Yale Papers

A collection of 95 items including deeds, wills, documents and papers relating to the Jones-Parry family of Cefn Llanfair and Madryn, 1658-1884; rentals of the Cefn Llanfair, Wernfawr and Madryn Estates, 1707-1828; estate (Madryn and Cefn Llanfair) labourers' accounts, 1819-1852; personal accounts of the Rev. J. Parry Jones-Parry, rector of Edern, 1836-1864; Porthdinllaen harbour accounts, 1835-1873; correspondence relating to the projected Porthdinllaen Railway, 1865; bills and receipts of the Caernarfonshire county election of 1868; a group of papers and documents relating to Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle, son-in-law of the third Love Parry of Cefn Llanfair and Madryn; a group of papers relating to the Rev. Roger Edwards of Mold (Mrs Yale's maternal grandfather), including letters addressed to him from Lewis Edwards (Roger Edwards' son), the Rev. John Elias, Christmas Evans, Griffith Davies, F.R.S.; John Jones of Tal-y-sarn, Sir Hugh Owen, Edward Morgan of Dyffryn, Henry Rees, Dr Owen Thomas, Ebenezer Thomas, ('Eben Fardd'), William Rees ('Gwilym Hiraethog'), Sir R. A. Cunliffe, M.P. for Flint boroughs, 1847-1872; Morgan Lloyd, Q.C.; J. H. Puleston, M.P.; Henry Richard, M.P., and others; and a small group relating to Thomas Lewis of Bangor (M.P. for Anglesey, 1886-1894, and Mrs Yale's paternal grandfather) and his son Sir Henry Lewis of Belmont, Bangor, including letters and accounts of the extensive corn and flour business conducted by Thomas Lewis in Market Street, Bangor.

The last member of the Madryn family of Madryn, Caernarvonshire, was William Madryn. After his death ca.1700, the estate passed to the solicitor from Beaumaris, Owain Hughes, or Owain Hughes 'Yr Arian Mawr', as he was otherwise known. Owain Hughes died in 1708 and left the estate to the wife of Love Parry of Wern Fawr, Llanbedrog, who was a distant relative. A few years later the family moved to Madryn, and between 1775 and 1910 the Love Parry family resided there. The family was descended from an old Lleyn family of Caernarvonshire, the Cefn Llanfair and Wern Fawr family. It is believed that the Cefn Llanfair family was descended from Llowarch Howlbwrch, who was one of the princes of Lleyn, and the Wern Fawr family was said to have descended from Marchydd, another prince. The two families were joined through marriage and by 1600 they were known as the Wern Fawr family. One prominent member of the family, Richard Hughes, born ca. 1550, was a poet. He died in 1618.

Around 1642, the granddaughter of Richard Hughes married a man called Geoffrey Parry, who came to Lleyn as an officer in Cromwell's army. He was originally from Peston, Shropshire. In 1654 their son was born, Love God Parry, the first Love Parry (1654-1707). He was a great churchman and a benefactor of the church of Llanbedrog. The second Love Parry continued to expand the estate and it was his son who acquired Madryn for the family, in 1770. He had married Sidney, who was the daughter and co-heiress of the Rev. Robert Lewis. Sidney was also the great-granddaughter of Jane, sister of Owain Hughes (Yr Arian Mawr) and she eventually inherited the Madryn estate from her uncle William Lewis of Llysdulas. The family moved to Madryn to live, whilst the brother of the third Love Parry stayed at Wern. The son of Love Parry and Sidney died only a few days after his birth, but there were two daughters, Margaret (b.1764) and Elen (b.1766). In 1780, Margaret married her cousin, Thomas Parry Jones (1762-1835) of Llwyn Onn, near Wrexham. She was the heiress of the Madryn estate. After their marriage, Thomas Parry Jones added another Parry to his name and became Thomas Parry Jones-Parry. Thomas Parry Jones-Parry succeeded in adding much to the wealth of the estate, and in gaining new land. Thomas Parry Jones-Parry was closely associated with William Alexander Maddocks and was involved in the building of the Sea Wall across Traeth Mawr. He was also at the head of the movement, helped by his ambitious fellow brother-in-law, G. Ll. Wardle, to build a road from Portdinllaen to Traeth Mawr, and of the unsuccessful effort to make Portdinllaen into a packet-station for Dublin. The estate was inherited by the son of T. P. Jones Parry, Sir Love Jones-Parry (1781-1853), in 1833. He was born in 1781 and was educated at Westminster School, Trinity College, Cambridge and Christ College Oxford, where he graduated with a B.A. in 1803 and an M.A. in 1811. By 1811 he was a Captain in the army. Between 1835 and 1840 he represented Caernarfon as a Whig. He had varied interests, and was particularly interested in Welsh culture, and had a number of friends who were poets. Love Jones-Parry married Elizabeth Caldecot of Hotton, Lincolnshire and died in 1853. He was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas Love Duncombe Jones-Parry (1832-1891). During his thirty years at Madryn, he ruined the estate and lost much of its wealth. In 1868 he was chosen to represent the Liberal Party in the elections. He won, and succeeded in capturing the Caernarvonshire seat from the sitting member, the son of the 1st Lord Penrhyn; in 1874 he lost the seat to him; in 1882 he was elected Member of Parliament for the boroughs, and again in 1885, but lost in July 1886. He died in 1891 and the estate went to his sister Sarah of Gelliwig and later to his cousin William Corbet Yale of Bryn Eglwys, Denbighshire, on the condition that he attach Jones Parry to his own name. Due to this condition some of the children of William Corbet Yale took the surname Yale whilst others took the surname Jones Parry. William Corbet Yale attempted to pay off the debts of his cousin, but failed and by the time of his death in 1910, the estate had to be sold.

Eleanor Yale (nee Lewis) married George Frederick Cunningham Yale, who was one of the sons of William Corbet Yale-Jones-Parry. She was the daughter of Sir Henry Lewis (1847-1923), and granddaughter of Thomas Lewis (1821-97) and Roger Edwards (1811-86). Sir Henry Lewis of Belmont near Bangor, was a prominent Calvinistic Methodist elder in North Wales. His father, Thomas Lewis of Llanwenllwyfo, Anglesey was the founder of a flourishing corn and flour business at Bangor and the MP for Anglesey between 1886-94. He also lectured frequently on his travels to Palestine and elsewhere. Henry Lewis himself was born at Bangor and educated at Friars School and then at Bala C. M. College. He became a very important figure, in Bangor and throughout North Wales. He was a valuable supporter of the University College of North Wales at Bangor, particularly in relation to the matter of securing a site for the new college buildings. In 1872 Henry Lewis married Anne, daughter of the Rev. Roger Edwards. Roger Edwards was a Calvinistic Methodist minister, born in Bala and raised in Dolgellau. From early 1830 until ca.1833 he kept school at Dolgellau. In 1835 he went to Mold as a proof reader and general editor to John and Evan Lloyd, printers, and in that town he remained until his death. Although he had a varied and versatile career, he was above all a preacher. He was the foremost administrator of his denomination and contributed more than any other of his contemporaries to the evolution of the intricate connexional structure. For nearly 35 years he was the secretary of the North Wales C. M. Association, a moderator of the General Assembly, and twice moderator of the Association. Roger Edwards was editor of Y Drysorfa. He was also jointly a founder editor of Y Traethodydd with Lewis Edwards. However, his greatest service was perhaps rendered as editor of Cronicl yr Oes, the first political newspaper in Welsh, which laid the foundation for the political Liberalism, which later became so characteristic of North Wales. He was also a poet and a hymn writer.

Divided into five sections according to document type and then chronologically.

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Presented by Mr and Mrs George Yale of Llanbedrog.

Belmont Manuscripts; Bangor Manuscripts 1125 (1-69), 5277 and 15260; Morfa Manuscripts 1(D); Porth-yr-Aur Manuscripts 17281-18084 all held at Bangor University.

Also, the Yale Collection held at the National Library of Wales, which consists of papers relating mainly to the family of Jones-Parry of Madryn, co. Caernarfon, 19th-20th centuries, and to Roger Edwards, Mold (1811-86), Calvinistic Methodist minister and author. See also Annual Report of the National Library of Wales, 1933-34, p. 48, 1947-48, p. 43 and 1948-49, p. 61. See also index of National Library of Wales Handlist of Manuscripts, volumes I and II, under Madryn