Lord Lieutenancy Papers

Letter of appointments of Owen Anthony Poole, 1796; papers relating to the provisional cavalry including returns of horses and men, 1796-1798; General Meetings of the Lieutenancy papers and minute books, 1798-1813; Owen Anthony Poole's correspondence mainly relating to the enforcement of the Additional Forces Act 1804, 1796-1805; militia lists for Pwllheli and Llanystumdwy, 1798-1812; official government directives, 1798-1806; correspondence between Buckeley and Poole, 1801-1821; letters of acceptance as deputy lieutenants, 1820; miscellaneous papers, 1775-[1819]; accounts for the official duties of Buckeley and Poole, 1802-1817; militia demands on parishes, 1809-1817; correspondence between Thomas Assheton-Smith of Vaynol, Poole and his nephew Richard Anthony Poole, 1822-1824; correspondence between Lord Willoughby de Eresby and Richard Anthony Poole, 1828-1849; correspondence of Sir Richard Richard Bulkeley Williams-Bulkeley, 1852-1861; correspondence between Colonel the Hon. Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant and Edward Griffith Powell, 1854-1860; correspondence between the War Office and Edward Griffith Powell, 1855-1860; lists of deputy lieutenants, 1831-1860; commissions and related papers for deputy lieutenants, 1781-1846; qualifications to be deputy lieutenants, 1852-1860; county militia corps commissions and related papers, 1787-1858; notices of commission and gazetting, 1866-1872; returns and nominal rolls for the county militia, 1810-1871 with miscellaneous papers, 1852-1870 and printed acts, 1806-1860; royal visits, 1946-1958, and Lord Lieutenant's Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace files, 1920-1970.

The Lord Lieutenant was the chief executive authority of the crown in a county, through whom the policy decisions of the central government would be directed and would represent the considerations of the county at Court and to the government, and taking prime resposnibility for the magistracy and militia. Deputy lieutenants would be appointed to carry out the directions given by him. The office had the power to recommend, and constitute the Commission of the Peace, the body of justices of the peace or magistrates who supervised the legal and administrative systems of the county through the medium of the Quarter Sessions court. Successive Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire were Thomas James Warren Bulkeley, 1781-1822; Thomas Assheton-Smith, 1822-1828; Peter Robert Burrell, 1828-1851, and Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley, 1851-1866. Buckeley raised the Loyal Anglesea Volunteers in 1797 and commanded them until their dissolution in 1802. From 1803, he commanded the Anglesey Loyal Voluntary Infantry and from 1808-1816, the Anglesey Local Militia. Owen Anthony Poole, a solicitor in Caernarfon, was appointed Clerk to the General Meetings of the Lieutenancy in 1796 and co-ordinated Lieutenancy business under Bulkeley's direction; he was also Buckeley's agent for the family's Caernarvonshire estates. Poole died in 1823 and both the Clerkship of the Peace and the General Meetings were passed to his nephew, Richard Anthony Poole. Edward Griffith Powell was the county treasurer between [1834]-1860. The Militia Act of 1757 assigned to each county a quota for the number of men raised for the militia, an auxiliary force for the defence of the realm independent of the standing army. These men were selected by ballot from militia lists made up by the tithingmen or parish constables. The Caernarvonshire regular militia was raised in 1762 under the 1757 Act, and continued regular training until 1783. It was reconstituted in 1793 and deployed to counter the French invasion. From 1810-1813 served in Ireland and spent the rest of the war stationed in Scotland. The corps returned to Caernarfonshire in June 1814 and disembodied. The regular militia remained in dissolution until 1820 and was sporadically trained. The voluntary corps were formed in 1803. The Carnarvon, Bangor and Conway corps were algamated the following year. These forces were dissolved under the Local Militia Act 1859, creating a county Local Militia commanded by Thomas Assheton-Smith. Volunteer corps founded after 1859 were the Caernarvonshire Artillery Volunteers and the Caernarvonshire Rifle Volunteers.

Arranged into the following : Appointments of Owen Anthony Poole; papers relating to the provisional cavalry; General Meetings of the Lieutenancy papers and minute book; Owen Anthony Poole's correspondence relating to Additional Forces Act of 1804; militia lists; official government directives; correspondence between Buckeley and Poole; letters; miscellaneous papers; official duties accounts of Buckeley and Poole; militia demands; correspondence between Thomas Assheton-Smith of Vaynol, Poole and his nephew Richard Anthony Poole; correspondence between Lord Willoughby de Eresby and Richard Anthony Poole; correspondence of Sir Richard Richard Bulkeley Williams-Bulkeley; correspondence between Colonel the Hon. Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant and Edward Griffith Powell; correspondence between the War Office and Edward Griffith Powell; lists of deputy lieutenants; commissions; qualifications; county militia corps; notices; returns and nominal rolls; royal visits and Lord Lieutenant's Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace files

Restricted access for Lord Lieutenant's Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace files. They are closed for a period of 75 years at the direction of the Lord Chancellor, but the Archivist may allow access at his discretion for records more than 30 years old. The Lord Lieutenant has agreed to similar conditions of access to those records not under the Lord Chancellor's direction.

Compiled by Seri Crawley for the ANW project. The following sources were used to compile this description: Caernarfon Record Office, Catalogue of the Lord Lieutenancy Papers; The Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940 (London, 1959).

Hard copies of the catalogue are available in Caernarfon Record Office, the National Library of Wales and the National Register of Archives. The catalogue is available online.

Usual copyright laws apply.

All records deposited at Caernarvon Record Office have been retained

Accruals are not expected.