GWYSANEY (BANGOR) MSS

Deeds, 1416-1835, relating mainly to lands in Flintshire and Denbighshire, family settlements and wills, 1553-1897, rentals, valuations and surveys, 1588-1905, estate accounts, 1630-1904, deeds relating to lead and coal mines in Flintshire, 1626-1877, and family and estate correspondence, 1633-1912.

The Davies family of Gwysaney descend directly from Cynric Efell, elder son of Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys in the 13th century, although the surname Davies was not used until John ap David in the 16th century. He married Jane, widow of Richard Mostyn and daughter of Thomas Salisbury of Leadbrook, Flintshire. Their eldest son, Robert (1555-1602), inherited the estate and was the first of a long line of sons named Robert through whose hands it passed. His eldest son, Robert Davies II (1581-1633), served as sheriff of Flintshire in 1607, and his second son, Thomas, became a lieutenant-colonel for Charles I and Constable of Hawarden Castle in 1643. Later, he also commanded a regiment under Sir Charles Morgan, lord-general of Christian V of Denmark. The estate passed to Robert Davies III (1616-1666) who married Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Peter Mutton, and it was as a result of this marriage that the Llanerch estate in Denbighshire was added to the Davies estate. Robert III was a staunch royalist and during the Civil War was besieged at Gwysaney by the forces of Sir William Brereton, and imprisoned at Chester, but was later released. Robert's son, Mutton Davies, served as M.P. for Flintshire, 1678-1681. Gwysaney and Llanerch continued to pass down the male line until 1785, when John Davies, only son of Robert Davies VI (1710-1745), died unmarried. The estate was then divided between his two sisters, Letitia inheriting the Llanerch estate, and Mary the Gwysaney estate. In 1764, Mary had married Philip Puleston of Hafod-y-Wern, Wrexham, Flintshire. Their only daughter, Frances, married Bryan Cooke, who had inherited the Owston estate in Yorkshire, in 1786. Frances and Bryan's son, Philip Davies Cooke, therefore inherited estates in Flintshire, Denbighshire and Yorkshire on the death of his father in 1820. Hafod-y-Wern was leased out as a farmstead, and later to the Wrexham Corporation as a sewage farm, but Owston and Gwysaney were restored and developed. Interests in industrial enterprises in Flintshire, including lead mines, coal mines, potteries and brickworks, were expanded. Gwysaney estate is still held by the family, but the Owston estate was sold in 1981. According to the 1873 return of owners of land Philip Bryan Davies-Cooke owned an estimated 3,454 acres in Flintshire and Denbighshire, with an estimated rental of £8,503.

Arranged at the Department of Manuscripts and Archives, University of Wales Bangor, into the following groups: Family, Welsh estate, English estate, Geneaological material ,Correspondence and Miscellaneous.

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Compiled by Mair James for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project and amended 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); Nicholas, Thomas, Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County families of Wales (London, 2 vols, 1872,) vol. 1; James, Brian, 'The Great Landowners of Wales in 1873', National Library of Wales Journal, XIV (1965-6); Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Department of Manuscripts and Archives, University of Wales Bangor, Catalogue of Gwysaney.

Hard copies of the catalogues are available at Flintshire Record Office, Natonal Library of Wales and University of Wales Bangor, Department of Manuscripts and Archives.

Compiled by Mair James for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project and amended 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); Nicholas, Thomas, Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County families of Wales (London, 2 vols, 1872,) vol. 1; James, Brian, 'The Great Landowners of Wales in 1873', National Library of Wales Journal, XIV (1965-6); Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Department of Manuscripts and Archives, University of Wales Bangor, Catalogue of Gwysaney.

Item level entries input by Sian Moore, Gemma Gittins and Anne Davies.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records deposited at Flintshire Record Office have been retained.

Accruals are not expected.

Further papers relating to the Gwysaney estate and the Davies-Cooke family are Flintshire Record Office, D/GW; National Library of Wales, MSS 17110-17162, National Library of Wales, Kinmel Deeds; and Doncaster Archives Department, DD.DC, and DX.Bax/61191.