Plas Llanstephan muniments

Estate papers of the Davies, Morris and Philipps families of Coomb in the parish of Llangynog, Carmarthenshire, comprising deeds, letters and accounts, 1630-1956, and maps and plans, [ c. 1751]-1872, of the Coomb estate, the Green Castle estate, the Penybanc or Bryn Myrddin estate, the Cystanog estate, Abergwili; and the Morris family of Carmarthen Bank. Most of the archive relates to properties in Carmarthen town and the parishes of Llangynog and Llansteffan. There are few, if any, pre-1920 papers relating to Plas Llansteffan.

Plas Llansteffan (anglicised 'Plas Llanstephan') was probably built in the second half of the sixteenth century by the Lloyd family, the earliest known owners of the place. The Lloyd family held Plas Llansteffan until 1767, when it passed to the Meares family of Eastington in the parish of Rhoscrowther, Pembrokeshire. The Meares family rebuilt the mansion in 1787-1788. During parts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the mansion was let out, including to Sir John James Hamilton between at least 1879 and 1887, and, between 1903 and 1909 to Sir John Williams (1840-1926), baronet, before being sold in 1920 to Sir Owen Cosby Philipps of Coomb, Llangynog, Carmarthenshire. Sir Owen Cosby Philipps (1863-1937) of Coomb, Carmarthenshire, politician and shipping magnate, created Lord Kylsant in 1923 and jailed for fraud in 1931, was the son of the Rev. Sir James Erasmus Philipps of Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire, 12th bart. He had resided at Amroth Castle, Pembrokeshire, 1904-1920, and appears to have kept the Coomb, Amroth and Cilsant estates until at least 1936. Lady Kylsant was succeeded at Plas Llansteffan by Nesta Donne Fisher-Hoch sometime between 1949 and 1954. Coomb (or Cwm) had been a farmhouse until 1679, when it was bought by Morgan Davies (d. 1728), an attorney who pulled down the farmhouse and built a mansion in its place. The Davies family remained at Coomb until 1806, when it was sold to Messrs Morris, the Carmarthen bankers. The Morris family never lived there until, shortly after 1864, the mansion was pulled down and a large Victorian mansion built in its place. The Morris family remained until at least 1892. Sometime after 1945, Coomb became a Cheshire Home. Thomas Morris, a member of the Morris banking family, purchased the Green Castle estate in Llangain, Carmarthenshire, from a Frederick Bulworth. The family also acquired Panybanc Ucha in Abergwili (which they renamed Bryn Myrddin) in 1848.

Arranged into three sections: deeds and documents, maps and plans, and miscellaneous.

Ar Agor / Open

Dim cyfyngiadau / No Restrictions

Adnau preifat / Private deposit

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

Cyflwr da / Good condition

Compiled by Stephen Benham for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Jones, Francis, Historic Carmarthenshire Homes and their Families (Newport, 1997); Beckley, Susan, 'The Carmarthenshire Record Office: a survey of holdings', The Carmarthenshire Antiquary, XV (1979).

Mae'r holl gofnodiadau sy'n cydymffurfio â pholisi casglu Archifau Sir Gaerfyrddin wedi eu cadw / All records which meet the collection policy of the Carmarthenshire Archives have been retained

Deposited by T. V. Fisher-Hoch of Plas Llanstephan. The catalogue is dated 1962.

Ni ddisgwylir croniadau / Accruals are not expected

Further papers include a box of household bills and vouchers, 1791-1832, relating to Plas Llansteffan are National Library of Wales, Sir John Williams 217.