GLYNDE ESTATE PAPERS

Papers relating to the Trevalyn and Plas Teg estates, mainly the former, including deeds relating to premises in Denbighshire and Flintshire, 1292-1667; estate papers, including rentals, 1545-1674; stewards' accounts, 1615, 1630-1641, 1662-1682; accounts for the manors of Hope and Treuddyn, 1662-1682; notes on leases, tenants and fee farm rents, 1595-1626; bonds and receipts for payment of money by Sir John Trevor (1563-1630); schedules and abstracts of deeds of the Welsh estates, 1560-1648; and detailed accounts for coal mines on the Plas Teg estate, 1630-1631; estate correspondence, mainly letters from estate stewards to Sir John Trevor I and Sir John Trevor II, c1600-1674 ; and legal papers relating to the Plas Teg estate in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Trevor family of Trevalyn was one of the leading families in East Denbighshire by about 1600, with estates in Flintshire and Denbighshire centred on Trevalyn Hall in Rossett, Denbighshire. The Plas Teg estate in Hope, Flintshire, was also acquired by the family when it was purchased by Sir John Trevor I (1563-1630) and it was he who built the present Plas Teg house in 1610. Sir John Trevor I was extensively involved in national affairs as an M.P., 1592-1614, for boroughs under the control of Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral. He served Howard as his secretary, was appointed Surveyor of the Navy and profited by various shrewd investments including the farm of the duty on Newcastle coals. On his death in 1630 he was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir John Trevor II (1596-1673), who resided mainly in London. He sat as M.P. for Denbighshire in 1621 and Flintshire in the next two Parliaments, but subsequently for boroughs under the control of either Lords Howard or Pembroke. He amassed wealth from the keepership of several royal forests, his father's farm of the coal tax and he inherited the Trevalyn estate in 1638 from his uncle, Sir Richard. He was a Puritan and allowed the deprived Puritan minister of Denbigh, William Jones, to live in Plas Teg which was licensed as a conventicle under the Act of Indulgence, 1672. He was pre-deceased by his eldest surviving son, Sir John Trevor III (1626-1672), Secretary of State to Charles II. On Sir John's death the estates passed to his grandson, John Trevor (1652-1686). He married Elizabeth Clare, widow of William Morley of Glynde, Sussex, through whom he inherited the Glynde estate, which afterwards became the chief residence of the family. On the death, in 1743, of his grandson, John Trevor, commissioner of the admiralty, the male line came to an end and the Welsh estates descended through co-heiresses. The Plas Teg estate eventually passed to Gertrude Trevor who had married the Hon. Charles Roper. Their son Trevor Charles Roper, 18th Lord Dacre, married Mary Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Fludyer, but dying without issue his widow bequeathed the estate to Cadwallader Blayney, a cousin, who assumed the name Trevor-Roper. The estate remained in the family until the Second World War when the heir, Richard Trevor-Roper, was killed and the trustees were forced to sell the estate to pay death duties. In the late 1950s it was made the subject of a preservation order, and as a result of the publicity on this occasion P. D. Trevor-Roper, a descendant of the former owners, decided to purchase it. However, it has since been sold out of the family.

Original arrangement not known. Original numbering of East Sussex Record Office retained, however, the catalogue which had been compiled by East Sussex Record Office staff has been considerably amended and expanded.

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Please order documents using the alternative reference number (where provided).

Compiled by Mair James for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project and revised by Elizabeth Pettitt of Flintshire Record Office. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Veysey, A.G. (ed.), Guide to the Flintshire Record Office (Flintshire County Council, 1974); Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Burke's Peerage Baronetage & Knightage (London, 1959).

A hard copy of the catalogue is available at Flintshire Record Office and the National Register of Archives. Details of these records also appear in the East Sussex Record Office catalogue of Glynde Manuscripts.

Compiled by Mair James for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project and revised by Elizabeth Pettitt and Steven Davies of Flintshire Record Office. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Veysey, A.G. (ed.), Guide to the Flintshire Record Office (Flintshire County Council, 1974); Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (London, 1959).

Usual copyright regulations apply.

Usual Copyright Restrictions Apply

All records deposited at Flintshire Record Office have been retained.

Accruals are not expected.

Further papers relating to the Trevor family are Flintshire Record Office, D/PT, and D/TR, and East Sussex Record Office, GLY.