Coed Helen Papers

Deeds of the Coed Helen estate in Caernarfonshire and Anglesey, 1675-1897; rentals of the Coed Helen and Glascoed estates, 1849-1862; private correspondence and other papers relating to the legal case Rice Thomas v. the Nantlle Railway Company, 1827-1830, tenancy agreements etc., 1784, 1813-1860; and miscellaneous estate correspondence, accounts and other papers, 1830, 1848-1868.

The founder of the family fortune was Rice Thomas (d. 1577), son of Sir William Thomas of Llangathen, Carmarthenshire, who established the Caernarfonshire base of the family. It was his grandson, Sir William Thomas (1572-1643) who purchased the Coed Helen estate, mainly in and around the town of Caernarfon. On the death of Sir William's second son, Gruffydd, without issue in 1676, the estate passed to Gruffydd's cousin, John Thomas. The estate then descended in the male line until Rice Thomas (1771-1850), who died without issue. The estate passed to his sister Elizabeth, who married Sir William Buckeley Hughes (1766-1836) in 1792. The last recorded occupier of the estate was Lloyd Edward Bulkeley Hughes (b. 1870), whose eldest son was Rice John Lloyd Hughes (b. 1915). The family also acquired the Glascoed estate in Llanddeiniolen, Caernarfonshire, following the marriage of Rice Thomas and Gaynor Wynne, heiress of Owen Wynne in 1717. She died in 1719.

Arranged chronologically into the following: deeds; rentals; estate correspondence and other papers; accounts, bills, vouchers etc.; and miscellaneous.

No restrictions

Compiled by Mair James for the HMC/NLW Family and Estates project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Griffith, John Edwards, Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire Families, (Wrexham, 1998 reprint); Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940, (London, 1959); Burke's Landed Gentry, (London, 1952)

Hard copies of the catalogue are available at Caernarfon Record Office and the National Register of Archives. The catalogue can be accessed on-line.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records deposited at Caernarfon Record Office have been retained

Accruals are not expected

Further papers relating to the Coed Helen estate are Caernarfon Record Office, XD/35 XS/2284, and T232.