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Diary, 1 May 1851-18 September 1852, of Lieutenant Herbert M[illingchamp] Vaughan, 90th Light Infantry, mostly while stationed at Ballincollig and Cork, Ireland. The diary contains an account of his various duties, his social and recreational activities, including balls, regattas, parties and picnics, and hunting and shooting.
Vaughan's company was at Ballincollig until late 1851, when it removed to nearby Cork; the regiment was sent to Dublin in August 1852 (f. 112 verso). Additionally Vaughan spent most of September 1851 on leave in London (ff. 38-46 verso) and was at home at Plas Llangoedmor, Cardiganshire, [9] October-[29] December 1851 (ff. 49-65 verso). Among the incidents recounted are the death by suicide of one of his men during an assignment to transport ammunition (ff. 8-11); [George W. Stone] performing Electro-Biology [i.e. hypnotism] experiments on some of his men (ff. 26 verso, 29 verso-30); several visits to the Great Exhibition in London (ff. 39 verso-43 verso passim); attending the Cork garrison races, [21] April 1852 (ff. 86-87 verso); and a riot by paupers at Cork workhouse, [9] May 1852 (f. 90 recto-verso). Vaughan assisted in keeping order during the Cork County by-election in March 1852 (ff. 82-83) and in Cork City at the General Election in July 1852 (ff. 102 verso-103 verso). His main preoccupation in open season was fox hunting and shooting game (ff. 49 verso-84 verso passim). A memo found loose within the volume, dated 31 July 1852 with additions to 1855, has been tipped in inside the back cover (f. 122, see also f. 109).

A transcript, 1853, in the hand of Matilda Pasley, of a version of George Owen of Henllys's 'Description of Milford Haven', dated 17 December 1595 (ff. 2-26), together with a note by the transcriber (f. 1).
The manuscript mostly agrees with the texts of Cardiff 2.46 and BL Add. 22623, as published in George Owen, The Description of Penbrokshire, ed. by Henry Owen, Cymmrodorion Record Series, 4 vols (London, 1892-1936), pp. 529-562; where Henry Owen lists minor variations between those two manuscripts the present transcript does not consistently correspond with one or the other. The wording of the title page (f. 2) is significantly different (see Henry Owen (ed.), p. 533), while the section beginning 'For the more ease…' which concludes the other manuscripts is here interpolated on ff. 17-18. A memorandum concerning Owen's methodology for drawing his map of Milford Haven does not appear to be recorded elsewhere (f. 22). The present manuscript is itself copied from an intermediate transcript made at Worsley [New] Hall, Lancashire, on 22 October 1852, by Mary L[ouisa Egerton, Viscountess] Brackley, from the original 1595 manuscript belonging to her father-in-law [Francis Egerton, 1st] Earl of Ellesmere (probably the manuscript now Huntington Library MS EL 1145 (34/B/32)) (see f. 1). In 1853 Matilda Pasley's husband, Sir Thomas Pasley, Bart, was in command of Pembroke Dockyard and the Pasleys became acquainted with Lady Brackley during visits to Stackpole Court, the seat of her father, the 1st Earl Cawdor (see Lawrence Phillips, 'Captain Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, Bt., R.N., and Pembroke Dockyard, 1849-1854', Mariner's Mirror, 71.2 (1985), 159-165 (pp. 160-161)).

Manuscript journal of a tour of south and west Wales, as well as parts of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, 4 June-2 October 1805 (ff. 3-32 verso passim), also including several contemporary illustrations and later pasted-in engravings.
The writer is unknown but appears to be female and was travelling in the company of her 'Papa' and several other presumed relatives. Beginning in Gloucester (ff. 3-4), the journal then recounts a journey down the River Wye from Ross-on-Wye to Chepstow (ff. 7-8, 10-11 verso) and an extended stay at Swansea, 16 June-30 July (ff. 13-14, 16-17, 19, 21-22), before proceeding to Pembrokeshire (ff. 22 verso-23, 26-28 verso), Aberystwyth (ff. 29-31 verso) and Dolgellau (ff. 32 recto-verso), where the narrative ends abruptly, mid-sentence. The volume includes descriptions of Gloucester Cathedral (ff. 3-4), Margam Park (ff. 12-13), the Brownslade estate, [Castlemartin] (ff. 26-27 verso), St Govan's Head (ff. 26 verso-27 verso), the lower River Teifi (ff. 28-29), Devil's Bridge (ff. 29 verso-31) and the house at Hafod, Cardiganshire (f. 31 recto-verso). The illustrations are of pen and wash in a naïve style and comprise eight full page drawings (ff. 2, 6, 9, 15, 18, 20, 24, 25) and three text illustrations (ff. 8, 14, 17) all depicting views along the route. Conversely the fifteen engravings, [1831]-[1845], pasted into the volume depict various views in England, Wales and India and are, with a single exception, unrelated to the text (inside front cover, ff. 1 verso, 2 verso, 33-44 (rectos only)).

Llyfr tonau Richard Jones, Mathan Ganol, Boduan, 1839.

A manuscript account of an excursion to North Wales and Cheshire, 3-[6] September 1829, by Elizabeth Bower, [of Broxholme House, Doncaster], travelling with her husband John Seddon Bower (f. 1-19).
The couple left Crosby on 3 September and boarded the Prince Llewelyn steam packet at Liverpool (f. 1 verso), sailing along the North Wales coast (ff. 2-5) to Beaumaris (ff. 5-6 verso). They crossed the Menai Bridge (ff. 7-9) and proceeded to Bangor (ff. 9-10 verso), Conway (ff. 12-13 verso) and Chester (ff. 14 verso-18), returning to Liverpool and then Crosby on the [6] September (f. 19). Included are descriptions of Penrhyn Castle, Bangor (f. 11 recto-verso), and Eaton Hall, Chester (ff. 16-18).

A manuscript volume containing abstracts of title, [c. 1816] (watermark 1814), relating to the estates of Sir Mark Wood of Gatton, Surrey (formerly of Piercefield, Monmouthshire), in the counties of Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.
The volume is in three sections (labelled A, B and F), abstracting Wood's title to the castle and manor of Pencoed, [Llanmartin], the manor of St Brides [Netherwent] and other properties in Monmouthshire, purchased from Thomas Mathews (pp. 1-106); Mathews' title to leasehold estates in Monmouthshire, including Gillylaes [Gelli-las, Llanfihangel Llantarnam] (pp. 107-145); and a supplemental abstract of Wood's title to estates in Monmouthshire and Glamorgan purchased from Mathews and others (pp. 146-346). In all some thirty-eight deeds are abstracted, the majority in abstract A. Abstracts A and B also include legal opinions of J[ohn] Holliday, Lincoln's Inn, dated 1794 and 1795 respectively (pp. 105-106, 143-145). The abstracts contain no reference to Wood's ownership of Piercefield, which had been sold in 1800.

Manuscript journal of a tour of New York State and the Niagara Peninsula, Upper Canada (now Ontario), 15 August-1 September 1816, written by a Welsh Old Etonian, possibly Pierce Wynne Yorke.
The writer and his companion (identified only as Richard, see ff. 18 and 45) leave New York City on 15 August 1816 (f. 1) and travel by steamer and wagon up the Hudson River valley (ff. 1-10 verso) to Albany, staying there 17-20 August (ff. 10 verso-16); they then continue overland, visiting Utica, 21-[23] August (ff. 21-24 verso), the Finger Lakes (ff. 28 verso-33 verso), and Buffalo, 28-29 August (ff. 35 verso, 38 verso). After crossing the Niagara River into Upper Canada they visit Niagara Falls, 29 August-1 September (ff. 40 verso-45), and continue to Newark [Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario] on 1 September (f. 45 verso). The volume contains frequent references to their accommodation, travel arrangements and the often unseasonable weather (1816 being the so called 'Year without a Summer'), as well as descriptions of the scenery and flora, agricultural practices, Indigenous Americans, American manners and politics and the effects of the War of 1812. Also included, in pencil, are a verse on Col. Cecil Bisshopp (inside front cover), brief accounts of bills paid (f. i) and mostly illegible notes apparently relating to the contents of the journal (inside back cover). The author is not named but evidently has close connections with North Wales (see ff. 4 recto-verso, 5 verso, 27 verso, 28 verso-29 verso, 45), is an Old Etonian and a schoolfriend of Bisshopp, whose grave he visits at Lundy's Lane, Niagara (see f. 44); Pierce (or Peirce) Wynne Yorke of Dyffryn Aled appears to be the most plausible candidate.

A manuscript music book of popular songs originally belonging to William Williams, cabinet maker, including ballads and operatic pieces such as The Highland Laddie and Robin Hood. The volume then passed on into the possession of Thomas Llewelyn, Newbridge.

Travel journal, [late 1790s] (watermark 1796), of Richard Cust [stationer and gentleman naturalist, of Westminster and Carlisle], containing his 'Observations on the Picturesque Scenery of North Wales in the Autumn of the year 1783' (ff. 7-73 passim), together with thirteen monochrome wash watercolours of landscapes viewed (ff. 15, 16, 23, 25, 26, 28, 35, 41, 42, 46, 47, 49, 50). The journal primarily describes Cust's impressions of the scenery in terms of the ideals of the picturesque and the sublime; the entries are undated.
As explained in the introductory section (ff. 2-5) the Observations were transcribed by Cust from his original 1783 travel journal, with the illustrations being based on brief sketches. Cust and his unnamed companion(s) travelled by coach from London (f.7) to Llangollen (ff. 8 verso-9), then via Conwy (f. 10) and Bangor (f. 13) to Anglesey (ff. 13 verso-17 verso) and Caernarfon (ff. 19 recto-verso, 22 recto-verso). From there they went on excursions up Snowdon (ff. 24-34 passim) and to [Aberglaslyn] (ff. 34 recto-verso, 37-38) and Llanbenys [Llanberis] (ff. 39-40 verso, 43 recto-verso, 44 verso-51 passim, 54-55 verso), before returning to Conwy (ff. 57 recto-verso, 59-61 verso) and Llangollen (ff. 64-65 verso, 68-69, 70 verso, 72-73). There are descriptions of the castles at Caernarfon (ff. 19 recto-verso, 22 recto-verso), Dolbadarn (ff. 40 verso, 43, 55) and Conwy (ff. 57 recto-verso, 59-60); four of the watercolours also depict Dolbadarn Castle (ff. 41, 42, 46, 47), the others are mostly views of mountains and rocky outcrops. The narrative is incomplete and breaks off after a description of the River Dee at Llangollen (f. 73); additionally, eleven pages have been left blank to provide space for further illustrations (ff. 20, 21, 29, 32, 36, 53, 56, 58, 66, 67, 71, usually with indicative captions written in pencil on the otherwise blank versos).

A manuscript copy, 1729, of Henry Rowlands's 'Antiquitates Parochiales', transcribed by 'G.M.' [William Morgan] (pp. 1-146). The synchronism of free tenants for 1300-1700, 'Synchronismi quinque lustrales liberorum tenentium comot Maenei', is included (pp. 127-146) but the manuscript also includes an addendum not recorded elsewhere, in the hand of William Morgan and possibly a later addition, updating it to 1725 (pp. 147-148). The tract entitled 'Bellum Mariscum', absent from some copies, is also present (pp. 151-160).
Items found loose in the volume have been placed in an archival envelope (pp. 163-168).

Pedigree and achievement, 1654, of John Edwards (1619-1673) of Stanste [Stansty], Denbighshire, compiled and executed by Randle Holme II, containing thirty-nine other fully painted coats of arms, mostly impaled, tracing Edwards's descent in the male line from Coel Godebog and Cadwalader ap Cadwallon, through their mutual descendant Rhodri Mawr, alongside his paternal grandmother's descent from Morion ap Morgenew, Lord of Dyffryn Clwyd.
The names of individuals, together with additional biographical and genealogical information, are enclosed in roundels, with those of the earliest royal and noble figures being surmounted by crowns, coronets or caps of maintenance as appropriate. The pedigree is mostly arranged as two parallel lines of descent, except the final three generations where other relatives such as siblings and John Edwards's son and stepchildren are recorded, without heraldry. The title, beginning 'The Genealogie or Pedegree of John Edwards of Stanste', is given in a scroll cartouche at the head of the roll; the achievement of John Edwards, with eleven quarterings, is placed at the foot. There are a few additions in a different hand, [?1670s], including notice of the marriage of John Edwards the younger (aged 2 in 1654) to Mary, daughter of the Rev. Robert Lloyd of Llanychan; two sections of text appear to have been altered by scraping away the original ink. The pedigree is an example of Style 3 in Michael Powell Siddons, Welsh Pedigree Rolls (Aberystwyth, 1996), pp. 11-12.

A photographic copy, May 1870, of a pedigree of Sir Peter Mutton of Llannerch, chief justice of north Wales, showing also some of the descents of his second wife Ellen (née Williams), compiled on parchment in, or soon after, 1634/5 by Griffith Hughes.
The roll is an example of a target pedigree (style 7 in Michael Powell Siddons, Welsh Pedigree Rolls (Aberystwyth, 1996)). It includes sixty coats of arms around the circumference, representing the most distant ancestors, with a further twenty-one mostly impaled shields dispersed within the body of the pedigree. At the centre is the personal coat of arms, with twenty-seven quarterings, of Mutton Davies, grandson of Peter Mutton, together with two cartouches. The copy is monochrome and on a reduced scale and is assembled from two photographs; it can be discerned that the majority of the coats of arms on the original were fully painted.

Monochrome photostat facsimile of the Book of Llandaff (Liber Landavensis) (NLW MS 17110E), presented by the National Library of Wales to P. T. Davies-Cooke of Gwysaney in 1931 on receipt of the family's deposit of manuscripts at the Library.

A volume, 1681-2, in the hand of Huw Morys ('Eos Ceiriog', 1622-1709), poet, Llansilin, co. Denbigh, containing mainly holograph Welsh poetry in strict and free metres, including a poem dated 1681 (ff. 10-11), together with a cywydd by Siôn Tudur (f. 16 verso), prophetic verses, some attributed to Taliesin (ff. 12 verso, 25 verso), and anonymous englynion (ff. 36 verso-37, 42); the original parchment cover, preserved at the beginning, contains copies by H.M. of 'Diarhebion o waith Taliessin', 'Cynghorion Taliessin' (f. i verso) and 'Tri Thlws ar ddeg o Ynys Brydaine' (f. ii). The manuscript was probably written for the poet's brother John Maurice (d. 1699), Bodlith, Llansilin, whose name appears on f. 1; other signatures in the volume suggest it to have remained in the possession of the family until the [mid-18 cent.].

Notes by T. Ivor Davies and T. Charles Jones, from contemporary sources including the Coroner's Court records, a public meeting at Beaumaris and service at Bangor Cathedral, relating to the sinking of the 'Rothsay Castle' steam packet on 17th August 1831, on its journey from Liverpool to Beaumaris, during which over a hundred and forty lives were lost.