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Letters exchanged between members of the Maurice and Owen families of Clenennau and Brogyntyn, and other correspondence from friends or associates in Wales and England, together with a number of important official documents deriving from county administration in Caernarfonshire during the Tudor and Stuart periods, 1485, 1573-1698. Many of the early letters and papers, 1580-1622, relate to the joint deputy lieutenancy in Caernarfonshire of Sir William Maurice and Sir John Wynn, showing their preoccupation with the raising and organisation of militia troops for the defence of Caernarfonshire and for despatch to Ireland. Other topics include Sir William Maurice's position as deputy vice-admiral of North Wales and the protracted civil lawsuits in which he was engaged. The collection also constitutes an important historical source for the conduct of the Civil War in North Wales. Items from that period primarily concern Sir John Owen and his brother, Col. William Owen, Royalist commanders at Conwy and Harlech respectively, and their subsequent treatment under the Commonwealth and Restoration, 1643-1666. Many of the letters from 1678 to 1698 reveal the life of Sir Robert Owen, his debts, estate business, cultural interests and attachment to the Jacobite cause, together with contemporary political news. Apart from individuals already mentioned, prominent correspondents include the Privy Council of Elizabeth I, mostly through Henry Herbert, President of the Council in the Marches of Wales, 1587-1600; Sir Henry Johnes of Abermarlais, 1605-1616; Ralph, Lord Eure, 1607-1617; members of the Brynker family, 1603-1681; the Wynn family of Glyn and Sylfaen, 1625-1697; the Anwyl family of Park, 1636-1693; Charles I, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice, 1642-1647; Lord Byron, 1644-1648; John Williams, Archbishop of York, 1645-1646; George Twisleton, 1649-1660; the Godolphin family of Abertanat, 1658-1698; John Gadbury, 1679-1688; and Edward Lhuyd, 1696-1697.

Letters to Sir William Maurice and a number of drafts or copies of outgoing correspondence, 1587-1619, and a single letter to Lady Elen Eure, 1624. Items of interest include a water bailiff 's report on shipwreck timber found along the shores of Anglesey and Caernarfon; an application by the burgesses of Harlech to obtain an act of parliament for holding the Merionethshire [Great] Sessions and Quarter Sessions there, and to get royal confirmation of the town charter and fee farm, 1604, with letters from Griffith Vaughan on the technical difficulties of implementing the same, 1611; Sir Henry Lee on a dispute over lands held by William Maurice from the Corporation of Harlech, 1591; William Thomas on the subsidy roll accounts, with a summary of deputy lieutenants in other counties of Wales and England, 1602; John Wynn of Gwydir and others, with copies of William Maurice 's outgoing letters to county and government officials, emphasising the difficulties encountered by the deputy lieutenants in mustering troops and collecting mises in Caernarfonshire against a possible Spanish invasion, and for the suppression of rebellions in Ireland, 1587-1602; and a draft request to Anne, Countess of Warwick, to use her influence in obtaining a position for William Maurice 's son [pre-1588].

Personal papers and especially papers relating to the public offices of members of the Wynn family of Gwydir, Caernarfonshire. These include letters and orders from the Privy Council and from Thomas Gerard, Ralph Eure, William, earl of Northampton, etc., as Lords President of the Council of Wales and the Marches to Sir John Wynn, 1st baronet, relating to the government of Caernarfonshire and the mustering of soldiers for various wars. The papers from the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary chiefly relate to preparations for wars in Scotland and France, whilst the papers from the reign of Elizabeth I chiefly relate to preparations for wars in Ireland and against Spain. The archive also includes papers relating to the Civil war and to elections in Caernarfonshire. The archive is an important source for local administration in late sixteeenth and seventeenth century Wales and for the relationship between local and central government. Most of the papers relating to the Gwydir estate for this period have not survived.