Papers, mainly correspondence, 1777-1840, of the Jones and Harrison family of Llantysilio Hall, Llangollen, including letters from Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby ('The Ladies of Llangollen') to various members of the Jones and Harrison families, 1800-1828. The papers also include deeds, 1571-1768, relating to the manor of Over Gorther in Montgomeryshire and Shropshire; and other documents, 1649-1857.
Harrison family, of Llantysilio Hall
A volume, 1863, entitled Letters from Llangollen and based on a series of nineteen letters describing a tour in North Wales and which were published in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph in September 1863. Cuttings from the paper are interspersed with illustrative prints (mainly of churches, castles and other edifices in Wales and England), a few cuttings from other sources, and additional manuscript notes apparently by the author, John Holland.
There are references to the 'Ladies of Llangollen' (ff. 19-22), Dinas Brân (ff. 23-25 verso) and other local features of Llangollen. Pasted onto f. 38 is an envelope, postmarked at Sheffield, 12 September 1863, and addressed to John Holland at Upper Bangor, together with a photograph presumably originally enclosed in the envelope and which probably depicts Holland's correspondent.
Holland, John, 1794-1872.
Papers relating to 'the Ladies of Llangollen', Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, of Plas Newydd, Llangollen, consisting of transcripts, 1885, by Isabel Jane Crewe of extracts from the journals of a tour in Wales by Sir George Crewe and Jane, Lady Crewe, 1826; a transcript of recollections related to Isabel Jane Crewe by Jane Thomas, a former servant of the Ladies, 1885; and associated printed items including pamphlets by General John Yorke, 'Plas Newydd as it was and is' (Llangollen, 1884) and the late Rev. J. Prichard, 'An account of the Ladies of Llangollen' (Llangollen, c. 1909).
Crewe, Isabel Jane.
Over seventy letters, [c. 1799]-1832, mainly from Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, The Ladies of Llangollen (ff. 1-118 verso), addressed to their friend, Mrs Margaret Wingfield (1778-1835) and her husband, the Reverend Rowland Wingfield, vicar of Rhiwabon. The letters contain personal and local news.
A notebook, [2]-[10] August 1826 (watermark 1824), by the artist the Rev. John Parker of Sweeney Hall, containing the concluding part of an account of a tour to Killarney, Ireland, being a continuation of his journal, now NLW MS 18248A.
Parker describes excursions in the area of Killarney and its lakes (ff. 1-9 verso), including visits to the island of Innisfallen (ff. 2 verso-4, 5 recto-verso), and to Aghadoe (ff. 4-5), followed by the return journey to Britain via Cork (ff. 10 verso-12), Cashel (ff. 12 verso-16), and Dublin. There are frequent descriptions of scenery and of architectural features, including a lengthy description of the Rock of Cashel (ff. 13-15), and there are references throughout to sketches drawn by him. A letter delivered by Parker in Killarney from a 'Miss Ponsonby' is probably from Sarah Ponsonby, one of the Ladies of Llangollen (f. 8 verso). The 'Mr O'Connell and his brother (not the counsellor)' referred to on ff. 2 recto-verso are probably the two younger brothers of Daniel O'Connell. The text includes a poem in praise of Killarney by the author (ff. 3-4).
Parker, John, 1798-1860.
Tours through a part of North Wales
A manuscript copy, [1820s]-[1830s] (watermark 1814), of tours of North Wales undertaken in the Autumn of 1817 (pp. 1-30) and October 1819 (pp. 31-90) by Captain Henry Hanmer and his wife Sarah, including descriptions of visits to Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the Ladies of Llangollen (pp. 10-11, 14-19, 45).
The itinerary includes Llangollen, Wrexham, Beddgelert, Caernarfon, Bangor, Llanberis, Holyhead, Conway and St Asaph, and includes descriptions of Dolbadarn Castle (pp. 55-58), the Penrhyn slate quarries (pp. 65-66) and Parys and Mona copper mines (pp. 69-73). A number of related poems and tales are interspersed throughout the text (pp. 4-101), including verses by Anne Grant (p. 19), Anna Seward (pp. 22-29), Sir Walter Scott (pp. 31-33), W. Sotheby (pp. 37-45), W. R. Spencer (pp. 48-53), Dr [William] Dodd (pp. 61-62), and Amelia Alderson Opie (pp. 88-89). They are followed by further transcripts in the same hand (pp. 107-120), including verses by Thomas Noel (pp. 112-118) and Sir Walter Scott (pp. 119-120), and, in a different hand (pp. 121-139), verses by Byron (pp. 121, 125), R. B. Sheridan (p. 121) and Robert Southey (p. 123). The volume contains numerous cuttings from engravings, either pasted or tipped in (pp. 1-103 passim); several of these are by Henry Gastineau and are taken from Wales Illustrated: In a Series of Views... (London, 1830), as is the printed description of Llangollen on pp. 101-102. Inserted at the end (pp. 187-198) is a pamphlet by S. G. Perceval, The Ladies of Llangollen: New and interesting facts ([?1909]), transcribing extracts from the present manuscript. A press cutting, [1829], concerning the Ladies of Llangollen is pasted inside the front cover. Pressed flowers are pasted in on pp. 57, 64-65, and the remains of a leaf has been placed in an archival envelope.
Hanmer, Sarah Serra, d. 1847.
Plasnewydd, Llangollen, sale catalogue,
A photostat facsimile of a priced copy of the catalogue of the contents of Plas Newydd, the residence of the 'Ladies of Llangollen', sold by auction the week beginning 13 August 1832.