear in the Myddfai Parish Records as suddenly and around the same period as Willam's children, then there might be some possibility of discovering more at some point - although to date I have drawn a blank. Details of the said Thomas Price will be provided in a later post.

The only other bit of information to add is from oral sources. The late David Rees Powell of Pwllycalch Myddfai wrote in the foreword of a book of poetry the following -

"My mother was one of six children of David and Mary Price Gorllwynfach, they were from the family of Price Tynewydd who were descended before that from Glasallt and Llwynifanfeddyg.' He goes on to say that his mother always told them that her roots lay with the drover's from Shrewsbury who had settled in the area". (Hanner Canrif o'r

Digri a'r Difri o fro Meddygon Myddfai' David Rees Powell 2000)

If this oral tradition is true then it explains why there is so little information about Wiliam Price's origins in the Llandovery / Myddfai area and maybe even why he and Thomas Price 'suddenly appear' in the Myddfai area in the mid 18th century.

So it remains to provide the details that are available for the immediate family each member of which will have a later post devoted to them.

The Family of William Price Tynllwyn Gent.

William PRICE Tynllwyn born ca 1720?. He made his will 1 July 1799, died later that month and was buried at Myddfai Parish Church on 24 July 1799

1. He married his first wife Margaret ? ca 1745. She died 1777 and was buried 17 Apr 1777 at Myddfai PC.
2. He married Magdalen REES (? - 1804) on 25 Nov 1779 at Myddfai PC Magdalen was buried. 16 Jan 1804 Myddfai PC Children by his first marriage -

Rev. John  PRICE B.A. (1749 - 1819) (bp. 12 Nov 1749 Myddfai PC died  24 Nov 1819) married

1. Elizabeth ?? (ca. 1755 - 1795) (bd. 9 Dec 1795 (aged 40) Myddfai PC). Marriage date and place unknown.
2. Frances JOSEPH (m. 25 Sep 1804 at Llanwrtyd)

Jane PRICE (1750 - ?) bp. 24 Nov 1750 Myddfai PC married Rees JOHN of Llanthoysant (Llanddeusant)

Morgan PRICE (1753 - 1805) bp. 29 Apr 1753 Myddfai PC, bd. 1 Mar 1805 Myddfai PC  married Gwenllian DAVIES (ca 1749 - 1844) bd. Saron, Cwmwysg (MI 1). Married at Llywel PC 8 Nov 1777. Morgan farmed Nantygweision and noted as a freeholder and gent. in Myddfai PR

David PRICE (1754 - 1837) bp. 26 Oct 1755 MPC bd. 29 Nov 1837 Myddfai PC married Mary ?? (ca. 1757 - 1833) married ca 1780. Farmed Glasallt Fawr and probably Llwynifanfeddyg and noted as a freeholder in Myddfai PR.

William PRICE (1758 - 1797) bp. 29 Jan 1758 Myddfai PC bd. 27 May 1797 Myddfai PC Noted as a farmer and freeholder in Myddfai PR but not known where he farmed. William predeceased his father, dying intestate in 1797. William married Elizabeth WILLIAM (1758 - ??) (possibly d/o Wm. Richard and Gwenllian bp. 18 Jun 1758 Myddfai PC). Married at Myddfai PC 12 Sep 1783.

Elizabeth PRICE (1761 - 1802) bp. 15 Mar 1761 Myddfai PC bd. 21 May 1802 married Evan MORGAN (? - 1800). Married 10 Jun 1783 at Myddfai PC

And now we must follow the direct line through Morgan Price Nantygweision leaving the other Price lines for a future blog.


Note on MI's (Memorial Inscriptions) - Where numbers are given they reference the inscription in the relevant church or chapel in the excellent series of surveys produced by Mr. Gareth Jones of Brewood, Staffordshire to whom I am indebted for much help in my research. He has produced these detailed surveys for the churches and chapels of Myddfai, Llywel, and Devynock among others.

Note on Parish Records. These exist in two forms, A register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials for each Parish Church and an annual summary known as the Bishop's Transcripts which were 'returns' from each parish transcribed from the Parsh Register. There are gaps in the records and they are often illegible. Some chapels (Cefnarthen is a good example) also kept records of baptisms etc. although again these can be quite patchy and discontinuous. Copies of parish records on film can be seen at County Record offices and the BT's are available at The National Library of Wales and at various LDS Family History Centres.

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.