The Tanybwlch Documents

The main part of the archive includes papers relating to the Tanybwlch estate in Maentwrog, Merionethshire, [?1427], 1437-1838, comprising mainly family and estate papers, and deeds and documents relating to properties in the parish of Ffestiniog; papers relating to the Bachysaint estate in Eifionydd, 1350-1730, 1829, comprising mainly family and estate papers, and deeds and documents relating to properties in the town and parish of Cricieth and the town of Pwllheli; and papers relating to the Berth-lwyd estate near Ganllwyd, Merionethshire, 1538-1772, comprising mainly family and estate papers, and deeds and documents relating to properties in the parishes of Llanaber, Llanelltyd and Llanfachreth. There are also a number of miscellaneous, apparently unconnected, documents, [c. 1533]-1729. A supplemental group of papers, 1883-1937 (Z/DV2), mainly comprises annual bundles of vouchers and papers, 1886-1928, and labour and wages accounts, 1888-1924.

The Evans family of Tanybwlch, Merionethshire, ended with the children of Evan Evans (d. 1680). His son Robert Evans (d. post-1724) was an imbecile, and in 1680 one of his daughters, and heir, Catherine Evans (d. 1732), married Robert Gruffith (d. 1729) of Bachysaint, near Cricieth, Caernarfonshire, who moved to Tanybwlch. Evan Evans's other daughter, Ann, married Thomas Meyricke (d. c. 1722) of Berth-lwyd, Merionethshire. In about 1717 Evan Griffith (d. c. 1730), son of Robert Gruffith and Catherine his wife, married his cousin Jonet Meyrick (d. 1721), one of the two daughters and sole heir of Thomas Meyrick and Ann his wife, thus uniting Tanybwlch and Berth-lwyd. Jonet died in 1721 giving birth to triplets. Margaret Meyricke, the other daughter, married Thomas Lloyd Anwyl of Hendremur in the parish of Llandecwyn, Merioneth. In the next generation Robert Gruffith (d. 1750) of Tanybwlch married his cousin Ann Anwyl. Their son Evan Gruffydd of Tanybwlch married his cousin Mary Anwyl (d. 1781) daughter of William Anwyl of Hendremur, the brother of Ann. Their daughter Margaret Gruffydd (d. 1809) married William Oakeley (1750-1811), the son of the Rev. William Oakeley of Forton, Staffordshire. In 1817 their son William Gryffydd Oakeley (d. 1835) married Louisa Jane Ness (d. 1879) of Bath, but died without issue and was succeeded in the Tanybwlch estate by his second cousin William Edward Oakeley, son of William Oakeley of Glan William, Merioneth, and grandson of Sir Charles Oakeley, governor of Madras, the brother of William Oakeley (1750-1811).

There was no natural order in the collection before it reached the record office. The papers have been arranged chronologically within divisions for each main estates, and sub-divisions for family papers, and documents relating to particular parishes and townships.

No restrictions

Compiled by Stephen Benham 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); Meirionnydd Archives, Catalogue of Tanybwlch Documents.

Hard copies of the catalogue are available at Meirionnydd Archives, National Library of Wales (Z/DV and Z/DV2 only) and HMC

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records deposited at the Meirionnydd Archives have been retained

This first part of this archive (Z/DV) was found in a cupboard in the kitchen at Tanybwlch, Maentwrog, in September 1962. According to the servants at the mansion, no one had succeeded in opening the cupboard within living memory and the existence of the documents was not known. Indeed, it had been reported that all the extant deeds had been recently burned. This accounts for the fact that there are not many deeds of post-1750 date in the present collection.

Accruals are not expected

Pedigrees of the Griffith family of Bachysaint are National Library of Wales, Caerynwch 966-7.