David Hughes Collection

Includes papers re the feoffees, c.1600 - 1895; papers re the administration of school and almshouse, 1662 - 1876; papers re estates and properties on Anglesey, 1530 - 1921; papers re the County Governing Body, 1876 - 1921; and miscellaneous papers; [c.17 cent] - 1951.

Records of particular interest in this collection include: petitions for apprenticeships and exhibitions, 1790 Aug. 24 - 1864; apprenticeship indentures, 1793 Oct. 7 - 1865 Apr. 8; list of scholars, [1784] - 1868; and miscellaneous farms on Anglesey and Caernarvonshire, 1771 - [1928 Feb. 3]. These farms include:

Bodfeddan, Ceirchiog, Anglesey, [c.1785] - 1900; Bodhala, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1819 - 1928; Bodhenlli, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, [late 1700s] - 1880; Bryn Llwyd, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1874 - 1880; Canol Rhos, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1874 - 1880; Cott (or Bodneuadd), Llanfflewin, Anglesey, 1824 - 1880; Graiglwyd, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1874 - 1880;Maenhir, Llantrisant, Anglesey, 1771 - 1880; Penterfryn, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1874 - 1880; Plas Bach, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1774 - 1880; Prysiorwerth, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1810 - 1901; Rhos Isaf, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1874 - 1880; Rhostrehwfa, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, [early 1800s] - 1826; Rhos Uchaf, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1874 - 1880; Tremoelgoch, Llanddeusant, Anglesey, 1833 - 1880; Ty Coch, Llangristiolus, Anglesey, 1863 - 1880; Ty Llwyd, Cerrig Ceinwen, Anglesey, 1874 - 1880; Ty Moel, Ceirchiog, Anglesey, 1818 - 1876; Tyddyn Gyrfer, Llechgynfarwy, Anglesey, 1789 - 1880; Ysgubor Fawr, Aberffraw, Anglesey, 1774 - 1880; Dyffryn Mymbyr, Llandegai, Caernarvonshire, 1783 - 1873.

The Free Grammar School in Beaumaris, Anglesey was founded by David Hughes in 1603. Following its establishment he bought several farms in Anglesey and Caernarfonshire in order to provide a permanent endowment to his charity. Other lands were purchased at a later date and many of these farms were still owned by the charity when the school was taken over by the county in 1895.

The terms for the administration of the school and charity were set out in the founders will (1609) in which it was stipulated that it was to remain under the management of a body of feoffees - two members of which were always to include the Bishop of Bangor and the Mayor of Beaumaris. It also determined the conditions under which the master and usher were to serve and a codicil to the will gave directions for the distribution of fellowships so that worthy pupils could attend a University at Oxford.

The feoffees appointed the master and usher and also decided what books should be studied. In 1710, they appointed a writing master to instruct the poor boys in writing and arithmetic. Although very few details of the curriculum followed by the boys in the early days of the school have survived, the only subjects studied in the grammar schools of the time were the classical languages and literature.

In 1889, the Welsh Intermediate Education Act established secondary schools in Wales and England and the school was taken over by the County Authorities in 1895. Three quarters of the endowment was appropriated by the County Education Authority to be shared with schools in Holyhead and Llangefni. However, the school retained something of the character of the old grammar school until 1953, when Anglesey became the first LEA in Wales and England to pioneer the comprehensive system.

The original order of this collection has been lost therefore it has been necessary to arrange it by subject and then chronologically.

Dim cyfyngiadau/ No Restrictions

This collection was inherited from the County Council

Os gwelwch yn dda archebwch y dogfenau gan ddefnyddio y rhif cyfeirnod amgen (lle ddarperidd) / Please order documents using the alternative reference number (where provided)

Mae copiau clawr caled o`r catalogau ar gael yn Archifau Ynys Môn ac yn y Gofrestr Cenedlaethol Archifau. Polisi Archifau Ynys Môn yw catalogio yn iaith y ddogfen./Hard copies of the catalogue are available at Archifau Ynys Môn / Anglesey Archives and the National Register of Archives. It is the policy of Archifau Ynys Môn / Anglesey Archives to catalogue in the language of the document.

Good to poor condition

Compiled by Gayor Nice for the ANW Project. Sources used: Carr, Anthony D., 'The Free Grammar School of Beaumaris', Anglesey Antiquarian Society and Filed Club: Transactions (1962) pp. 1-22; Pretty, David A., Two Centuries of Anglesey Schools, 1700-1902, Gwasg Gee, Denbigh; & Ramage, Helen, Portraits of an Island: Eighteenth Century Anglesey, the Anglesey Antiquarian Society, Ynys Mon.

Mae'r holl gofnodiadau sy'n cydymffurfio â pholisi casglu Swyddfa Gofnodi Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn wedi eu cadw /All records which meet the collection policy of the Anglesey Archives have been retained.

Unknown

Mae croniadau yn bosibl/Accruals are possible

WA A/1 - 90 & WDG, E Madoc Jones, Anglesey County Archive Service; BMSS EMDJ, Evan Madoc Jones Papers, Bangor University.

See also Corpus Christi College, Oxford library: MSS CCC.C390/3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.