Castle Hill Estate Records,

Estate and family records, [c.1260]-1935, of the Loxdale family of Shrewsbury and Castle Hill, Cardiganshire, and of the Williams family of Pant y Seiri and Castle Hill, comprising deeds, valuations, surveys, correspondence, etc., mainly relating to the estate in the parishes of Caron, Llanbadarn Fawr, Llanddeiniol, Llanddewibrefi, Llangwyryfon, Llanilar and Rhostïe, Cardiganshire, Wednesbury, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, including from [c. 1750] deeds relating to coal and iron mines, in these three Staffordshire parishes, and Brace Meole, St Julian and Wellington, Shropshire. -- The archive also includes records of a number of Shrewsbury guilds, including ordinances of the stewards and warden of the craft of weavers, 1416, and a revision, 1609; accounts, minutes and records of apprenticeships of the Company of Shearmen, 1468-[c.1632], and the ordinances and constitution of the Guild of Clothworkers, 1614; accounts relating to the office of town clerk of Shrewsbury, 1655-1755; copy translations of royal grants to the town of Shrewsbury, 1189-1396; a session book for the hundred of Condover, Shropshire, 1744-1774; game books, 1828-1942; papers, 1873-1909, relating to Llanilar National School; and deeds and letters about Shrewsbury Free Grammar School, [c.1870]-[c.1890].

The Loxdale family's association with Cardiganshire did not begin until 1819. Their earlier connections were mainly with Staffordshire and Shropshire, and more especially with Shrewsbury.
The Loxdale family first appear in the parish of Forton, Staffordshire, during the reign of Henry VII, and other descendants are mentioned in connection with that parish in the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth century. Richard Loxdale (1680-1732) is stated to have been the first of the family to settle in Shrewsbury, where he practiced as a solicitor. The family subsequently became prominent in the civic life of the town; Joseph Loxdale was high steward and deputy recorder of the town for nearly fifty years. In 1819, Sarah Elizabeth Loxdale married John Nathaniel Williams of Castle Hill, Cardiganshire.
The Williams family were originally from the Tregaron area of Cardiganshire. The family moved from Pant y Seiri in the parish of Caron to Castle Hill near the village of Llanilar in the late eighteenth century; the earliest deed in this archive to describe them as of Castle Hill appears to be dated 1796.
Sarah survived her husband by thirty years, and when she died in 1862, the Castle Hill estate passed to her brother James Loxdale (1797-1890). The family continue to live at Castle Hill.

Arranged chronologically.

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Deposited by Alderman R. J. R. Loxdale, May 1943, by Mrs M.L. R. Loxdale in 1949, and by Mrs M. L. Loxdale, April, June and September 1960, August, 1970 and August 1971.

The Loxdale family's association with Cardiganshire did not begin until 1819. Their earlier connections were mainly with Staffordshire and Shropshire, and more especially with Shrewsbury.
The Loxdale family first appear in the parish of Forton, Staffordshire, during the reign of Henry VII, and other descendants are mentioned in connection with that parish in the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth century. Richard Loxdale (1680-1732) is stated to have been the first of the family to settle in Shrewsbury, where he practiced as a solicitor. The family subsequently became prominent in the civic life of the town; Joseph Loxdale was high steward and deputy recorder of the town for nearly fifty years. In 1819, Sarah Elizabeth Loxdale married John Nathaniel Williams of Castle Hill, Cardiganshire.
The Williams family were originally from the Tregaron area of Cardiganshire. The family moved from Pant y Seiri in the parish of Caron to Castle Hill near the village of Llanilar in the late eighteenth century; the earliest deed in this archive to describe them as of Castle Hill appears to be dated 1796.
Sarah survived her husband by thirty years, and when she died in 1862, the Castle Hill estate passed to her brother James Loxdale (1797-1890). The family continue to live at Castle Hill.

Title supplied from contents of fonds.

Hard copies of the catalogue of the 1949 deposit are available at NLW and HMC. The 1943 deposit and all deposits subsequent to 1949 remain uncatalogued.

April 2001.

Compiled by Stephen Benham.

The following source was used in the compilation of this discription: Griffiths, G.M., 'Deposited Collections 27. The Castle Hill Collection', National Library of Wales Journal VIII (1953-54);

Usual copyright laws apply.

Action: All records deposited at NLW have been retained..

The following fifty three items were not available for consultation, apparently returned to the depositor in the 1950s-1970s: 56, 65, 210, 229-230, 337, 390, 411, 419-420, 443, 466-470, 477, 490, 493-494, 496, 500, 559-560, 569, 580, 646, 662, 666-667, 689, 763-764, 806-807, 900, 921, 928, 1029, 1133, 1142, 1169, 1202, 1208, 1212, 1236, 1238, 1288, 1335, 1336, 1339, 1359, 1468. A further twenty items from the May 1960 deposit were issued to Mrs Loxdale on 25 April 1969. The following fifteen items were subsequently identified in the Wyndham Powell deposit, 2013, and returned to the Castle Hill collection: 210, 230, 390, 466-469, 477, 662, 666-667, 921, 1133, 1142, 1288.

Accuals are not expected.

Griffiths, G.M., 'Deposited Collections 27. The Castle Hill Collection', National Library of Wales Journal VIII (1953-54), pp. 109-112.

Published